Lack of transparency in the SCRA Exam

Special Class Railway Apprenctices' Examination (SCRA) is a very prestigious exam and SCRAs are selected through the Union Public Service Commission Examination conducted every year. At present, Special Class Railway Apprentices follow the four-year (8-semester) Mechanical Engineering Degree Course of Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi.

At the successful completion of their course they are awarded the regular BE (Mech) Degree of BIT Mesra. There are limited numbers of seats available for candidates however the way candidates are shortlisted raises lot of questions about the exam.

In the recently declared result of SCRA written test the candidates’ marks are not declared and short listed candidates are supposed to appear for interview which is 200 marks. A final merit list will be prepared by totaling the written marks (600) and Interview marks (200). The problem lies with interview marks which are very subjective in nature and there seems a lot of scope for manipulation in the hands of interview panel. UPSC should get away with interview marks in order to bring complete transparency in the exam.