The 8,000 candidates who appeared for the 80 posts of Accountant in the Common Accounts Cadre (Direct Recruitment) of the Directorate of Accounts have all failed to clear the preliminary exam. The exam was advertised on 31 October 2017 and the exam held on 07/01/2018 but the results were declared only on 21/08/2018. Although the exam (consisting of two papers) was a mixture of objective and descriptive questions, the delay of over 7 months in declaring the results is not justified by any means. While the Opposition will use this drastic result to target the Government, I think that this result is the symptom of a greater malaise.
As a retired banker, I had guided some of my young relatives regarding the basic concepts of economics which were a part of the syllabus. The general feedback received by me was that the exam was difficult. I did not have the opportunity to upload the question paper and the Directorate of Accounts had not uploaded the same on their website till 12:30 p.m. of 22 August. I would urge the Directorate to do the same along with an answer key, as that would help the candidates learn where they went wrong.
However, I think that it is better that rather than recruiting incompetent candidates (the Accountants have an important task in the functioning of the government), it would be better to advertise the posts afresh. But the results should be declared within the stipulated time frame. To weed out candidates of inferior quality, there needs to be an elimination test first. The Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC) holds such a Computer Based Recruitment Test (CBRT) for all gazetted posts now, which makes sure that only a few candidates reach the next level. This helps in speeding up the evaluation process. The Directorate of Accounts should follow suit in this regard.
As Goans, though, we have much more to do. We have to stop blaming (although I do not wish to exonerate the Directorate of Accounts for the delay in declaring results) and try to ensure that our youth are indeed capable. Getting a degree alone does not make a person competent and capable. How many Goan youth do we see faring well in competitive exams held at the national level? One may recall the fiasco during the Junior Scale Officer recruitment held by the GPSC in 2017, where many non-Goan candidates had fared well but a few Goans had passed the CBRT. Our young people need to have more general awareness and a bent of mind which makes them suitable for the competitive recruitment process.
