Most of the civil services aspirants who appeared in the Preliminary examination of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) here on Sunday were of the opinion that whole issue regarding the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) was unnecessary and should have been avoided.
The examination was organised at 34 centres of Dehradun and 14672 students were enrolled for examination in the city. The examination was conducted in two shifts; the I paper which consisted of General Studies was scheduled at 9.30 am to 11.30 am while the section of CSAT was scheduled at 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm in the II shift.
A post graduate in humanities Prabhjot Kaur was of the opinion that the questions of English comprehension are set in simple English and such basic knowledge is necessary for a civil services aspirant. A visibly happy Kaur said that she hopes to get good marks in paper I. A Chukhuwala resident Kanti Kumar Joshi said that though he is from Hindi medium background he is of the opinion that knowledge of English is necessary for those interested to work as civil servants. “The whole issue was unnecessary and the interference of politicians highlighted it, I think those who were serious in their preparation for the examinations were disturbed by the agitation”, he opinioned. Abdul Basit the resident of Shimla by Pass echoed his views and said that it would have been better if the agitators had concentrated their energies on the reforms in the examinations. Gautam Kumar who travelled from Saharanpur to MKP Inter College here to appear in the examination however was of the opinion that agitation against English questions was right and the inclination towards English reeks of the colonial mindset of the UPSC. Aparna Sharma wondered why the questions of English comprehension are included in the examination when the marks scored in them would not be included for selection.