Failing the test

Student protests in Delhi and Jharkhand over irregularities in exam papers have underlined the flaws in India’s public-examination system. The growing clamour for accountability among students and job seekers sitting in central or state public exams reflects multiple institutional failures. This much was clear from the Jharkhand government’s decision to cancel 22 recruitment exams since 2014. The cancelled exams include those for the state civil services, civil judges, drug inspectors, forest officials, and so on. These exams include those conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission and some are outsourced to a private testing firm called TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd (TDPL). This decision came after lathicharges, teargas and police intimidation arrests failed to break the resolve of a 26-day protest led by the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha, a local political party. For the state government, the consequences of this maximalist decision taken under duress can be seen in a fresh set of protests — this time by candidates who had passed these exams and now hold jobs in the state administration. They fear job losses since the exams for which they appeared have been declared invalid and the government is yet to clarify their status. The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday stayed the cancellation of the state’s 11th to 13th Combined Civil Services examination. 

As with the protests at Jantar Mantar, spearheaded by the pressure group called Cockroach Janta Party, from which it drew inspiration, the protestors alleged serious breaches in recruitment tests, especially in the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) exam. In the spotlight is TDPL, which has been handling the JSSC-CGL, among others. The appointment of this little-known agency, incorporated in 2010, has raised eyebrows since its promoters are facing accusations of irregularities and nepotism in Uttar Pradesh. Having flubbed the protest management, the Jharkhand government is flailing for solutions. It has urged the Jharkhand High Court to set up a fast-track court to try those responsible for leaking exam papers, proposed an internal monitoring cell to suggest exam reforms, and ordered multiple enquiries. These moves may suggest hectic corrective action but there is no shortage of sensible solutions to a problem that has been endemic in India for years — neighbouring Bihar has become notorious in this respect. An expert committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Radhakrishnan to suggest ways to reform the National Testing Agency bristles with sensible ideas, including tech solutions and audit committees, which could easily be replicated at state level. No doubt the high-powered task force led by Nandan Nilekani with a similar brief will offer more reformatory ideas. 

Though public scrutiny is likely to ensure some degree of probity in the conduct of exams for a while, a basic structural weakness remains and will continue to incentivise irregularities — the shortage of decent university seats or secure jobs. Hundreds or thousands of applicants sat in exams for just 103 vacancies in Jharkhand’s Combined Civil Services. In the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduates, more than 2.3 million candidates chased 137,000 MBBS seats. Unless India creates more quality institutions of higher education and its economy can create decent jobs, millions of aspirants who spend years and, in some cases, lakhs of rupees on coaching institutions to achieve success will have to live with this uncertain reality.