The 70th Combined Preliminary Exam conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on December 13, 2024, has sparked significant controversy. Of the 483,000 applicants, 325,000 appeared for the exam. However, many students have raised objections, leading to widespread protests.
The primary issue revolves around the normalization process, used when exams are conducted in multiple shifts to account for varying difficulty levels. Students argue that normalization could adversely impact their merit and have demanded that the exam be conducted in a single shift. BPSC dismissed these claims as rumors.
Another point of contention is the irregularities reported at Patna’s Bapu Examination Center, where delayed question paper distribution caused chaos. BPSC has decided to re-conduct the exam at the affected center on January 4, 2025, but students argue that holding a re-exam for just one center is unfair and raises concerns about the exam’s impartiality.
Other complaints include malfunctioning CCTV cameras at some centers and dissatisfaction with the question paper’s difficulty level. Some students have alleged similarities between the exam questions and model papers from certain coaching institutes. BPSC responded by stating that an easier question paper would only result in a higher cutoff, alleviating any cause for concern.
Despite BPSC’s assurances, the protests, backed by political parties, continue to escalate, complicating the situation further.
