Established in 1949, the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) is the authoritarian body which is in-charge of recruitment in civil services and civil posts that also includes teachers within the state. This body is supposed to conduct fair examination and unbiased recruitment. However, the image of RPSC has been tarnished with many recent cases of paper leaks in many examinations, which delayed the results. A member of the commission was also arrested for allegedly taking bribe, which damaged the sanctity of the institution further.
Pained by such developments, an IPS officer from the state has extended his help to rebuild this institution and make it trustworthy again. He is 2009-batch IPS officer Pankaj Choudhary. Currently serving as SP, Rajasthan Community Policing and Commandant SDRF, he has sent a five-pointer suggestion in regard to RPSC to CM Ashok Gehlot.
In an exclusive interview to Indian Masterminds, the officer said that it is painful for him to watch the downfall of an institution which gives hopes to so many.
CAN RESONATE WITH ASPIRANTS
An engineer by education, Mr. Choudhary joined IPS in 2009. It wasn’t easy for him as he had to go through many failures before finally making it. During his preparation journey, besides UPSC CSE, he also attempted various state services exams also. “Between 2005-2009, I attempted various state civil services exams that included Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal. I even cleared the UPPSC. Since I have been on this journey for a long time, I can resonate with the aspirants’ feelings,” he said.
All aspirants put in immense hard work placing their faith in such an institution. They believe that these institutions will be fair, and there cannot be any questions or doubt about their transparency. This belief helps them to aspire and keep trying year after year. Mr. Choudhary said that the recent downfall of RPSC is painful if one thinks about all those aspirants. He said, “I have met students from very poor economic background dealing with all sorts of struggles. But, all of them are hopeful that if they work hard, then they can change their destiny. After everything that has happened in RPSC, what can we say to those students?”
READY TO TAKE VRS
He has suggested some changes in RPSC and is ready to take voluntary retirement, if needed. When asked about the need for VRS, Mr. Choudhary highlighted the SOP of such bodies. In Rajasthan, most of the RPSC’s Chairmans were retired IPS officers. Mr. Choudhary said that if the government gives him the opportunity, he can assure them of working with full dedication. He suggested that he can be part of the institution as the Secretary or as the supervisor. “If the government is firm about the SOP, I can take VRS in that case. And, I am not trying to sacrifice. My only goal is to rebuild RPSC because I know students’ lives are at stake,” he said.
FIVE SUGGESTIONS
In an open letter to the Chief Minister, the officer has suggested five changes that should be implemented immediately. These are:
- People with integrity, dedication and compassionate towards the youth should be the Chairman or members of RPSC.
- The question papers should be full-proof with good translation in both English and Hindi. The questions should be set in secrecy and by following the rules so that students shouldn’t go to courts asking for fairness in the exam.
- All the current members and staff should be terminated. Honesty and integrity should be grounds for the new recruitment.
- The examination date be announced on time and should be conducted on time. A special team should be constituted which would take the responsibility of each exam.
- The entry of coaching mafia and broker should be completely banned in RPSC. If any aspirant is found to be using the personal influence, then he should be debarred in all future examination.
Mr. Choudhary said that with such changes, the trust of people in RPSC can be won back. He also pointed out that most of his suggestions are SOPs of such institutions, but they are often ignored. “Apart from prohibiting paper leak, the institute should not provide undue advantage to any student. If anybody does that, then they must be debarred. This is not difficult as one can count the members and staff of RPSC on fingers. We just have to make sure that from the peon to the Chairman, all are working with honesty,” he concluded.
