Hyderabad: ‘All Men are Dogs’, the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) has stated in a recruitment exam. The question asked candidates sitting in the exam for village revenue officers (VRO), to select the right answer from the following two statements: ‘All men are dogs’ and ‘All dogs are cats’. The question which compared men to dogs has led to some anger among men on social media platforms after the image of the question paper went viral. They questioned the screening process for question papers for allowing such a question to stand in an exam taken by around seven lakh candidates in Telangana state.
“It’s despicable on the part of officials who set this question as part of VRO selection. I pity the state of affairs. I wonder how these guys who drafted the paper got selected in the first place. Complete lack of sense, clarity and dignity. It also shows the lack of decency and respect for fellow beings and how uneducated they are. I am sure even dogs and cats will not like this, leave alone men,” said Satya Pamula, a resident of Saidabad.
C. Hanumanth Rao, a city resident, saw the question on a Whatsapp group. “It is surprising that such a question has appeared in an examination in which seven lakh aspirants have written and finally all the male aspirants might have confessed that they are dogs and cats. In an exam which is conducted by a responsible commission it shows that there is no screening of questions,” he said. He said, ‘the way in which the feelings of men have been hurt is disturbing’.
C. Hanumanth Rao, a city resident said because it is about males “it may not be highlighted but in the next exam if the same is replaced by women then it may draw attention.” V Sasidhar, a resident of Kukatpally said, ‘’Why gender bias against men? In a competitive exam how can the Government/Institute that is conducting this exam degrade a section of society? It is ridiculous and we demand an apology on behalf of all men.”
Ganta Chakrapani, chairman, Telangana State Public Service Commission said, “It is difficult to comment as you all know that we do not see the question papers. Some experts in the field prepare the question paper which nobody else can open, read, and change from the commission’s side. Confidential departments will deal with all these things.’’
Women insulted at VRO exam
A few activists from the city moved the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Monday in support of some women who were asked to remove their mangalsutra when they went to write the village revenue officers exam on Sunday. Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad raised many questions against this and demanded action against the authorities who were responsible for “insulting the modesty of the women.”
Mr M.V.R. Sharma, an activist who filed the complaint in the SHRC, said, “The women aspirants who came to write the exams were asked to remove their mangalsutras and toe rings before entering the examination hall. Those who declined to remove them were not allowed to attend the exams. Many women returned home without writing the exam. This has outraged the modesty of women and also deliberately insulted the sentiments of Hindus.” Governor E.S.L. Narsimhan sought an explanation from the Telangana State Public Service Commission regarding the mangalsutra incident. The commission released an official statement on Monday evening.
The TSPSC said, “The TSPSC has systematically planned the conduct of examinations and has not issued any instructions to remove mangalsutra. Being aware of such complaints raised in previous exams, immediate instructions were issued that such steps are against the commission’s guidelines. In a stray incident where at one centre in Medak district, initially a few women candidates were asked to remove their mangalsutra to allow them into the exam centre but the issue was brought to the notice of the commission.”
The commission further added, “Immediate instructions were issued that such steps are against the commission’s guidelines and no such instructions were given to the chief superintendents. The joint collector and RDO Narsapur visited the centre and ensured that no such inconvenience is caused to women candidates. TSPSC has instructed the District Collector to conduct an inquiry into the incident and asked him to submit a detailed report.” The TSPSC went onto say that, the district collector said that only 4 or 5 candidates were asked to remove their mangalsutras/toe rings and immediately the mistake was rectified.
