In a setback to the state government, the Telangana High Court on Monday directed the Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC) to manually reevaluate the answer scripts of the Main Examinations for Group I services and declare the results within eight weeks. In case the commission fails to comply with the court’s directive, the entire exam process will be scrapped and fresh ones ordered.
The court’s directive came following complaints that the process was flawed and lacked transparency, seeking manual re-evaluation or re-examination.
Nine writ petitions were filed by candidates of the Group I main examinations, pointing out that TGPSC had engaged non-Telugu evaluators, which had put students from the Telugu medium at a disadvantage. TGPSC had, however, stated that each script was evaluated by three examiners under a coding system, and the average of the top two scores was taken into account. The court had earlier questioned the rationale behind engaging evaluators who were not familiar with Telugu. Justice N Rajeshwar Rao has set aside the final marks list announced by the TGPSC and the general ranking of the candidates. The examination was held last October.
BRS leader T Harish Rao described the Telangana High Court’s directive as a “slap in the face of the state government.” Following the judgment, he called upon Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to apologise to the unemployed youths. He said, “It is due to your negligence in conducting examinations hastily and indulging in irregularities that the students and the unemployed youths are suffering. The Congress government, which makes empty promises, lacks even basic competence to conduct exams properly. Conducting exams and providing jobs are not about inciting students and the unemployed to engage in petty politics. Open your eyes; bow your head in shame for your negligence and deceit. Apologize to the youth of Telangana.”
One of the key reasons for the defeat of the BRS was the paper leak scam in the TGPSC. The Congress had promised to clean up the system and conduct examinations and recruitment in a time-bound manner.