MP News: Only 13 Cities Offer Online Exam Centres, Lakhs Travel Long Distances

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A large number of aspirants were unable to appear in exams this year as only 12-13 cities in the state have facilities for online examinations.

Every year, lakhs of job seekers submit applications along with examination fees to recruitment agency Employee Selection Board (ESB), but many fail to appear due to long distances to exam centres. Women aspirants are particularly affected.

For the police constable recruitment examination-2023, around 10 lakh candidates applied, but nearly 4 lakh could not take the exam. Sources claim the main reason was that centres were located far from candidates’ home districts.

Director ESB Sanket Malviya told Free Press that large numbers of aspirants complain about the distance of allotted centres.“In the state, 12-13 cities have online exam facilities. With such a large number of applications, some candidates inevitably have to travel to other centres,” he said.

He said that centre allotment is done through software, based on merit, to avoid manual manipulation. “This year also around 9 lakh candidates applied for the constable exam, and many had to travel to other centres,” Malviya said.

SSC, NTA use same tech as ESB

Agencies like Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and National Testing Agency (NTA) use similar technology for conducting exams, which is adopted by ESB. To ensure exam integrity, security measures from these agencies are also implemented by ESB, the director said.