BPSC re-exam for 1 centre today, protest spruces up
Bihar PSC denies full re-exam despite protests; only one centre's test rescheduled for January 4. Opposition parties support candidates' demands.
Despite protests by candidates for over a fortnight and opposition parties backing them, the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) is adamant that it would not hold re-exam, barring for a centre in Patna, of the 70th combined competitive pre examination, which was held on December 13.

The BPSC has agreed for re-exam for the Bapu Pariksha Parisar centre where some irregularities were reported and subsequently its exam was annulled. The fresh exam has been scheduled for January 4 (today) and for more than 10,000 are expected to appear for it.
Today’s test will be held at 22 newly designated centres across the city.
BPSC secretary Satyaprakash Sharma said that the re-exam would be held on Saturday and so far there was no decision on part of the commission to hold re-exam for all. “There is no decision and there is no justification for that. The re-exam will be held only for the Bapu Exam Centre at 22 separate centres,” he added.
He, however, tried to parry the question being raised by students, as to how the commission would avoid normalisation process, which it had notified before the exam after students’ protest. “It will be done in a way that it will not have much of an impact. It is done in several exams,” he added.
On the allegations of questions looking alike the ones in the test series of a coaching centre, which is not expected in a commission’s exam, Sharma said it might be just a coincidence. “Out of 1,200 pages, if some fact-based questions look similar, though not exactly the same, it is no big deal. We had invited an 18-member expert committee to deliberate on it and that has been okayed,” he added.
BPSC chairman Ravi Manu Bhai Parmar has categorically maintained that out of 912 exam centres, problems surfaced only at one centre in Patna and cancelling exam at all the centres, involving nearly 3.28 lakh students, was not justified.
However, a day before the re-exam for the lone cancelled centre, the atmosphere in state capital has spruced up. Jan Sraaj Party’s founder Prashant Kishor continued his fast-unto-death demanding full re-examination. Independent MP Pappu Yadav led his supporters in blocking rail and road traffic in several areas of Patna as well as other parts of the state, including Araria, Purnea and Muzaffarpur, officials said.
The BPSC candidates were also sitting on their dharna at Gardanibagh. Their sit-in has crossed two weeks. Left wing leaders also came out to protest.
Political parties have vied with each other to show solidarity with protesting candidates. Leaders from all leading parties like RJD and Congress have showed up to side with the protestors. The government however hasn’t budged a bit so far. The only significant development was when Chief Secretary met a delegation of protestors last week and received the memorandum of their demands.
The protest had flared when Kishor led protestors in what was called ‘Chhatra Sansad’ and when protestors marched towards CM residence, they were lathi-charged and water cannons were showered on them.
While Opposition parties have stepped ahead to shepherd their cause, and Kishor has especially been among them regularly, the BPSC students are wary of them. “The political parties claim to be fighting for the students but they have derailed it by attacking one another. It has been reduced to only credit war. We never wanted politicisation, but it has been forced on us,” they said in a statement.
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