The Meghalaya Public Service Commission (MPSC) committed a huge blunder recently when it ran short of 216 question papers for examinees of a particular examination. The Commission has drawn a lot of flak over the years but there does not seem any desire on the part of the Government to revamp this body. It continues to be packed with political acolytes of the ruling party whose presence is more towards display of personal clout and pomp than a desire to serve the Commission and restore its dignity. Recently there was a change of guard at the top position of the MPSC. The incumbent, a retired bureaucrat, was supposed to have swept the cobwebs of corruption and disorder that had plagued the Commission for several years. But evidently the person has not yet got a handle on the convoluted functioning of the Commission.
Following the Saturday gaffe the public would like to know if anyone is being held accountable or whether such indiscretions are forgiven and forgotten only to be repeated in the near future. Meghalaya is a state whose citizens are not litigious by nature so the Commission might get away with some bad press and without being scarred. But that does not mean the Government cannot seek an explanation from the Commission about how such a mix-up could occur on the day of the examination when several candidates had proceeded with answering several questions. The candidates were unnerved, angry and frustrated on being told that the exams were cancelled. They do not know how to get justice except to voice their grouse through the media. Now the same candidates will have to sit for the next round of examinations for the same post of Research Assistant. By the time the Commission is ready to hold the next exams some candidates may well have reached their upper age limit. They would be the biggest losers here. The only reason why this major blunder became public is because it involved a public examination. Who knows how many such errors are committed on a daily basis within government circles, some inadvertently; others intentionally? And does anyone ever get caught or punished? No, this is one of the most closely kept secrets of the government. No wonder Meghalaya can never get on the fast track.