SSC Chairman Acknowledges Mismanagement in Phase 13 Exam, Confirms Exam won’t be Cancelled

On behalf of the widespread outrage over disruptions in the SSC Selection Post Phase 13 recruitment exam held between July 24 and August 1, SSC Chairman S. Gopalakrishnan conceded to significant procedural lapses, but ruled out cancellation. Instead, targeted retests will be held for affected candidates.

Issues faced during the Exam

Candidates reported serious technical failures, including computer crashes, mouse malfunctions, biometric verification errors, and assignments to distant or wrong exam centres. In two notable cases, one at Pawan Ganga in Delhi and another at Educasa in Uttar Pradesh entire exam sessions were scrapped, impacting around 2,500 aspirants.

Public Criticism and Protests

The mismanagement triggered sustained protests across India under the #SSCMisManagement, with rallies in Delhi, crowding at Jantar Mantar and CGO Complex. Educators including Neetu Singh led the protests, while videos of alleged mistreatment, some showing police baton-charges, went viral online.

Chairman’s Response and Retest

Gopalakrishnan acknowledged the commission’s “teething problems” with new vendor Eduquity Career Technologies, and confirmed the vendor is being held accountable. While rejecting cancellation or replacing the vendor due to the delay re-tendering would cause he stated that retest centres would be arranged for candidates who could not appear or were disadvantaged. If even one candidate is found to have been wronged, SSC will schedule a re-exam for them.

On August 2, additional tests were conducted with a modest 60% attendance rate; only 8,048 of the roughly 16,600 scheduled re-exam candidates appeared. Remaining candidates may be provided future retests if justified.

What does the future hold?

SSC underlined that contracts were transparently awarded not involving any previously blacklisted vendors. Exam centre reallocations were claimed as necessary keeping in mind the availability and security concerns. The Commission also asserted no automated systems were involved in generating repeated questions.

With the upcoming SSC CGL exams set to begin on August 13 for more than 30 lakh candidates, aspirants and educators expressed anxiety. The Chairman assured that substantial improvements will precede future exams, and that errors witnessed during Phase 13 must not occur again.

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