Interview of the month with Mr. B. B. Das Chairman, TPSC By Our Correspondent

Tripura Public Service Commission (TPSC) has been a beacon of hope for the state's meritorious students and aspirants for jobs in civil service. Under the able stewardship of Shri B.B.Das as Chairman TPSC has gained in credibility, achieving the high status of one of the most transparent public institutions in the state. Still there is a lot to learn and a lot more to unlearn about the functioning of TPSC in public interest. In order that all such informations become accessible to the public tripurainfo.com had approached Shri Das for his considered replies to a set of queries and the Chairman took time off his hectic daily schedule to provide the information sought :

Q. During the past year local print media have reported charges of irregularities in the functioning of TPSC. What is your reaction to such reports?

Reply: It is a fact that some reports regarding charges of irregularities were published in some local dailies during the past few months.

This is perhaps because of lack of communication. The process of selection is now becoming more and more transparent with the introduction of new systems and techniques. The selection generally starts with a screening / written test, if the number of candidates is more than three times of our requirement.

Question papers are set by the selected experts. The answer scripts are evaluated by expert examiners, scrutinized by expert scrutinizers and at times checked by Head Examiners, none of whom is under the administrative control of the Commission. Sufficient care is taken by the Commission to ensure that the candidates are treated equally while making evaluation of their answer scripts.

The successful/ qualified candidates are called for interview, depending on the marks obtained by them in the screening/written test, in the following ratio.

It is needless to mention that the number of unsuccessful and hence dissatisfied candidates will always be more than the number of selected and hence satisfied candidates. Some of the unsuccessful candidates became successful in getting some reports regarding charges of irregularities published in some local dailies. The reporters did also not take the trouble by making any cross verification of the issues raised by the unsuccessful candidates.

My advice to the reporters would be to get the matter verified and to publish the charges of irregularities in their esteemed newspapers, if they so like, along with the views/comments of the Officers of the Commission.

Q. It is true that TPSC authority, especially after you joined as Chairman, have taken initiatives to ensure fairness and transparency in conducting examinations and in declaring results but charges persist. What is your response to the most commonly raised allegation that selected or politically backed candidates are favoured in interview, if not in written tests?

Reply: That you have appreciated the steps taken by the Commission to ensure fairness and transparency in conducting examinations and declaring the results is accepted as a reward for us.

It is admitted that a misconception persists among some people that the Public Service Commission favours the politically backed candidates. This issue was raised by me in the 12th National Conference of Chair persons of State Public Service Commissions held on 20.02.2010 and 21.02.2010 in New Delhi. It was decided in the conference that the Public Service Commissions would take steps for making the people aware of the transparent procedure of selection of candidates. My replies to your queries will therefore be a step towards making the candidates aware of the transparent procedure of selection of candidates being followed by the Commission.

Personality test/interview is taken by a Board consisting of the Chairman, at least one Member of the Commission [or by at least two Members of the Commission] and one Subject Expert. All decisions regarding grading of candidates are taken on the basis of consensus of the Members of the Board. Final selection is made after adding the marks obtained by them in the screening /written test with the marks awarded to them in the interview/personality test.

It is not true that the candidates whose names do not appear in the "Select List" are not eligible for the post. "Select List" is prepared on the basis of actual requirement of the Govt. Names of many other qualified candidates do not find place in the " Select List " because of non-availability of vacancies in their respective categories.

It is very much unlikely that all the Members of the Board including the Subject Expert (who is not under the administrative control of the Commission) would be biased simultaneously to favour a particular politically backed but otherwise less meritorious candidate and even if they do so, his name may not appear in the "Select List" if his performance is not good in the screening/written test.

I have been observing for the last few months that the candidates who have done well in the screening /written test are generally doing well in the personality test / interview also and are being selected though the marks obtained by them in the screening/written test are not made known to the Members of the Board.

Q. A number of candidates for examinations conducted by TPSC have alleged that there are often glaring discrepancies in evaluations made by examiners and scrutinisers. In one case the examiner awarded sixty marks to a candidate for TCS in the optional Geography paper but the scrutiniser reduced the marks to only thirty two. Similar allegations have been made by other candidates who came to k now of this while checking their answer scripts on the basis of RTI petitions. What is your reaction to this?

Reply: It is not a fact that there are discrepancies in evaluation made by the examiners and scrutinizers.

Scrutinizers do not evaluate any answer script, they only check if the marks awarded by the Examiner have been added correctly. In case of scheduled examination like TCS/TPS etc., Head Examiners are appointed at times to check/re-evaluate the answer scripts, if and where necessary. The Head Examiners may increase/decrease the marks awarded to a particular candidate by the Examiner. This can not but be accepted by the candidates.

Q. It is commonly said that the syllabus of TPSC for various examinations has not been updated for a long time. Is any initiative being taken in this regard?

Reply: The syllabi of the TCS/TPS Examination have been updated and the next Combined Competitive Examination for recruitment to TCS/TPS is likely to be held in the month of November, 2010 in accordance with the updated syllabi. Steps are being taken by the Commission for continuous updation of the syllabi in case of all other non-scheduled examinations.

In case of scheduled examination updation of syllabus is to be made by the Govt. by amending the relevant rules.

Q. How can the functioning of TPSC, especially in the matter of conducting examinations and declaring results, be made more transparent and fair so that no scope is left for making allegations by candidates ?

Reply: This is a very important question. Some steps have already been taken by the Commission for making the selection procedure more transparent.

* Optical Mark Reading (OMR) system has already been introduced. Evaluation of the OMR answer scripts are being done now by the external agencies. Result can be published within a fortnight if the screening/written test is taken under OMR system.

Dependence on external agency is creating some avoidable problems in evaluation of the answer scripts. A work order has, therefore, been issued by the Science & Technology Department to install an OMR Device in the office of the Commission so that the Commission can get the answer scripts evaluated within the shortest possible time. After installation of the device an attempt will be made to take as many tests as possible under OMR system.

* The key answers of the Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) are now being published in the Commission's website immediately after completion of the examination process. This will help the candidates to have a fair idea of their performance. They are also free to let the Commission know if any of the key answers is wrong.

* A Combined Competitive Examination for recruitment to the Miscellaneous posts is going to be introduced within a short period for recruitment to the posts of Panchayet Extension Officer, Revenue Inspector. Tax Inspector and the like.

* The Commission will, on perusal of the best practices adopted by other states Public Service Commissions and the Union Public Service Commission , take some other measures to ensure fairness and transparency in the matter of conducting examination, declaration of result and finally in the selection procedure . It will be too early to mention anything at this stage about the measures proposed to be taken to make the selection procedure more transparent. But suggestions from the responsible citizens in the matter will be gratefully acknowledged.

Published on 01 Sep, 2010 Readers can send their comments on this feature to : feature@tripurainfo.in