The Union government on Wednesday said that it was working to address the concerns of those aspiring for a career in the civil services and had sought a report that would be used to draw a road map for the future with respect to the recruitment examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.
As an angry Opposition in the Lok Sabha demanded action against “discrimination” against candidates opting for Hindi and regional languages as the medium for the examination, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh said the government had asked a three-member committee set up in March to expedite submission of the report.
On Tuesday, the Centre urged the commission to consider postponing the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), part of the preliminary examination scheduled for August 24, until “clarity” emerged on the syllabus and its pattern. Following Dr. Prasad’s statement in the House, aspirants pressing for scrapping the CSAT broke their fast.
Highlighting the students’ concerns, MPs from the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party trooped into the Well of the House and raised slogans.
“We have sympathy for the students and do not want any discrimination on the basis of language or any injustice. We appeal to the students not to put themselves in physical or mental stress,” Dr. Singh said.
Pappu Yadav and Jayprakash Narayan Yadav of the RJD and Ranjeet Ranjan of the Congress raised slogans. Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress asked Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to allow the Opposition to raise their views through a short-duration discussion.
They criticised the Minister for giving a statement without putting his signature on it.
