Supporting the anti-CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) agitation by students, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday demanded that the government postpone the August 24 preliminary examinations.
At a press conference, senior party leader and its chief spokesperson Yogendra Yadav said the party stands firmly behind the agitating students.
Mr. Yadav, who also sat on dharna supporting the students’ demands, said the entire problem was not for to put Hindi against English, but to ensure justice to all Indian languages.
“We completely support the USPC anti-CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) agitation, which is not against English or in support of Hindi. The protest demands justice to all Indian languages in the examination,” he said.
“The AAP thinks that UPSC aspirants’ demands are right and the government has ditched them by not fulfilling their demands, but giving them some thing they never wanted in the first place. Despite all the so called engagements and dialogue with the students, all they got was assurances to delay the decision,” he said.
The Union Government on Monday decided that the marks of the English language comprehension skills will not be included in preparing the UPSC merit list, a solution which the protesting students rejected. They have been demanding that the CSAT be scrapped.
The agitating students termed the CSAT test “discriminatory” and are still protesting that it be scrapped.
“After the dejection and rejection of the government’s formula by the protesting students, the AAP demands the Central Government must publicly acknowledge that the current Civil Services examination pattern is neither language neutral nor stream neutral,” the AAP said in a statement.
The party also said the Centre must realise that aspirants are being forced to take to streets at a time when they should have been busy preparing for the exams. It does not reflect a “happy situation” for the country, it said.
