JPSC Civil Services Prelims exam held after gap of 5 years, more than 3.5 lakh aspirants appear in 24 districts

Ranchi, September 19: More than 3.5 lakh aspirants appeared for the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) Civil Services prelims exam held on Sunday across 1,102 centres in 24 districts of Jharkhand.

The JPSC prelims could not be held after 2016. That is, the 6th JPSC, which is still in dispute and the matter is subjudice and there is a continuous dispute about the reinstatement of 326 officers. After that, no JPSC exams were held.

So, 4 JPSC exams were conducted simultaneously. The preliminary exams for 252 posts for 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th conducted today, September 19.

The admit cards were  issued to 3,69,327 candidates to appear in this examination.

As per commission suggestion all the candidates reached the examination centre half an hour before the commencement of the examination and sit in the allotted seat.

The center superintendent will allow entry in special circumstances up to 15 minutes after the commencement of the examination, subject to proper reasons being shown.

The first shift examination was conducted from 10 am to 12 noon. The first paper will be held for General Studies. Similarly, in the second shift examination from 2 pm to 4 pm, there was an examination of the second paper of General Studies subject itself. Objective questions of two hundred marks  were asked on each paper in the examination of two hours duration.

JPSC had earlier released the date for taking PT on May 2 and then on September 12. The PT was postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The commission then decided to conduct the examination on September 12, but due to some examinations being on that day, its date was shifted to September 19.

Most aspirants found the questions to be easy for anyone who has put in at least “some effort” in preparing for the tests.

Most of the aspirants appeared satisfied with their performance after the first sitting of the exam from 10am to 12pm. Simran Kumari, an  aspirant at Church School Beldih, said that  chances of scoring high and clearing the exam were higher as there was no negative marking.

 “The fear of negative marking often keeps us from attempting questions even if we have a little doubt over the answer. The paper was easy and we had the freedom to attempt all the questions,” said Kumari

Both the papers only had objective questions and the candidates had to mark the answers on an OMR sheet. The questions were mostly based on general knowledge and some of them were related to Jharkhand, the aspirants said.

The Jharkhand Cabinet in February decided that candidates who were 35-year-old or younger on August 1, 2016 will be eligible to appear for the JPSC exams – a decision that also gave working professionals with over a decade of experience a chance to crack civil services.  

All the aspirants had to wear face masks and maintain social distancing inside the exam centres. The aspirants were also advised to carry hand sanitisers to the exam halls and were allowed to enter the centres after thermal screening.
The ones who clear the prelims will go on to appear for the JPSC Main exam and the ones clearing it will fill up the 252 vacancies.