As per newspaper reports, only 12 candidates out of the 2500 odd candidates who had appeared for the online computer based recruitment test cleared the Goa Public Service Commission [GPSC] exam for post of Junior Scale Officers.
The criteria laid down for passing this computer based recruitment test for candidates belonging to general category, OBC and ST is 65%, 60% and 55% respectively. The syllabus for CBRT was history of India and Indian national movement, Indian polity and governance, general issues on environment, ecology, bio-diversity and climate change, science, technology and innovation, current affairs, Indian and world geography, general English, logical reasoning, analytical ability, etc.
This time the CBRT consist of 60 questions (60 marks) to be answered in 60 minutes (a reduction compared to previous CBRT held in March which consisted of 90 questions/90 marks to be answered in 90 minutes).
No doubt the GPSC selection procedure is to test the candidate and ensure that the best candidates make it to the administration. But it is shocking to observe that just 0.48% of candidates cleared the computer based recruitment test as per criteria.
In the present scenario the computerized based recruitment test is used for short-listing of candidates for the written exam and the marks scored in CBRT are not considered for final selection. Therefore it would be advisable to reduce the qualifying percentage in CBRT to the lowest benchmark to give equal opportunity to a large section of candidates to appear for the written test.
At present the lowest benchmark percentage is 55%. This has to be considered across all categories of candidates which will cause no prejudice to any candidate.
Hope the GPSC will take cognizance of the issue and review the selection procedure.
Simon D Costa, Mardol
