Only 40% appear for PCS prelims

Barely 33,000 of the 85,192 registered candidates — just about 40% — appeared for the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) PCS (preliminary) examination conducted on Sunday.

According to the PPSC, the exam was held for 331 posts in the state civil services, including DSP, tehsildar, excise and taxation officer, food and civil supplies officer and labour-cum-conciliation officer.

The test was conducted across 165 centres in Patiala, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur and Chandigarh, further divided into 222 blocks. Ludhiana recorded the highest attendance with 18,424 candidates.

subhead:…..Row over less Punjabi, more maths content

The examination has once again run into controversy after Misal Satluj, a student organisation advocating Punjabi language and culture, submitted a memorandum to the PPSC.

Yadavinder Singh Yadu, a representative of the group, alleged that Punjabi had been “deliberately and excessively reduced” in this year’s PCS (preliminary) examination. He said that in the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) (Paper II), where earlier 15–20 or even 25 questions were asked in Punjabi, only eight were included this time.

He claimed that the sharp reduction had turned the CSAT into a mathematics-heavy paper, putting rural students and those without a mathematics background at a significant disadvantage.

They also alleged that portions related to Punjab’s history, geography, economy, Guru Sahibs and Maharaja Ranjit Singh were largely missing from the General Studies paper, making Punjab-specific content “almost negligible”.

The delegation demanded that the qualifying marks for CSAT — currently 40% (32 correct answers) — be reduced to 33% in line with the UPSC pattern. Alternatively, they sought grace marks for all candidates this year or other corrective steps to “ensure justice for rural and disadvantaged students”.

Meanwhile, PPSC secretary Charanjit Singh said the exam was conducted as per the norms. He added that no delegation met him.