NEW DELHI: With roughly 50 per cent of aspirants who enrol for the
civil services examination failing to take even the 'preliminary' test,
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has decided to let non-serious and under-prepared candidates withdraw their application before the exam. The facility will be rolled out with the
Engineering Services Examination 2019 and will be extended to all recruitment exams conducted by
UPSC, including the elite civil services examination.
Another key reform that the UPSC is working on is shifting from written exams to online exams, a change aimed at compressing the time cycle for each exam.
UPSC chairman
Arvind Saxena on Monday said the roughly 50 per cent dropout rate at the very first stage of the civil services exam led the panel to come up with the 'application withdrawal' alternative. "The commission has to book venues, print papers, hire invigilators and ship the documents for all the 10 lakh applicants (for civil services exam) - which turns out to be a 50 per cent waste of energy and resources. UPSC's view is that if we are able to work with genuine and serious candidates, we can give them better facilities and make our system more efficient," Saxena said at UPSC's 92nd foundation day ceremony here.
While 11.36 lakh candidates had applied for the civil services exam in 2016, no more than 4,59,659 appeared for the preliminary test, the first stage of selection which is followed by the mains exam and the interview/personality test. Cases where applicants do not appear for the preliminary exam are not counted as 'attempts', which are limited as per civil services examination norms.
With the civil services examination 2018 process already underway, the 'application withdrawal' facility can be expected to kick in only in 2019.
To avail this facility, the candidate must furnish details of the application along with his registered mobile number and email ID. Separate OTPs will be sent via text message and email. Successful withdrawal of application will be confirmed by email and text message. Once the application has been withdrawn, it cannot be revived.
UPSC, meanwhile is also working on shifting from written to online exams. "We are moving ahead with shifting from a 'pen and paper' mode of examination to a computer-based mode. Apart from making the examination process more candidate-friendly, the new systems also serve to cut down the time cycle for each examination," Saxena said.
He added that the commission was disclosing scores and rank of non-recommended candidates in some exams on its website and further linking it with the 'National Career Services' portal of the ministry of labour and unemployment. "This is aimed at helping candidates who take exams for civil services, engineering services and combined medical services but do not make it to the merit list due to constraints of vacancies. They can now get picked up for other government, public sector or private sector jobs from the same database," the chairman said.
The move would do away with the need to conduct separate examinations by different organisations for posts with similar entry level qualifications.
