Railway ALP, IBPS Clerk Main to clash with ASO Exam Dates; students stage demonstration

Cuttack: The postponement of Assistant Section Officer (ASO) exam by the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) has created a buzz among students as the rescheduled date of the exam is going to clash with the main exams of Indian Railways' Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP) and IBPS Clerk. Hundreds of students today gheraoed the OPSC centre here and staged demonstration demanding postponement of ASO exam once again.

ASO exam was earlier scheduled to be held on December 23, 2018 but it was later postponed to January 20, 2019. In a release, OPSC had said that due to receipt of very large number of applications and consequent imperative need to re-adjust and re-allocate candidates at different centres, the Commission has decided to postpone the exam.

However, as the exam's rescheduled date will clash with other important exams, students have upped the ante against the authorities and demanded to postpone the exam again.

"After years of preparation and hard work, we have cleared the Railway ALP and IBPS Clerk prelim exams and we are set to appear for the exams on January 20. We also want to appear for the ASO exam; so, we approached the concerned authorities twice to postpone the ASO exam as students are now in a difficult situation to choose one out of the three exams. It's injustice to all our hard works," lamented
a protesting candidate.

Another student said that the ASO exam must be conducted online to bring transparency in the selection of ASOs. "We demand Online exam of ASO and also postponement of the exam as no student can appear for three exams in a day," lamented the ASO aspirant.

However, the OPSC authorities could not be contacted to comment on the allegations and students' concerns.

The Commission had earlier in September released the official notification inviting applications from interested and eligible candidates for ASO in Group B of Odisha Secretariat Service under Home Department for a total of 500 posts.

Total No of Posts: 500 (166-Women)

Unreserved: 266 (88-w)

SEBC: 87 (29-w)

SC: 75 (25-w)

ST: 72 (24-w)