UPSC candidates complain of police high-handedness

There were complaints that they behaved rudely with the candidates. The preliminary exam for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) was conducted in various venues across the country. Close to seven lakh candidates had applied for the exam, but only 42 % of the candidates appeared in Madurai. 

The exam was conducted in two sessions, one in the morning and another in the evening. Though there were clear instructions issued for candidates and security personnel, there were unnecessary checks in the centres which made candidates resent the policemen. 

A candidate, Dhanabalan, who wrote the exam at Madurai, said that in the instructions issued by UPSC to the candidates only electronic gadgets were barred from the exam halls but policemen asked them to open their shirt sleeves, checked their handkerchiefs and purses. 

Another candidate, Manoj Kumar, said the policemen behaved rashly with them and even though they tried to explain to them about the instructions, they paid no heed.  High-handedness was witnessed among the policemen who were posted at the venues for security duty, said Manoj. 

In Coimbatore, as many as 4,805 candidates did not appear for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examination at the centres in Western Tamil Nadu. This was 54.93 per cent of the 8,748 candidates, who had opted for Coimbatore as their centre.

In all, 3,943 candidates wrote the exam at 22 centres in and around the city. Arrangements were made for differently-abled persons to write the exams at CSI Girls Higher Secondary School in the city. 

Seven officers in the rank of sub collector were engaged as mobile teams, while each centre had an additional supervisor and as many as 43 assistant supervisors. Some candidates from other districts had reached Coimbatore on Saturday night so that they could go to the exam venue on time.