No blacklisted vendors: Exam body responds to mismanagement charge
The computer-based Phase 13 examination, held between July 24 and August 1, was allegedly plagued by abrupt cancellations, software crashes, biometric verification failures, and erroneous exam centre allotments."In some places, the systems stopped working. For instance, the computer mouse was unresponsive. In such cases, we instructed the centres to reboot the system, and the candidate was given another chance. We conduct a log analysis for all exams across all centres. While we acknowledge that disruptions occurred, our goal is to eliminate them entirely in the future," he said.Responding to allegations that the exam tender was awarded to a blacklisted agency, Eduquity Career Technologies, he said the new agency was selected through a transparent process, and any blacklisted firm would have been disqualified at the tendering stage.'We are dependent on agencies to conduct exams, and they are selected through an open tender process. Some agencies monitor the exams, some provide content and questions, and one offers IT support. The previous agency's term ended in 2024. After that, a new agency was selected through a transparent process. If any agency had been blacklisted, it would have been disqualified at the tendering stage. So, the process is transparent,' he added.The SSC chairman added that with C-DAC, a government entity, now monitoring the exam process, they can see what is happening behind the scenes.Comparing to the previous tender Tata Consultance Services (TCS), Gopalakrishnan said that "TCS adopted a different style of examination. A supreme court order mandates we cannot give all exam conducting processes to one agency only. Hence, we have changed and deployed many agencies. Finally, the tests should be fair and transparent."On concerns about exam centres being allotted at distant locations, the SSC chief said the Commission was not forcing anyone to travel, adding that some students may have selected far-off centres themselves.advertisement'For instance, students from North Indian states were sent to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to take the tests. I must say there are only two possible reasons for this: either the student lives in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and opted for that centre, or someone from another region chose that centre themselves.'We have never assigned a centre to anyone forcefully. There was an initial shortage in centre allotments, and our priority was to start the tests on time. Most students will not need to travel more than 200-250 kilometres. However, there will be some disruptions due to the lack of centres in many cities. We are going to publish on the portal how many students were allotted their first, second, and third choice of centres. That data will be made public,' he added.He also affirmed that the agency is working to eliminate impersonation in examinations, calling it the "biggest threat", along with tackling issues related to hacking and cyber fraud.When it was pointed out that students are concerned about the conduct of the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) exam, scheduled to begin on August 13 with over 30 lakh candidates expected to appear, the commission said it will conduct the examination after analysing the improvements made in the process.advertisement"We have seen some improvement, and only after we see further progress will we conduct the exam. Over the past week, there has been significant improvement. However, this level of disruption is intolerable and will not be tolerated," he said.- Ends
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