After a lot of drama over the last few weeks, lakhs of civil services aspirants finally took the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examination on Sunday.
The countrywide exam has been mired in controversy over a change in the evaluation process. The preliminary examination has two papers: General Studies and CSAT, each of two hours’ duration. The mood was relaxed after the first paper, but the second paper made everyone realise how uncertain the exam can be.
“The exam seems to have changed a bit this year. There were around 15 questions on Mathematics,” said Chandrika Garg, from Uttarakhand.
“Questions on decision-making, which were easier and had no negative marking in the earlier editions of the exam, were absent from the paper this year,” said Garg. “The UPSC seems to be changing the pattern slightly every year. For me, this year’s paper was tougher compared to the one last year. There were more questions on aptitude comprehension,” said Chintan Raghuvanshi, an aspirant based in New Delhi.
Raghuvanshi, who prepared for Sunday’s exam without attending coaching classes, said that by changing the pattern, the UPSC seemed to be cracking down on coaching institutes, which often provide a standardised template for preparation.
A row had erupted a few weeks back after aspirants demanded scrapping of the Civil Services Aptitude Test introduced in 2011 and postponement of the UPSC preliminary examination.
On Saturday, the Supreme Court rejected any deferment.
English outBefore the exam, the UPSC directed the aspirants not to attempt English comprehension questions as they would not be considered for merit.
The Government had earlier said in Parliament that the English comprehension in Paper II of the examination would not be considered, and said the 2011 aspirants may be given an additional attempt in 2015. 4,51,602 candidates took the examination, about 1.27 lakh more than the last year, at 2,137 centres in 59 cities.