MUMBAI, Sept. 23 -- Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday indicated that the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examinations could in future be conducted in a multiple-choice format instead of the existing descriptive one. However, any such change will be based on the recommendations of the high-powered committee, headed by IAS officer V Radha, constituted to examine reforms in the conducting of MPSC examinations and the functioning of the commission. Fadnavis said that students and government job aspirants, during their hearings before the committee, had demanded a change in the exam pattern, including the reintroduction of the objective or multiple-choice format for food safety officer and engineering positions among others. The format, which used to be multiple-choice questions, was changed in 2022, after a committee headed by former IAS officer Chandrakant Dalvi recommended the constructed answer pattern as opposed to the selected one. "The committee has been hearing all the stakeholders patiently for hours by visiting various divisions," said Fadnavis. "It has been doing good work. Any decisions on reforms in the MPSC examinations will be taken after considering its suggestions and recommendations. If it recommends the multiple-choice format, we will consider it." Students have been protesting for the past few months on various issues concerning the MPSC examinations, particularly after the question paper and marking pattern for the drug inspector recruitment examination were allegedly leaked. Thousands of aspirants took to the streets and the issue also triggered a political confrontation. Fadnavis also said that the state government planned to recruit a record number of employees through the MPSC in the near future. "There are complaints that the number of Group C posts is low," he said. "The government intends to fill vacancies across all cadres, including Group C, on a very large scale soon. A decision on whether recruitment to posts in local self-government institutions should be handled through a separate mechanism or also conducted through the MPSC will be taken shortly."...