Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has drawn criticism after two multiple-choice questions relating to women’s fertility and alcohol intake appeared in the exam. Several candidates and education activists have questioned the relevance of such questions in a civil service exam.
The question “Education for women reduces fertility due to”… included options like “Education improves work opportunity for women,” “Educated women want their own children to be educated,” “Education and literacy make women more receptive to information about contraception,” and “Improving the economic condition of women.”
Expressing disappointment, one of the candidates said “Framing such a question is definitely a mishap.”
Women’s rights activist Bharati Biswas accused the committee of framing questions with lack of evidence and said, “There is no scientific evidence that links educated women to low fertility.”
Another question about how to avoid drinking alcohol in spite of peer pressure included options such as, “I will tell my friends that my parents have forbidden me to drink alcohol”
“Will refuse to drink alcohol”
“Will drink alcohol only because friends are drinking”
“Will refuse and lie to them that I have liver disease.”
Tukuram Saraf, a student leader, reacted to this question by stating that it lowers MPSC’s standards.
MPSC secretary Suvarna Karat responded that a team of experts prepared the questions and nobody knew about it until the paper was distributed.
She said, “Nobody including me among the MPSC office members knew about the kind of questions that were to come until the day of examination.”
Criticising the questions, education activist Prashant Sathe called out MPSC’s inability to frame relevant questions and pointed at its poor performance.
“This needs an official enquiry as the MPSC seems to lakh the calibre to screen candidates this definitely raises concerns and doubts about the standard of MPSC,” he said.
Although the questions received criticism, the Coordination Committee For Competitive Exams, a youth movement, came forward to support the MPSC’s committee and stated that they were relevant as they were meant to evaluate skills like decision-making and intelligence in the candidates.
