Penalise the Secured Printing Press Comedy of error
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It was a comedy of error, but it is more than clear that it was not the Manipur Public Service Commission (MPSC) which scripted this comic tale, but the Secured Printing Press which was assigned the duty of printing the question papers for the Manipur Civil Service Competitive (Mains) Examination. A rude shock it must have been for the candidates who were handed out question paper meant for the afternoon session, when they sat down to write the exams during the morning session. Not surprisingly news of the goof up went viral on the social media and the comments and opinions that followed from the public was spontaneous. The damage was already done, but not unexpectedly the MPSC did put on its best foot forward to do what one would call ‘damage control exercise’. ‘An error in the Secured Printing Press’ is the line that MPSC has maintained and while the press in question should be held responsible for the goof up, it also stands that this is not the first time to find the MPSC in muck and grime. True to the strict line of confidentiality that ought to be maintained, no official of the MPSC could have a look at the question paper before it is opened in front of the candidates in the examination hall. There was just no way for the MPSC to detect any errors that could have crept in, such as while embossing the date and time on the question papers, which are to be opened only in front of the candidates inside the exam hall. The care taken to ensure that the question papers do not fall into the hands of the MPSC officials or anyone else, is noted and acknowledged, for remember the MPSC has for long been dogged by one controversy after the other. And the controversy ranges from mark tampering, manipulation of marks on the answer scripts with no signature of the examiner etc. A look back at the distant and not so distant past should be enough reason to explain why public trust and confidence in the highest recruiting body in the State of Manipur has been eroded so much. It took the ruling of the then Imphal bench of the Gauhati High Court to quash the written MCS examination back in 1994 after Justice Sema ruled, ‘A drop of poison poisons the whole glass of milk’ and fast forward to the 2016 MCS examination and candidates who had already been selected and serving as MCS, MPS and MFS officers were dismissed in 2019 after the High Court of Manipur declared the said examination null and void. So officers who were already in service were asked to pack up and leave and the mental trauma of those already in service can only be imagined.
Two extraordinary cases and which immediately come to mind. In a way it is fortunate that the blunder this time was detected on the day of the examination itself, prompting the MPSC to cancel the said examination. One shudders to think what could have been the situation if the blunder had come to light after the examination and the results had been declared and the names of the successful candidates had been announced ! From the grapevine it is learnt that firm actions would be taken up against the Secured Printing Press and while blacklisting and barring them from printing future question papers would be the right step, Manipur has not heard of any course of action that had been taken up against those who did wrong in the question manipulation fiasco of 1994 and 2016. It was only the candidates who suffered with some facing the ignominy of being ‘disrobed’ of their status as ‘officers of the Government of Manipur,’ with no one really knowing who were the real culprits. Manipur has not heard of the different civil society organisations and even student bodies raising the right kind of noise over such cases giving the impression that one can get away with blue murder in Manipur, so long as it does not rub the ‘people who matter’ the wrong way. Now is the time for the MPSC to take up due course of action, black list the said printing press, and see what other course of action may be taken up. This is also the right time for the MPSC to see what may be done to retrieve lost ground.
Two extraordinary cases and which immediately come to mind. In a way it is fortunate that the blunder this time was detected on the day of the examination itself, prompting the MPSC to cancel the said examination. One shudders to think what could have been the situation if the blunder had come to light after the examination and the results had been declared and the names of the successful candidates had been announced ! From the grapevine it is learnt that firm actions would be taken up against the Secured Printing Press and while blacklisting and barring them from printing future question papers would be the right step, Manipur has not heard of any course of action that had been taken up against those who did wrong in the question manipulation fiasco of 1994 and 2016. It was only the candidates who suffered with some facing the ignominy of being ‘disrobed’ of their status as ‘officers of the Government of Manipur,’ with no one really knowing who were the real culprits. Manipur has not heard of the different civil society organisations and even student bodies raising the right kind of noise over such cases giving the impression that one can get away with blue murder in Manipur, so long as it does not rub the ‘people who matter’ the wrong way. Now is the time for the MPSC to take up due course of action, black list the said printing press, and see what other course of action may be taken up. This is also the right time for the MPSC to see what may be done to retrieve lost ground.