Bhubaneswar: The state government will probe the goof-ups in the questions papers of recruitment examinations conducted by the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) and Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) and take appropriate action in this regard.

This was revealed by Higher Education Minister Suraj Suryabanshi today.

“The authorities concerned will conduct the probe in connection with errors in the question papers of OPSC and OSSC exams. The people responsible for such errors will not be spared,” said the minister.

According to the minister, the state government has recently brought a legislation to maintain utmost transparency and fairness in the recruitment examinations conducted by various agencies in Odisha.

Certain errors were found in the question papers of two competitive examinations conducted by the OPSC and OSSC in the state yesterday.

The goof-ups have caused resentment among hundreds of candidates who appeared for the exams at various centres across the state.

Candidates appearing for the Odisha Civil Services (Main) Exams-2023, conducted by the OPSC, found the errors in the question papers of both Anthropology Paper-I and Paper-II.

The candidates found questions from the syllabus of Anthropology Paper-II while appearing the Paper-I and vice versa.  

However, the OPSC authorities went ahead with the examination despite acknowledging the errors.

Similarly, certain errors were detected in the question papers of Combined Recruitment Examinations (Main) conducted by the OSSC yesterday.

The candidates reportedly noticed that certain vital portions of the syllabus, including English, Odia literature and general knowledge (GK), were completely omitted from the question paper.

The OSSC, later, regretted the errors and assured the candidates to take appropriate steps in this regard.

“The commission is mulling to conduct a fresh examination to accommodate the omitted portions of the syllabus. The candidates are encouraged to submit their suggestions in this regard through e-mail ([email protected]) by May 4,” said the OSSC.

The Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD), meanwhile, asked the government to take the necessary steps to maintain transparency in the recruitment examinations in the state.

“Major errors have been detected in the OPSC and OSSC examinations in the state yesterday. The state government should not play with the future of thousands of job aspirants. It should ensure transparency and fairness in the competitive exams,” said BJD MLA Devi Ranjan Tripathy.