MPSC : Goofing up the art of copy and paste
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 19, 2012 -

MPSC The main written examination underway - Pix :: TSE

Circa, the period when mass copying was the defining aspect of all High School Leaving Certificate Examinations or Matric examinations, as it was more popularly known then, a candidate was so taken in while copying from the text book that he included the sentence....‘For reference look at example No 1’ or something like this in his answer script.

In all probability this was a story cooked up to amuse or magnify the ignorance of some candidates, but fast forward to the year 2012 and it is apparent that the Manipur Public Service Commission is hell bent on besting this story.

In the preliminary examination conducted last year, a number of questions were copied directly from a website and passed off as questions to the candidates. A copy and paste job, which even a Class IX student can do.

The icing on the cake was of course the questions asked in the English Literature paper, which were nothing but carbon copies of the ones asked in the 2005 examination.

On February 10, one day after DESAM came out with the damning ‘replica questions’ issue, yours faithfully tried to contact the Secretary of the MPSC, just so to get the side of the story from the Commission.

The calls were not entertained at all. An example of arrogance or the proverbial Ostrich with its head in the sand ?

An important question, important one at that, is in line; Are there any sons, daughters, relatives of the Chairman, Secretary or Member of the Commission appearing in the examination ?

If the answer is in the affirmative, should they be still in ‘office ?’ Isn't there something called moral probity ? If the ‘unentertained’ calls are any indication, then there will be no answer to this question either.

So far the MPSC has not said a word on the ‘replica qeustions fiasco’ and most probably they will not. Maybe silence is the better part of competence for them here.

For the sheer stupidity, the candidate who appeared in the HSLC exam story must have had his marks slashed, but it remains to be seen whether the persons responsible for the fiasco of the examination to recruit MCS, MPS, MFS and Allied Services officers would be nailed or glorified.