MPSC mains exam: The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has decided to put jammers in exam centres in order to put check on the use of mobiles and other electronic items for cheating during main exams. Such jammers were used in Pune last month during the state civil engineering main examination. The commission conducts a number of important exams for recruitment for the state government. Among important exams that are conducted by the commission include state Civil Services Examination, Police Sub Inspector and Sales Tax Inspector, agriculture services, state forest services and state engineering services, which are conducted in the forms of prelims and main.
While every year number of candidates appearing for prelims goes in lakhs, number of candidates appearing main exams are in thousands In June last year, after the decision of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the MPSC also banned mobiles at all centres. A group of students, which had been demanding a number of reforms in the exam process, wrote to the Chief Minister’s Office and MPSC on how many candidates still manage to take mobiles inside exam halls using tactics.
Speaking to Indian Express, Sunil Awatade, deputy secretary with the MPSC said, “The decision has been taken that in the future, jammers will be installed to put a check on the use of cellphones and related electronic devices. Considering the number of candidates appearing for the preliminary examinations, which is lakhs, it would be impossible to install jammers at all centres. But it will done for all centres where the main examinations are conducted. We are also thinking of doing it for the preliminary exam centres where there are high chances of this being done.”
Mahesh Bade, a civil services aspirant and a member of the group that demands a number of reforms in the MPSC exam system said that inspite of MPSC banning mobiles in exam centres, his group brought to the notice of the committee that a number of candidates were still managing to take phones during exams. Welcoming MPSC’s move to install jammers he said that such steps should also be introduced in all government recruitment exams in order to make sure that genuine candidates do not have to suffer.
