Over 51% of the candidates appeared for the Group I examination conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) on Sunday. The percentage of candidates who appeared for the examination has reduced this year as compared to the 73% in the Group I examination in 2019.
TNPSC Secretary K. Nandakumar said a total of 2.56 lakh candidates were permitted to appear for the examination, but around 1.31 lakh candidates were present. As many as 1.25 lakh candidates were absent for the examination held on Sunday. During the previous examination on March 3, 2019, just 60,783 candidates were absent.
Of the 2.59 lakh candidates who had applied for the 66 vacancies, 2,150 applications were rejected. A total of 1.28 lakh men, 1.28 lakh women and 11 transgender persons were permitted to appear for the examination at 856 venues. As many as 46,965 candidates were permitted in 150 venues in Chennai.
According to the faculties of coaching institutes, the cut-off mark this year was expected to reduce because of a new system adopted in the examination. This year, more than 10 questions were asked from Tamil Nadu history and culture, covering Periyar, Ayothidasar and Annadurai. Over five questions were asked from Tirukkural.
Candidates were asked to mark a fifth option, or ‘E’, for questions they did not know the answer to. The number of markings made against each of the five options (A, B, C, D and E) had to be entered in the answer sheet and signed by the invigilator to prevent malpractice.
