SSB learns from PSC's blunders, gets efficient, quick in response

'Faults' accepted, rectified, decided with grace

JAMMU: As the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission faces wide ranging criticism on inefficiency, technical inaccuracies and alleged regional bias, its younger recruiting sibling -the Services Selection Board -is not taking chances as controversies confront the recruitment process.
The PSC, it may be mentioned here, recently had to recall keep the results of preliminary examination of the prestigious Combined Competitive Services in abeyance following large-scale allegations of inaccuracies. While the allegations of technical errors are widespread across the state, but particular case of bias has been made out in Jammu region where several powerful organisations and individuals have now started asking for separate gazetted recruitment bodies at regional level. SSB, that other major government recruitment agency which selects people for subordinate services is learning some quick lessons from the PSC.
Away from the controversies that have bordered the PSC from time to time, the major one of them being not providing answer keys to candidates who sat in its exams, SSB seems to have taken a cue from former's mistakes, as it takes corrective measures just in time before the clamour reach its sphere. As people reactions intensified in past couple of month, including one from Mufti Tasaduq Hussain who looks after the chief minister's grievance cell, SSB has certainly done well in the direction of bettering its functioning and transparency, emerging as an unsung hero among the two agencies in the whole picture.
With an upright IAS officer Sarita Chauhan as its chairperson, SSB has done well to improve big time in overall transparency, thus keeping any controversy at bay. The pro-activeness of the agency could be gauged with the pace which the Board has been responding to the claims and complaints and declaring the long pending results. Below is a case of quick action where the SSB accepted all faults pointed out by candidates, rectified the errors and announced decision well before any fingers were raised.
"Whereas, Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board conducted the graduate level examination on 27.04.2017. all candidates were directed to file online representation in case they found any question wrong or any question having wrong answers. The online facility remained available on website of J&KSSB with effect from 08.05.2017 to 15.05.2017.
"Whereas, various online representations were received by J&K Services Selection Board whereby various questions were challenged by the candidates.
"Whereas, after threadbare examination of all claims received, the following questions of 'A' series and corresponding questions in series 'B', 'C' and 'D' have been accepted as with faults and therefore decision on such questions is taken" (see box for the decision).
"Whereas, all other questions and their answers have been found correct, as declared earlier.
"Now, therefore, the marks shall be allotted to all candidates with respect to the challenged questions mentioned above as per the revised answers/decisions mentioned against each" (see box)
On March 9 this year, the Board released as many as nine select lists in one go which were pending since last five to seven years. "Most of the pendency is likely to be cleared within this month," said the Secretary of the agency, Mohammad Shahid Saleem, that day, adding that the process has already been fast paced and most of the pending select lists have already been cleared.
However, nothing was to be seen in next two months. Just when people had started terming its earlier move as one off, board came out with 36 Selection lists a week earlier, on June 10. The lists contained posts the notifications for which advertisements were out as many as seven years ago, way back in the year 2010. Taking cue from the recent lambasting of the other agency in question, SSB even put the detailed lists on its website as well, making a case for its transparency.
While the total number of candidates selected in these 36 lists sits just a little over 200, the move establishes the agency as an unsung hero, considering the applicants have been waiting for their results since past seven years. Whether PSC can make up for the lost ground in the time to come is to be seen, but the sixty year old agency can certainly take a lesson or two from the infant, that SSB is.
If the PSC had also responded to complaints with same alacrity, its grace would have survived. The past week has seen PSC deferring the Main Examination of Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) after it withdrew the notification for the same. The entire saga commenced after the agency released the answer key to the preliminary examination held in March this year, with over two dozen errors, some as grave as describing Oncology as the 'science of mountains'. These ambiguities, reported through a number of representations, were then referred to a team comprising of not less than two experts in each of the 23 subjects, based on whose finding, results were declared in last week of April.
However, the agency is facing a serious question mark on its credibility after the result also contained a number of discrepancies, thus inviting outrage from the student fraternity. In its 4th extraordinary meeting held on Monday, the agency, in an unprecedented move, kept in abeyance the result and decided to 'refer the question papers and answer keys thereto to the independent/third party subject experts for re-looking/revisiting them in order to find out discrepancy, if any', thus creating a state of uncertainty among 6925 qualified candidates.
This controversy is not the first one to hover over the agency as in the past also, there have a score of issues that have belittled the reputation of PSC, some as big as forgery of policy documents revealing the deep-rooted corruption and vested interests in its functioning. As the voices demanding a separate PSC for Jammu region and an audit for all the appointments made by the agency in past one decade becomes louder, Services Selection Board has been silently wiping the glass clean, without making a noise.