The examination of Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission would now be based on the pattern of the UPSC examinations.
Chairman of Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission, KS Tomar called on Governor, Acharya Devvrat at Rajbhawan on Tuesday and presented 43rd Annual Report on the working of HP Public Service Commission and apprised the Governor on the changes being made in the exams.
Tomar also apprised the Governor of the new innovation introduced by the Commission for the candidates for giving interview either in Hindi or English which helped the aspirants especially from rural areas who faced a lot of problem in communicating in English.
He said more than 80 percent candidates gave their preference to Hindi language and better communication skill created an equal playing field to the candidates belonging to urban as well as rural areas in the State.
The Chairman brought to the notice of the Governor that Commission has decided to switch over from HAS pattern of written examination to IAS pattern which will be a revolutionary step.
Tomar informed that UPSC now has one optional subject and this will be applicable to HAS and Allied Services main written examinations from the 2016 batch. HPPSC has decided to abolish one optional subject of 300 Marks in Himachal Administrative Services (HAS) and Allied Services main examinations and substitute it by two papers of 150 marks each of general knowledge to give equal playing field to all candidates.
He informed that the General Studies paper would contain 33 per cent of questions relating to Himachal General Knowledge (GK)
A committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of JC Sharma, Member HPPSC, which would involve in a dialogue with the educational experts to seek their advice regarding framing of syllabus. The newly constituted syllabus would be available on the site of HPPSC which would even be open for suggestions.
Tomar informed the Governor about the success of the Toll Free service which has benefited thousands of the candidates specially belonging to rural areas in the State. He also brought to the notice of the Governor that several reforms like E Payment, installation of jammer at examination centres, Bar Code System to maintain secrecy, Optical Marker Reader (OMR) outer sheet for conventional examinations like HAS, HJS, etc. had been introduced recently.
He said a modern and Model library will be created in new block which will be first of its kind in the entire country and it shall help candidates to prepare for various competitive examinations like HAS, IAS, etc. State government has sanctioned `2.80 crore to construct the New Block, he added.