Twenty hours before the NDA Government came out with a piecemeal solution to resolve the CSAT row, the full bench of the UPSC on Sunday decided against scrapping the CSAT examination scheduled for August 24.
The Commission was of the view that any tapering of the existing system at this stage would invite a plethora of litigations, which may further complicate matters for all stakeholders, including the aspirants.
However, as a sop to the aspirants, the Commission agreed to give another chance to those who had exhausted their attempts before 2011 when the new CSAT format was introduced.
In the full-bench meeting, attended by the ten members and chaired by Commission’s Chairman Prof DP Agrawal, it was agreed that being an autonomous body, the Commission should not be “submissive” to the Government.
Sources said that Agrawal was later praised by the members for his “tough” stand on the matter. Incidentally, he is due to retire as Chairman of the UPSC next week, on the day the Parliament session concludes.
The UPSC panel also discussed that only a handful of “protestors” were trying to sabotage the system as they are being fuelled by the cartel of private civil services coaching institutes. “The new format has been in existence for the last four years without any trouble. These protests on the streets smack of vested interests,” said a UPSC source.
The Commission opposed any move to either postpone or cancel the Preliminary Exam scheduled for August 24 as this would adversely impact majority of the over nine lakh applicants. This would also affect three (CSAT-Prelims; Main and Interview) stages of the 2014 examination cycle.
“The entire process — from submission of forms till declaration of results — involves 18 months. Further delays would have changed the cycle for successive years, creating a huge problem where age and chances of attempts means a lot,” sources said.
Following the report submitted by the Arvind Verma headed three-member panel last week, the DoPT had sought the UPSC’s response, whether the CSAT preliminary could be postponed by a month if not scrapped.
The UPSC had replied that postponement “at this stage” was difficult due to huge logistical problem in conducting the exam.
Students have been objecting to the level of aptitude and English language questions being asked in the examination, claiming they are much above the standard prescribed for the examination. The students have been demanding that the pattern of CSAT be changed to give a level-playing field to those coming from rural areas. There are two compulsory papers of 200 marks each in the preliminary examination. These papers are also known as CSAT-I and CSAT-II.
The CSAT-II paper carries questions on comprehension, inter-personal skills including communication skills, logical reasoning and analytical ability, decision-making and problem-solving, general mental ability, basic numericals, and English language comprehension skills.
Won’t play ball
The full bench of the UPSC on Sunday decided against scrapping the CSAT examination schedule for all-India civil services on August 24
In the full-bench meeting, attended by the ten members and chaired by the Commission’s Chairman Prof DP Agrawal, it was agreed that being an autonomous body, the Commission should not be “submissive” to the Government
The Commission opposed any move to either postpone or cancel the Preliminary Exam scheduled on August 24 as this would adversely impact majority of the over nine lakh applicants
The UPSC panel also discussed that only a handful of “protesters” were trying to sabotage the system as they are being fuelled by the cartel of private civil services coaching institutes