UPPCS Aspirants Demand Single-Day Exam in Prayagraj as #UPPCS_oneShift_onedayexam Trend Gains Steam

A Storm Brews in Prayagraj Over UPPCS Exam Scheduling

Tensions erupted in Prayagraj as thousands of UPPCS candidates hit the streets between November 11 and 14, 2024. Their demand? Make the Review Officer-Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) and Provincial Civil Services (PCS) preliminary exams happen in just one shift, on one day. This sounds like a simple ask—but for these students, it's at the heart of trust in the exam process.

For many, months of preparation for these fiercely competitive exams boil down to a single moment. When the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) splits exams into multiple shifts over different days, candidates just don’t buy that everyone gets a fair shot. Their top worry is the threat of paper leaks. With multiple sessions, it gets easier for questions to slip out, and word always finds a way to get around—just look at leaked WhatsApp screenshots or viral leaks in the past. Plus, there's the controversial process of 'normalisation,' where scores are adjusted to account for a supposedly different difficulty level in each shift. On paper, it levels the field, but talk to any aspirant—they say it feels like a roll of the dice that can tank a hard-earned chance at a government post.

The protests weren’t tame rallies. Protesters swarmed the UPPSC office and the area around Muir Hall crossing, shouting slogans and holding up handmade banners. Some even braved heavy-handed security, as the district deployed the Rapid Action Force (RAF), police barricades, and riot shields. Not everybody stuck to the peace script: when crowds tried pressing past police barriers near the commission office, clashes broke out, with some scenes turning downright chaotic.

How Social Media Became the Protest’s Megaphone

It wasn’t just sloganeering on the streets. The digital world caught fire too. Students and supporters flooded Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with #UPPCS_oneShift_onedayexam—an impromptu rallying cry that shot to the top of trending topics in Uttar Pradesh. Images of protesting students, makeshift banners, and short video clips of tense moments between police and demonstrators went viral, roping in support from across the state and even drawing attention from former exam-takers who remember past controversies.

This digital surge wasn’t by accident. Organizers coordinated through Telegram and WhatsApp groups, scheduling tweet storms and urging aspirants everywhere to raise their voice—tagging not just exam officials, but journalists, politicians, and public figures. It's all proof that for this generation of job hopefuls, the battle for fairness starts on the street but lives and breathes online.

With the stakes so high, these are far from fringe complaints. A single shift exam might seem like a logistical headache for administrators, but for the students who fill every seat, it feels like the bare minimum for trust in the process. As the protests ended, there was no official word promising change, but one thing was clear: UPPCS candidates aren’t just quietly hoping everything works out—they’re demanding an exam system that feels worthy of their hard work.