Over 4.5 lakh candidates appeared for the Civil Services Preliminary Examination across the country on Sunday, weeks after hundreds of candidates staged protests demanding scrapping of the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT). In Delhi, families and friends of candidates waited patiently till 4.30 p.m. when they completed Paper-II.
Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh announced on August 4 that marks for English language comprehension (of Class X level) in Paper-II would not be counted for grading.
Opposing voices
At the Government Boys’ Senior Secondary School on Mandir Marg here, most candidates appearing for the examination disagreed with the Minister’s response. They cited reasons as varied as English being essential for communication in an examination for recruitment to the Indian Foreign Service, among several, and the argument that English would serve candidates well if they were posted to areas where they were not familiar with the local language.
“I attended school in Hindi medium in Meerut, though I studied English from Class I. I learnt English better during my undergraduate years while doing B.Sc. (Pharma) in Meerut. In the long run, including English comprehension skills in the exam would serve any public official well and is necessary,” said Vipin Kumar, 22. “Of the 80 questions, we did not have to attempt 32 in English without Hindi translation. That did help save time in completing an otherwise lengthy paper,” he said.
Deepa Kaushal, a MA student from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, said being asked not to attempt English comprehension questions put candidates like her at a disadvantage. “The language skills required are that of Class X level, and those of us familiar with English would have benefited if allowed to attempt the questions,” she said.
The examination consists of two compulsory of 200 marks each, of which Paper-II will now be evaluated for 200 marks minus the maximum marks allocated to the questions on the English language comprehension skills, said a Union Public Service Commission official.
Paper-I of CSAT was held from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., and was followed by Paper-II at 2.30 p.m. Paper-II tested comprehension, logical reasoning and analytical ability, problem-solving, numeracy, and English language comprehension skills (of Class X level).
At several centres, families of candidates waited on steps of school buildings and some inside private vehicles. “It is understandable that some candidates are less comfortable with English, but it is mathematical reasoning which is really the issue. Even if English comprehension skills are not counted, it will be the same candidates who will fare better in the exam I think,” said a parent, who works at an energy PSU.
