Three toppers, 200/200 after normalisation: Mumbai engineer exam row explained

In February, the Maharashtra Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) launched a recruitment drive for 235 positions across 16 technical and non-technical roles, with 82 posts designated as assistant/junior engineer (civil). The application pool included 26,749 candidates. The online assessment took place on May 11 and 12, with 20,459 participants.

For the civil engineering positions, 14,714 aspirants showed up for the test, indicating intense competition. The examination was administered by TCS ION, a government-approved agency under a 2022 resolution.

The controversy erupted when nearly 200 perfect scores emerged after the marks were normalized. Three top civil engineering candidates, with raw scores of 196, 194 and 194, received normalized scores of 200. The normalisation process, following a 2022 government resolution, adjusted marks from multiple sessions. The provisional merit list was released on August 14, three months after the exam.

Engineers' groups and political leaders questioned the results, requesting an independent inquiry. The Engineers Association highlighted discrepancies, comparing the performance of top candidates with their scores in previous exams. Notable disparities included the second-ranked individual's lower performance in earlier exams and the top 20 candidates' limited success in other civic examinations.

The association also raised concerns about the examination centers, with 13 out of the top 20 civil engineering candidates appearing at the Wadi center in Nagpur, including the top three toppers.