The students who had been selected in the UPSC Civil Judge 2018 examination may be undergoing the process of verification at the moment, but there is a new kind of problem that seems to be taking a toll on their lives. The problem that is being faced by the selected candidates of the PCSJ 2018 is that a list has gone viral on social media containing all their the personal details.
It is estimated that 497 out of the 610 selected candidates have been affected by the list that has gone viral.
What is worth noting is the fact that, the list which has gone viral has been entitled ‘ Unmarried PCS J 2018’.
The list contains the names and details of all the unmarried men and women who got selected in the exam.
This has led to a large social media uproar by the candidates whose details have been exposed on social media platforms, they allege that it is an invasion of their privacy and it make them vulnerable to harassment. The list in question went viral on August 23. Many of the candidates thought initially that the list was being circulated at an official level, because such a detailed personal profile could only be found in the application forms filled by the candidates.
It was only later that they realised that this was not being done officially and that something had gone tremendously wrong.
It is not just the women candidates who are receiving anonymous calls from men who want to offer them marriage proposals but even the male candidates say that they are being continuously troubled in the aftermath of the leaked list.
A senior official working with the UPPSC said that there was no need to feel disturbed by this because this would help many unmarried candidates find prospective partners.
In 2016, the UPPSC had conducted an examination for the posts of deputy collector, DSP, revenue collector, tax officer etc and similarly the details of about 460 ‘unmarried’ candidates had been released. The list was widely circulated on WhatsApp.
The disclosure and sharing of the personal details of the chosen candidates only reflects the lapse of provisions of data privacy in our country and how callous administrative outlooks can only intensify the problem. Moreover, the harassment that the chosen and ‘unmarried’ candidates are undergoing also goes on to show how obsessed and regressive our ideas on marriage and matrimony can be even while we live in the 21st century.
