Thousands of students have gathered in front of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) office in Prayagraj, protesting against the decision to hold the PCS and RO/ARO exams on separate days. They are demanding that both exams be scheduled on the same day to avoid confusion and inconvenience. In response to the protests, police resorted to lathi-charge on the demonstrators.
Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav condemned the police’s actions, particularly the lathi-charge on female students. He took to social media, stating, “Today’s youth say, we don’t want BJP!” Yadav further criticized the BJP government, saying, “The anti-youth BJP’s lathicharge on girl students is a highly condemnable act. When the candidates raised their demands to stop the rigging in UPPSC in Allahabad, the corrupt BJP government became violent. We repeat again: Jobs are not in the agenda of BJP. We are with the youth.”
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युवा विरोधी भाजपा का छात्राओं और छात्रों पर लाठीचार्ज बेहद निंदनीय कृत्य है।
इलाहाबाद में UPPSC में धांधली को रोकने के लिए अभ्यर्थियों ने जो जब माँग बुलंद की तो भ्रष्ट भाजपा सरकार हिंसक हो उठी। हम फिर दोहराते हैं : नौकरी भाजपा के एजेंडे में है ही नहीं।
हम युवाओं के साथ हैं।… pic.twitter.com/YbTlaBSAgG
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 11, 2024
The protests stem from the UPPSC’s decision to hold the PCS-2024 preliminary exam on December 7-8, and the RO-ARO-2024 preliminary exam on December 22-23, in two separate phases. Students are upset over this new arrangement, especially considering that the RO/ARO-2023 exam, previously scheduled for one day, had to be canceled after a paper leak scandal.
Prashant Pandey, media in-charge of the Competitive Students Struggle Committee, mentioned that under the original recruitment notification, the exam was initially set for one day, but the commission’s change of procedure and implementation of normalization has led to widespread discontent among students.
The protests have led to significant disruption, with police, PAC, and RAF forces deployed to manage the crowd. Roads near the commission were blocked, and traffic was halted as students broke through barricades to continue their protest.
The issue has now become a point of contention between the students and the state government, with students calling for a resolution to align the examination schedules and address concerns about fairness in the process.