GUWAHATI, Dec 13 - The system of interviews in the combined competitive examinations held by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) was badly flawed and during random checking, it was found that there was no uniformity in allotment of marks by the members of the Commission and experts invited for such interviews. These were some of the observations made by the MP Bezbaruah Committee formed to suggest reforms in the APSC examination process.
The report of the committee pointed out a series of flaws in the system of allotment of marks in interviews and said the board members had absolute discretion in allotment of marks to the candidates.
Citing two such examples, the report said that in case of one candidate, the first board members allotted 68 marks out of 70, the second allotted 69 out of 70 while the expert allotted 35 out of 50. The candidate was given eight out of 10 for the resume and the person got 180 out of 200 marks, that is 90 per cent.
In case of the second candidate, the first board member allotted 67 out of 70, the second allotted 69 out of 70 and the expert allotted 45 out of 50. The same candidate was given nine out of 10 for the resume and the person got 190 out of 200 marks in the interview.
The report pointed out that the interview board did not act as a single entity. Each individual member of the board acted as a single entity and weighed candidates separately. The board members allotted marks, while the expert called for the interview used to give grades.
The grade of �excellent� by the expert is given 50 marks and the �very good� grade is given 45 marks, while 40 marks are given for �good� and 35 marks for �average� grade. However, the committee pointed out that the system of distribution of marks was not indicated in the APSC rules.
The committee said the total marks given for the interviews should be brought down to 12.2 per cent of the total marks as is the case in the UPSC examinations. The Supreme Court had also directed that the maximum mark in the interview should not exceed 12.2 per cent of the total marks.
The committee recommended that there should be three interview boards and the government should ensure that all the vacancies in the members should be filled up. With seven members in place in the APSC, it would be possible to form three boards and expedite the process. The board should be constituted by lottery half an hour before the interview. Two members of the APSC and one expert from the government and one or two experts drawn from persons of repute in public life, renowned academicians, professionals, etc., should be included in the board.
The recommendation said that each candidate should be given at least 20 minutes and the system of allotment of marks by each member should be discontinued. The board must act as one unit and the chairman of the board must decide on allotment of marks on consensus by all the members of the board. There should be no overwriting and marks should be recorded both on numerals and words. Each day, the marksheets should be signed by all the members and immediately scanned, the committee said.