It has been recommended by a Parliamentary Committee to reduce the duration of the selection cycle for civil service exams as it is detrimental to candidates’ physical and mental wellbeing and wastes their prime years.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has been asked to take steps to reduce the duration of the recruitment cycle without compromising the quality of the examination. The Committee has also asked the UPSC to examine the reasons for the low turnout of candidates in the civil services examination.
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- The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice said according to the data provided by the UPSC, the average time taken for civil services examination from the date of issue of notification to the date of declaration of the final result is nearly 15 months.
- A Parliamentary Committee has asked the UPSC to reduce the civil services examination’s selection cycle.
- In its latest report, the panel also asked the Union Public Service Commission to examine the reasons for the low turnout of candidates in the civil services examination.
- The Committee is of the opinion that the duration of any recruitment examination should not ordinarily exceed six months as long and protracted recruitment cycles waste prime years of a candidates’ life besides taking a heavy toll on their physical and mental health.
- The Committee, accordingly, recommends that UPSC should take steps to reduce the duration of the
recruitment cycle significantly without compromising the quality. - The panel has recommended forming an expert committee to assess if the present scheme of recruitment through civil services examination provides an equal opportunity to both English medium-educated urban candidates and non-English medium-educated rural candidates.
- The panel said an expert group or committee should be appointed to assess the impact of changes made in the scheme, pattern and syllabus of civil services examination in the last ten years on the quality of recruitment and administration at large.
- The panel was also apprised that the UPSC releases the answer key of the preliminary test of the civil services examination only after the completion of the entire process of the said examination.
- The Committee, therefore, recommends that UPSC may take steps to publish the answer key right after the preliminary stage of the civil services examination and allow candidates to raise objections.