After February Leak And Cancellation, UP Board Sets New Dates For Police Constable Re-Exam, Offering Relief To 50 Lakh Students

After a long wait, for nearly 50 lakh aspirants taking the UP Police Constable Exam, the Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UPPRPB) has announced the re-exam dates for the previously cancelled examination.

The re-exams will be held next month on the following dates — 23, 24, 25 and 30, 31 August 2024.

This comes as a relief to lakhs of students from the state who had appeared for the recruitment exam on 17 February and 18 February 2024, for the 60,244 constable positions.

The exam was conducted across 2,370 examination centres in 75 districts.

However, due to a widespread leak of the question paper on social media, followed by protests by teachers and aspirants, the Yogi Adityanath government decided to cancel the exam on 24 February 2024 — with a promise to conduct the re-exam within the next six months.

Keeping to its promise, the notification for the re-exam has now been issued.

The UP-Constable exam has been widely discussed over the last six months, particularly due to the large number of candidates whose dreams were shattered by the cancellation.

The exam and vacancies were announced by the board after a six-year hiatus.

Driven by the demand for government jobs and high unemployment, lakhs of students in UP, mostly from low-income and rural backgrounds, aspire to appear for government jobs.

Many of these students move to cities like Prayagraj, a coaching hub, often continuing their preparation for years until the exam dates are announced.

However, this pursuit comes with several challenges, including the pressure of debts undertaken to pay for application fees, coaching, accommodation, food, and library rents for many years.

Same was also the case with the constable exam, for which many had been waiting, first for years for the vacancy announcements, and then for the re-exam.

As per Swarajya’s ground report to understand the issues of exam paper leaks in the state, students were also expecting new methods or approaches by the authorities to ensure proper examination this time.

The exam, previously held over two days, has now been extended to five days to improve exam management. Additionally, the board will be releasing new guidelines for the conduct of the exam.

Also Read: On The Ground In UP’s Coaching Hub: As Exam Paper Leaks Hit Peak, Breaking Down Students' Demands From Yogi Government