SSC Chairman's Assurance Falls Short of Convincing Protesting Students, a Complete Overhaul of the Examination System Appears to be the Only Solution.

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Massive disruptions during the Staff Selection Commission’s (SSC) Selection Post Phase 13 examination, held between July 24 and August 1, have sparked nationwide protests, with thousands of aspirants taking it to the streets in Delhi and other cities. The candidates alleged widespread technical glitches, abrupt cancellations, biometric verification failures, and distant or incorrect exam centre allotments, leading to demands for a complete review of the process and an independent investigation into the failures.

Protests were staged at Jantar Mantar, the CGO Complex, and outside the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), with students raising slogans under the "Delhi Chalo" campaign. Viral videos on social media showed clashes between students and security personnel, with reports of alleged lathi charges and detentions. Educators, including prominent teacher Neetu Singh, joined the demonstrations, highlighting issues such as last-minute cancellations, non-functional systems, and allotment of centres hundreds of kilometres away from candidates’ locations. One student from Jaipur was even assigned a centre in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Ronak Khatri, the President of the Delhi University Students' Union, was among the protesters and, in a conversation with The Indian Express, said, “The vendor’s failure to smoothly conduct even an examination like Phase 13 has intensified concerns.” He added, “I joined the protest to raise students’ issues. The exam centres were located far away, several students missed their exams, and multiple technical glitches prevented many from performing to the best of their abilities.”

Much of the criticism centred on Eduquity Career Technologies, the private vendor contracted to conduct the exam, which students allege had a questionable track record and was previously linked to the Vyapam scam. Protesters called for the termination of its contract and reform of SSC’s exam administration process.

Responding to the allegations, SSC Chairman S. Gopalakrishnan acknowledged procedural lapses and technical glitches, attributing them to the vendor’s first attempt at handling SSC exams. He assured that measures were being taken to minimise disruptions and improve future tests, with C-DAC, a government entity, now monitoring exam processes. The SSC chief also denied claims of awarding contracts to a blacklisted agency, stating that vendor selection was done through a transparent tendering process.

Gopalakrishnan added that issues such as unresponsive systems were addressed on the spot with reboots and re-tests, and data logs were being analysed to detect malpractices, including impersonation. He admitted that some candidates had to travel long distances due to limited availability of large exam centres but clarified that choices were largely based on candidate preferences.

With the SSC Combined Graduate Level (CGL) exam scheduled to begin on August 13 for over 30 lakh candidates, aspirants expressed fear of similar mismanagement. The SSC chairman assured that future exams would only proceed after significant improvements in the process, emphasising that the level of disruption witnessed during Phase 13 would not be tolerated going forward. [Rh/VP]

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