“Government weak, paper leak.”

“Whoever saves us from paper leak will build a new Bihar.”

“Youth’s hard work is going to waste.”

“British Public Service Commission.”

These were some of the posters brandished by students in Patna when the police used lathis and water cannons to disperse them on Sunday, December 29. For over 10 days, the students have protested in the state capital, demanding the Bihar Public Service Commission preliminary exam be reconducted. The exam was held on December 13 but was cancelled at a Patna centre after allegations the paper was leaked. 

It was then announced that candidates who appeared at that specific centre would have a reexamination, but protests demanded that the entire exam be scrapped and reconducted.

A meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on New Year’s Eve kindled faint hopes that the exam will be reconducted across centres. Independent MP Pappu Yadav accompanied a delegation of students to meet with Chief Secretary Parmar Ravi Manubhai. He tweeted saying his “first priority” was a reexamination, and his second that no case be filed against any students.

The students’ demands

“The government is being stubborn,” said Vivek Kumar, one of the protesting students. “Firstly, there are no vacancies here. And even if there are, the government is not able to conduct the examination properly. Agitations and lathi-charges have become part of the exam process.”

Kumar furiously pointed out that “life is passing by” for students waiting to take the exam. “If the officials focus on conducting the paper properly instead of lathi-charging and slapping us, then we don’t need to take to the streets,” he said.

About 3,25,000 students had appeared to write the exam, conducted to recruit for 2,031 posts. The main exam will be held next year. Students at Patna’s Bapu Examination Centre alleged the questions were similar to those that appeared in model question papers provided by certain coaching centres. They also said many exam centres do not have CCTVs. 

Their main demand now is that the outcome of the December 13 exam be cancelled, and that the exam be rescheduled. They also want “strict action” against those responsible for the alleged paper leak.

The police’s use of force on Sunday has only fuelled their anger. Students told Newslaundry they had planned to hold a “parliament” at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan that day but the administration “refused permission” for it to take place. When they moved towards Gandhi Maidan regardless, the main gates were closed. The students then attempted to march towards the chief minister’s home but they were dispersed by the police, who wielded lathis and water cannons. 

The students were supported by Prashant Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, but he later faced flak for purportedly fleeing and abandoning them on Sunday. RJD leader and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav accused Kishor of trying to “mislead this movement”. He also said the students were “beaten at the behest of the chief minister”.

The Patna police later registered an FIR against a handful of students and others, and also 600 unidentified persons. Meanwhile, the BPSC said there was a “delay” in distributing question papers at the Bapu Centre but denied allegations of a paper leak.

However, it should be noted that not all students want the exam to be reconducted. Candidates from other centres told The Hindu the exam had been held in a “peaceful, proper and decent manner” for them – and that a retest would be a “gross injustice”.

The ‘normalisation’ question

At the heart of the issue is the question of “normalisation”. 

According to The Indian Express, this refers to a process that applies when an exam takes place in different shifts. It ensures that aspirants “answering an easier set of question papers are not unfairly benefitted at the cost of others”. It’s a process that’s in use in several competitive exams in India, but BPSC refused to adopt it. 

According to Guru Rehman, a coaching operator in Patna, the exam held on December 13 was “very easy”. However, 12,000 students who appeared for the exam in Bapu Centre will now have to retake the exam – and the new paper may be much more challenging. 

“There was a lot of chaos at the Bapu Centre. Some got the paper after 20 minutes, some didn’t get it at all. In some cases, the students left with the question paper. The seals of some question papers were broken,” he claimed. 

Importantly, on December 6, Rehman had been part of a movement to demand that the BPSC, like many other competitive exams in India, also adopt the normalisation formula, but the BPSC refused. 

“After the movement regarding normalisation, the BPSC issued a notice saying it would not do so, and that it would conduct the exam in a single sitting,” Rehman said. “The commission has now cancelled the papers for 12,000 students at Bapu Centre but the papers for the rest of the centre were not cancelled. If they give these students a difficult paper, it will be unfair.”

He added, “BPSC should clarify this. Either there should be normalisation or the commission should conduct the entire exam again. The demands of the students are justified.”

This report was first published on Newslaundry Hindi. It was translated to English by Shardool Katyayan.

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