Patna: Facing mounting criticism over alleged irregularities in the Assistant Education Development Officer (AEDO) and Assistant Public Sanitary and Waste Management Officer (APSWMO) examinations, the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has announced major reforms aimed at restoring credibility to the state’s recruitment process.The commission has decided to discontinue single-stage examinations for major recruitments. Future examinations will now be conducted in two stages — a screening test followed by a final examination to be held only in Patna at 20-30 heavily monitored centres equipped with CCTV surveillance, jammers, strict frisking and advanced security systems.BPSC secretary Satya Prakash Sharma said the commission had already requested the state govt to convert all remaining single-stage examinations into a two-stage process.“Conducting single-stage exams has become highly risky. In the current scenario, where people are using modern techniques to compromise the sanctity and integrity of examinations, all single-stage exams — such as TRE 4.0, AEDO, assistant engineer, and others — should be conducted into two-stage examinations,” Sharma said.The commission has also introduced a new answer-marking system in objective examinations. Instead of four options, candidates will now get five choices — A, B, C, D and E. Candidates leaving a question unanswered must compulsorily mark option E.“Failure to mark any of the five options will attract negative marking of 1/3rd of the marks. This new system will be implemented from the 33rd Judicial Services (Preliminary) Competitive Examination, scheduled for June 3, 2026,” Sharma said.The reforms come amid growing concerns over organised cheating networks and repeated examination controversies in Bihar.BPSC has now decided to conduct examinations only in govt colleges and institutions. Private schools and colleges will no longer be used as centres. The Commission has also barred private, ad-hoc and contractual teachers from invigilation duties, allowing only regular govt teachers to supervise examinations.The move follows an incident during the AEDO examination in April when a private college invigilator in Patna was allegedly caught helping a candidate solve questions. Officials said the malpractice was detected through CCTV surveillance from the Commission’s hi-tech command centre. The candidate was debarred from future examinations, while the invigilator was removed.After the alleged leak of the TRE 3.0 papers in March 2024, the commission strengthened its security architecture with AI-assisted monitoring and multi-layer protection systems.Since July 2024, BPSC claims it has conducted nearly 70 examinations involving more than 50 lakh candidates without any confirmed paper leak.“Recent claims regarding leaks in the AEDO and Sanitary Officer examinations are factually incorrect, as no evidence or proof has been provided by investigating agencies even a month after the exams,” officials said.The commission said strict safeguards had been introduced in paper setting, printing, transportation and distribution to make examination leaks “virtually impossible”.With public trust in the recruitment system severely shaken by repeated controversies, the reforms are being viewed as an attempt by the commission to reclaim credibility before another major examination season begins.
