A group of unsuccessful aspirants for the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Civil Services (PCS) has alleged that more than 50 per cent of the candidates selected as subdivisional magistrates (SDMs) in the previous three examinations belong to a particular caste.

In a PIL filed in the Allahabad High Court, these petitioners have claimed that of the 86 SDMs selected in the last three exams, 56 belong to a particular caste. In other appointments made by the UP Public Service Commission (UPPSC) during the same period, over 50 per cent selected candidates are from the same caste, they added.

The petitioners have sought an investigation by the CBI into the selections, alleging that UPPSC chairperson Dr Anil Yadav is favouring candidates from his own caste. According to the PIL, 72 of the 389 PCS officers selected in 2011 were from this caste. Of the 111 OBC candidates, the 45 who got through also belonged to this caste. This was besides the 27 successful candidates of the same caste in general category.

The plea mentions that the discrepancies in selection started in April 2013, when Dr Yadav took over as the UPPSC chairperson. Three PCS examinations - 2011, 2012 and 2013 - were conducted during his tenure.



Blessing



"Normally, PCS exams are held two-three years later, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the casteist forces, who started obliging members of their own caste. Dr (Anil) Yadav surpassed all limits of casteism and tried every means to favour his caste men. We have presented before the HC the results of over a dozen examinations conducted by UPPSC in the last three years to prove that this racket is bigger than Madhya Pradesh's Vyapam scam and a probe should be conducted by CBI," said Awaneesh Pandey, one of the petitioners. Ayodhya Singh and Kaushal Singh are among the other petitioners.

"You cannot expect good governance in such a situation. The people of a particular caste got huge marks in interviews, leaving behind those who had secured much better marks than the selected candidates in written exam," Pandey claimed.

The petitioners also claimed that the problem started when the new UPPSC head implemented a scaling system in examination, under which a candidate who secured zero marks in certain subjects was declared qualified because the selection list was prepared on the basis of the merit list after including the marks obtained in the interview. This system marred the chances of many candidates who had secured good marks in the written exam, but couldn't score as highly in interviews.

Decision change

Since taking over as the UPPSC chairperson in 2013, Dr Yadav has taken many controversial decisions. Earlier, he had implemented a three-tier reservation system under which caste-based quotas were introduced at the written test stage. However, the UPPSC had to later withdraw the decision after widespread protests. In fact, fingers have been pointed more at the UPPSC examination in the past two years than ever before. In another case pending before the high court, petitioner Vishal Kumar has raised doubts over the authenticity of the PCS preliminary examination.

Alok Mishra, the counsel in Kumar's case, said: "Earlier, UPPSC used to declare answers of objective questions after the examination so that the students could know where they went wrong. But this system has been discontinued for two years now. After the students moved the court in June this year, the HC ordered UPPSC to reveal the answers.

"But here UPPSC again played a trick. There were at least six questions with two correct answers. But the UPPSC arbitrarily rejected one of the answers. For example, there was a question about which country didn't participate in Operation Storm of Resolve launched by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Pakistan and Oman figured among the four options, but UPPSC rejected Pakistan as the correct answer even though both Oman and Pakistan had stayed away from the operation. Many students failed in the preliminary test last year because of UPPSC's arbitrary attitude. This case is also pending in the court," Mishra said. Additional advocate general Zafaryab Jilani refused to make any comment on the issue, merely saying: "I have not yet seen the petitions, so it would be unwise to comment on these."

Kaushal, one of the petitioners, alleged: "The UPPSC authorities are trying to hide information from the candidates. That's why now they don't release the PCS results openly. They have recently developed a one-time password system under which a candidate can access his own result online, but cannot see the other results. "Even the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) plasters the final results with the name and registration number of successful candidates. You can also see who is an OBC or SC. But in UPPSC, they play tricks to benefit a particular caste," he added.

The petitioners have formed Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha to fight against UPPSC's "arbitrary attitude". Kaushal said: "We will fight this case till the last and ensure that the results of last three years are declared null and void."