An exam’s over-emphasis on English

The Union Government on August 4, 2014, finally announced the withdrawal of the English language comprehension test from the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), which is a part of the Preliminary Examination (‘Prelims’), scheduled on August 24, 2014, just three weeks away.

This is a fallout of one phase of protests by civil services aspirants. They consider it discriminatory against humanities students and those with a background of Hindi and regional languages.

The agitation has brought to the fore issues of merit versus inclusion, justification of English in the Civil Services examination, and the need for clubbing the examination for Central Services with that for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

The IAS continues to be held in high esteem and this is reflected in the Civil Services examination. Recruitment to the Indian Civil Service (ICS) was converted from a system of patronage to a merit-based open competitive examination in 1854, following the recommendations of Lord Macaulay, and was continued post Independence, for the IAS.

Reservations were introduced gradually for the scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and physically disabled, but not for regional or linguistic segments.

Though an authentic analysis of representation of candidates from different regional and/or linguistic backgrounds is not readily available, the general impression is that all States are not equitably represented. Even within the ST quota, not all STs of the country are equitably represented in the service. In the midst of this scenario, the issue of regional and social inclusion has got to be reviewed.

The pattern of examination followed till a decade ago for the Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs), now called the National Institute of Technology, wherein seats in each REC were reserved for every State, and candidates from the respective States would be the top rank-holder of respective States, could be a model.

In this model, seats in the reserved categories would also be distributed among the States and thus the SCs, STs and OBCs of all States would get represented in the All India Services (AISs) — IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service — enabling a combination of merit and inclusion.

To enhance inclusion, the Prelims, which comprise the general knowledge and aptitude tests, could be made free from the “exclusive medium” of English and Hindi. There is good reason to provide for answering these two papers in other regional languages, too. For, the general knowledge and aptitude test can best be responded to in the language the candidate is most at home with.

It is also logical to omit the English language comprehension skill part from the CSAT altogether, as aptitude measurement and English language comprehension do not justify mutual mapping.

Measuring general knowledge and aptitude through the language that the candidate is most comfortable with would be a highly effective inclusive processes that would help draw the best talent from all parts of India. It would also allow the AISs to have a true all-India character, which would also go a long way in nurturing the federal structure of the country.

The major argument against emphasis on English in the Civil Services Examination is that English is quite unwarranted for the IAS, citing the example of the Ministers and bureaucrats of China and Japan, who visit India and are seen speaking only in their language, whereas Indian side uses English all the time. Language indeed gives identity to a country and one would be happy seeing the Indian delegation converse in Hindi while their foreign counterparts use their own language.

However, English is the language for global interface and exchange of ideas and information, thanks to the critical role of the US in world trade, politics, science, technology, financial markets and even in the field of education and learning. That a large number of Indians find place in various fields of employment al over the world, is attributed largely to their knowledge of English, besides, of course, their hard work. It is also generally accepted that the main scoring point for Indians over the Chinese is their relative comfort with the English language.

English is also required by the IAS officers working in various Ministries to work effectively with their state counterparts, be it for Centrally Sponsored Development Schemes or for projects of National Highways, Railways etc.

The candidates selected for the IAS must, therefore, be comfortable with English. For this purpose, the Main Examination has provided for a qualifying paper in English, which includes tests of comprehension of the language, precis writing, vocabulary and short essays. This framework has evolved over some years and gives ample scope for judging the candidates for their required competence in English.

While the Civil Services examination is perceived to be primarily for the IAS, only about 10-12 per cent of the vacancies are for the IAS, another 8 to 10 per cent for the Indian Police Service, while about 75 per cent are for the various Central Services, such as the Indian Foreign Service, Postal Service, Civil Accounts Service, Defence Lands Service, Railway Service, and so on. The core competence required for the Central Services is different from that for the IAS.

Also, legally, recruitment to the AIS is to be regulated by the AIS Act, 1951, which mandates consultation with the State governments , whereas for the Central Services, no such consultation is either mandated or required. Therefore, recruitment for the All India Services needs to be separated from that for the Central Services.

The Central Services should be renamed as such and not as at present. For instance, the Indian Civil Accounts Service may be named the Central Civil Accounts Service, and so on. Only those services that are governed by the AIS Act, 1951 may be given the title commencing with ‘Indian’.

This is not to reduce the significance of the Central Services, but only to give a separate identity to the All India Services and facilitate better management of the process of recruitment and subsequent management of the cadres.

The current debate, having been conducted on the streets and in Parliament, has created concerns about diminishing the stature of every institution associated with the Civil Services examination, including the UPSC, and even the Civil Services. But such fears are not fully justified.

The examination, being a prestigious one, deserves popular scrutiny and debate in various democratic fora. In fact, it should be discussed in the State legislatures as well, as a majority of the AIS officers are, at any given point of time, serving the State cadres, which is the USP and strength of these services.

It is also necessary for Parliament and the State legislatures to emotionally own the All India Services, which would be facilitated if the key aspects of these services, including the method of recruitment, are discussed professionally in these august bodies. This would enhance the credibility of these services, besides removing the undue halo around them.

The writer is a former Secretary, Government of India