When Names Stir A ‘Storm In A Teacup’
Unique names such as News, Space Rani and He Ram in the Chhattisgarh Police Recruitment results sparked controversy, but the PSC clarified they were genuine candidates whose names matched their official records.
It may sound bizarre, but the candidates with these names, qualified in the Chhattisgarh Police Recruitment Test – 2026 (preliminary), has raised many eyebrows dragging the state public service commission (PSC), which conducted the examination, into a controversy.
The hullabaloo raised over the names has however finally proved to be a storm in a teacup when the candidates themselves came to the fore identifying them with the unique monikers.
Congress spokesman Anand Shukla quickly grabbed the opportunity to trigger a controversy by citing the ‘unusual’ names of some qualified candidates in the police recruitment test, calling it a serious lapse in the conduct of the recruitment test for various posts in the Chhattisgarh police department.
The Chhattisgarh PSC (CGPSC) conducted the preliminary examination for recruitment of 341 posts of subedar, sub-inspector, and platoon commander under the Home Department on July 12 across all 33 districts in the state.
The result of the preliminary examination was declared on August four with 7,310 candidates, including News, Space Rani, Hey Ram and Tufail, qualifying for mains.
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel shared the list of unusual names of qualified candidates on X, saying sarcastically, “The Public Relations Department should spend Rs 1 crore daily on advertisements to display this achievement at public intersections so that, in coming days, ‘Radio’ and ‘Space Raja’ might also succeed in some examinations.’
With the issue threatening to snowball into a major controversy, the CGPSC issued a clarification, terming the social media claims over the unusual names ‘misleading’ and ‘baseless’ and said they were mocking the actual names of candidates and questioning the examination result.
The commission said that it ‘strongly refutes’ the claims made in reels and short videos being circulated on social media.
“The names of the candidates displayed in the examination result are the same as those entered by them in their online application forms, which they finally submitted. The candidates appeared for physical tests and preliminary examination under these names and their names were also displayed accordingly on the admit cares”, the commissions said.
Later, the particular candidates identified themselves before the media confirming that they are their actual names and appealed to the media not to create ‘unnecessary’ confusion over it.
“My name is News Kumar Pradhan. My surname is not added to my Class 10 marksheet. My marksheets of Class 10 and 12 and my Aadhaar card carry the name "News", without surname”, News, who figured in the qualified candidates’ list, explained.