The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) has announced the cancellation of the Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Grade-II exam, which was originally scheduled for 14 December 2024.
According to a statement from the In-charge Controller of Examination, John Lewis, the cancellation was due to technical issues at certain exam centers that prevented some candidates from completing the exam. A re-examination will now be held next year on 22 February 2025, using the OMR method. Admit cards for the re-exam will be available on the TNPSC website for candidates who were originally registered for the exam.
The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) issued a notification on 13.09.2024 for direct appointments to the post of Assistant Public Prosecutor, Level-II, in the Criminal Prosecution Department. A computer-based examination for this selection was held on 14.12.2024 in the afternoon for 4,186 candidates across 15 district centers. However, due to technical issues at some exam centers, some candidates were unable to complete the examination. Following this, a request was received from the affected candidates for a re-examination.
After reviewing the request, the Selection Board has agreed to it and decided to cancel the computer-based examination held on 14.12.2024 for the aforementioned post. A re-examination will be conducted on 22.02.2025 in OMR mode. Admit cards for the re-examination will be issued only to those candidates who were initially admitted to the examination. These will be made available on the Selection Board’s website at a later date.
This has caused significant distress among the aspirants, who had already been waiting for the exams and are now facing a further delay of another year, with the exam format reverting to the older method of marking answers on OMR sheets. Many candidates are questioning why the Selection Board is attempting to conduct online exams if it is not adequately equipped, leading to unnecessary delays and frustration for the aspirants.
This controversy is not new for the TNPSC, as the board has faced several allegations and criticisms in the past, both regarding the timely release of results and the smooth conduct of examinations.
For example, last year 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.
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