‘Poved unreliable': Candidates demand vendor change as chaos mars SSC Selection Post Phase 13 exam
Dipesh Yadav, who appeared for the exam, said, 'I opted for Pune as my centre preference and filled in the form early, but was allocated Kolhapur instead. They didn't even consider my second preference of Mumbai,' Yadav said.
'Some were allotted centres in different states altogether. And students who travelled over 400 km were sent back, citing a technical glitch. The SSC should stop random centre allocation and increase examination centres in urban areas that are more convenient,' Yadav added.
Another aspirant, Pranav Khandebharad from Akurdi, said, 'The vendor got changed as students had previously alleged unfair normalisation processes during the CGL Tier 2 examination that was held last year, but the current situation has proven far worse than anticipated,' he said.
Omkar Lakhare, an SSC coaching faculty member at Pune's Winner's Academy, told The Indian Express, 'Servers crashed, students couldn't log in, shifts got cancelled mid-way, it was a nightmare for lakhs of aspirants appearing across India. This is not a mere technical glitch but complete mismanagement,' he said.
As the SSC recently replaced Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with Eduquity as the vendor entrusted with conducting the examination, the crisis has also raised questions about the decision.
New vendor's troubled history
Lakhare emphasised that the new vendor has proved unreliable in its very first SSC examination.
'The current vendor for SSC exams was accused of mishandling the Madhya Pradesh Patwari exam and was also being blacklisted by the Directorate General of Training before. So, the commission must reconsider its choice and can onboard IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) for reliability,' Lakhare said.
Despite repeated attempts, Eduquity has not responded to concerns flagged by aspirants.
Many candidates and teachers protested at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, the central Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), and outside the SSC headquarters at Lodhi Road. The protesters demanded immediate reforms to streamline the SSC examination system, replacement of the unreliable vendor, and a thorough investigation into the mismanagement.
Lakhare also highlighted infrastructural problems that have emerged under the new vendor. 'Some centres are located in rural areas where there's a high chance of cheating. Additionally, there are infrastructure issues, such as network problems, non-functional mice and keyboards, and discrepancies in English-to-Hindi translations of questions. Such problematic centres must be removed immediately,' he said.
'The commission must take these concerns seriously as their decisions impact lakhs of students preparing for various SSC examinations held across the country, and students' future is at stake,' the faculty member stated.
Students demand a complete overhaul of the SSC examination system to prevent such failures in the future.
'If the glitches persist, many aspirants will be affected in the future exam. So our demand is that the upcoming SSC Combined Graduate Level Exam (CGL), from August 13, be postponed,' Pranav added.
The writer is an intern with The Indian Express.
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