The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) held preliminary exams to Group 4 posts in July 2022 to fill 7,301 vacancies in multiple government departments, the results for which were declared on 24 March 2023.
Reports mentioned that a large number of candidates who cleared the exam belonged to two private coaching centres.
#BREAKING | குரூப் 4: ஒரே நிறுவன மையத்தில் 2000 பேர் தேர்ச்சி#tnpsc #group4 #tamilnadu pic.twitter.com/UbTdExmxB9
— News18 Tamil Nadu (@News18TamilNadu) March 26, 2023
Around 2000 candidates who cleared the exam belonged to one coaching institute from Tenkasi said reports. Apparently, the institute itself had boasted of the feat with advertisements.
While the institute in question has said that the the selection of 2000 candidates is indeed true as it has 40 centres across the State, opposition parties have flagged concerns citing irregularities.
BJP Tamil Nadu President K. Annamalai said that the news of 2000 people of from a single training center is a blow on the hard work of thousands of youth.
“While the commission has already announced that it is going to investigate the incident in which 700 people from Karaikudi center won the land surveyor exam, irregularities in the Group 4 exam results that have come out after eight months of waiting, is like insulting the youth of Tamil Nadu who have worked tirelessly preparing for the exam. The Government of Tamil Nadu should conduct a thorough investigation and re-examination should be conducted if there have been any irregularities in the examination results.”, Annamalai said.
தமிழ்நாடு அரசுப் பணித் தேர்வாணையம் நடத்திய குரூப் 4 தேர்வு முடிவுகளில் பெரும் முறைகேடுகள் நடந்திருப்பதாகக் குற்றச்சாட்டு எழுந்திருக்கிறது.
ஒரே பயிற்சி மையத்திலிருந்து 2000 பேர் தேர்ச்சி பெற்றுள்ளதாக வந்த தகவல் பல ஆயிரம் இளைஞர்களின் கடின உழைப்பை வீணாக்கியிருக்கிறது. (1/4)
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 27, 2023
AIADMK MLA from Bodinayakkanur O. Panneerselvam too flagged the issue demanding a detailed inquiry into the recent Group 4 exam results.
தமிழ்நாடு அரசுப் பணியாளர் தேர்வாணையத்தால் அண்மையில் வெளியிடப்பட்ட குரூப் 4 தேர்வு முடிவுகளில் முறைகேடுகள் நடைபெற்றிருக்கிறதா என்பது குறித்து ஒரு விரிவான விசாரணைக்கு உத்தரவிட்டு, அதற்கேற்ப மேல் நடவடிக்கை எடுத்திடுக! pic.twitter.com/WbyO9KG5KE
— O Panneerselvam (@OfficeOfOPS) March 28, 2023
5 Lakh People Failed To Clear Tamil Says TNPSC
Many candidates also complained that they couldn’t view their results to which the TNPSC has stated that around 5 lakh people have failed to clear the Tamil qualifying paper.
Interestingly, when the Group 2 exam fiasco panned out, the TNPSC stated that candidates need not worry about the Tamil qualifying paper as 98% of the candidates clear it.
PTR Underplays And Denies
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan who also holds the portfolio of human resources management denied any irregularities saying the allegations are baseless. But he has sought a detailed clarification from the commission’s member secretary.
“Appropriate action will be taken if any malpractices, as claimed, have taken place,” PTR said responding Edappadi K Palaniswami’s calling attention motion in the Assembly.
This is the second instance in a matter of a month where the TNPSC has found itself in bad light.
The Group 2 Exam Fiasco
Earlier on 25 February 2023, there was commotion in several districts due to a delay in the conducting of Group II and Group II-A exam. The delay had occurred due to the incorrect distribution of question papers and answer sheets by the examiners. According to reports, after the examiners realized that the question paper and answer sheets were incorrectly distributed, the candidates were instructed to write the exam on an already written answer sheet, which was written by the person who received it during the previous incorrect distribution.
Furthermore, when the candidatess inquired about the incorrect register number on the OMR sheets, the invigilators misled them by claiming that those were dummy numbers.
TNPSC officials took back the question papers and answer sheets from the examinees and sent them out of the hall after realizing that the question papers and OMR sheets had been distributed incorrectly. Some of the examinees who had phones outside the exam hall used them to look up answers to questions they remembered from the incorrectly distributed paper.
After outrage from candidates hitting the headlines, TNPSC admitted to the confusion and said that it had instructed the respective districts to give the candidates extra time due to the delay in starting the exam. However, not all candidates in all centre’s were given the extra time, say many candidates.
It is to be noted that this kind of blunder and mismanagement has never happened in the 9 decade history of TNPSC.
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