Will ensure level-playing field to those from rural areas: Home Min
Amid the raging controversy over Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) and the continuing protests by civil services aspirants, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday assured that the issue will be resolved within a week.
“The UPSC issue will be resolved within a week. Discussions are going on,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said. Singh added that the report of the three-member Government-appointed committee looking into the demands of the aspirants to change the pattern of the (CSAT) to give level-playing field to those coming from rural areas will come soon.
While the Home Minister committed that UPSC would resolve the matter soon, he remained non-committal when asked whether the civil services preliminary examination scheduled for August 24 could be postponed. The UPSC have already started issuing admit cards for CSAT leading to aspirants intensifying their protests against the new pattern of examination.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed Singh to resolve the issue at the earliest following which he held consultations with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and MoS Personnel Jitendra Singh among others.
A section of protesting aspirants met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and sought his support in this matter. During the UPA’s regime, Rahul had played a role in extending the age limit for the UPSC aspirants through an Ordinance. The aspirants also continued their protests outside the UPSC building demanding scrapping of CSAT calling it discriminatory against those having Hindi background.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav too sought immediate intervention of the Prime Minister. In his letter, Akhilesh Yadav requested Modi to reconsider the new UPSC exam pattern “keeping in mind theory of equality”. “large number of students from UP write UPSC examination and their primary language is Hindi. In CSAT, the question papers made available to aspirants in Hindi and other languages are being translated through software due to which their actual meaning gets distorted and aspirants get confused,” Yadav said.
Students have been objecting to the level of aptitude and English language questions being asked in the CSAT II paper claiming they are much above the standard prescribed for the examination.