ZSF resents high cut-off mark
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, December 17 2024: Zomi Students' Federation (ZSF) on Tuesday expressed strong dissatisfaction over the disproportionately high cut-off marks set for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates from Manipur in the recently announced SSC-GD 2024 results.

In a representation submitted to the chairman of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), S Gopalakrishnan, the ZSF highlighted significant concerns over these cut-off marks, which it argues have surpassed reasonable limits and led to widespread distress among affected candidates.

The ZSF pointed out that the cut-off marks for ST candidates from Manipur were higher not only than those for Unreserved (UR) candidates but, in some instances, also exceeded the cut-off marks for candidates belonging to other categories such as Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Scheduled Castes (SC) .

As evidence, the ZSF attached screenshots of the results, clearly demonstrating that the ST cut-off marks for Manipur candidates were disproportionately higher when compared to UR and other category cut-offs.

Additionally, it pointed out that the cut-off marks for ST candidates from Manipur were significantly higher than those for ST candidates from other states, which the student body described as unreasonable and discriminatory.

The ZSF underscored the adverse implications of this disparity, noting that many deserving and highly qualified ST candidates from Manipur have been denied selection due to the excessively high cut-off marks.lt further argued that in certain cases, ST candidates who scored higher than UR candidates were still not selected, exposing systemic flaws in the recruitment process.

According to the ZSF, a root cause of this issue lies in the state-wise distribution of seats for candidates across various categories.

Given that the recruitment pertains to an All-India Service, the ZSF argued that limiting selection on a state-by-state basis has resulted in these unjustifiably high cut-off marks.

To address this, the ZSF proposed two solutions: either allow all candidates, irrespective of category or state, to compete at a national level, or permit candidates from the North East to compete regionally at the North East level.

Furthermore, the ZSF demanded that the cutoff marks for ST candidates be consistently set below those of UR candidates without exception.

The representation, signed by ZSF president Nengzalian Tonsing and secretary Samuel Taithul, urged the SSC chairman to intervene promptly and address the matter to ensure fairness and equity in the recruitment process.

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