The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) will conduct the 67th preliminary test on a single day following the old examination pattern, said officials familiar with the matter on Thursday.
The decision was taken by the chief minister Nitish Kumar after holding a high-level meeting with the chief secretary Amir Subhani and BPSC chairman Atul Prasad.
Prasad said, ‘Now the 67th preliminary examination will be held on September 21 in a single shift and the old exam pattern will be followed. We are coordinating with the concerned district magistrates to allot additional examination centres (of good quality) for conducting the state-level examination in a fair and peaceful examination.”
Earlier on Wednesday, thousands of aspirants staged protest in Patna demanding withdrawal of new changes introduced by the BPSC which included conducting the exam on two days and result preparation based on percentile system. The protestors created ruckus on the road which led to police lathi-charge on students and several of them got injured.
Meanwhile, aspirants have welcomed the decision taken by the chief minister.
Amit Kumar, an aspirant from Patna, said, “I am glad that the old exam system has been restored. I was apprehensive that the percentile result system will not prove beneficial for us.”
More than 6 lakh candidates are likely to take the exam across the state.
On August 30, BPSC issued a notice to conduct the 67th BPSC exam in double shifts on September 20 and September 22 and declaration of results following equi-percentile equating technique.
Earlier on May 8, BPSC conducted the 67th prelims examination which was cancelled on the same day following the paper leak case. BPSC is conducting the 67th prelims exams to fill 807 vacant seats in various government departments.