English marks in CSAT-II will not be included for gradation or merit and 2011 candidates may get a second chance to appear for the test next year, the Government announced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, seeking to defuse the UPSC row that has seen the aspirants on the warpath.
“Government is of the opinion that in the Civil Services Preliminary examination, Paper—II, the marks of the question section on ‘English Language comprehension skills’ should not be included for gradation or merit,” MoS Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a brief statement. “Candidates who appeared in Civil Services Examination 2011 may be given one more attempt in 2015.”
Parliament has witnessed repeated uproar and several adjournments in the past few days over the issue.
Immediately after the statement, B Mahtab (BJD) and Dharmendra Yadav (SP) stood up, demanding clarification whether Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) has been done away with. However, the Minister said he has said whatever he wanted to.
In the Rajya Sabha, too, the Opposition stepped up its attack on the Government over the UPSC exam row, serving a privilege notice and forcing adjournment of the House demanding a definite time-frame to resolve the issue.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Sharad Yadav of the JD(U) accused the Government of “going back on its promise” of resolving the issue expeditiously.
Members from the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party joined hands on the issue.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Javadekar sought to cool frayed tempers, saying the Government is making efforts to resolve the issue and will inform the House after finding a solution.
He said the Government had replied three times on the issue knowing its sensitivity and feelings of the House.
SP leader Naresh Agarwal said the Government seems to have slipped into coma and ministers do not reply when the Prime Minister is not around.
“We have never seen such a helpless government,” he said.
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 — CSAT-I and CSAT-II.
What the paper tests
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 numeracy, and English language comprehension skills (of Class X level).
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 civil services examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in three stages — preliminary, main, and interview — to choose candidates for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS).
Students have been demanding that the pattern of CSAT be changed to give a level playing field to those coming from rural areas.