CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION My heartiest congratulations to the youngsters who have been selected for the Civil Services after a gruelling selection process in the CSE 2013. I wish and hope that they realize the importance of what they have achieved as they, along with politicians policy makers, are going to contribute to building a stronger and developed India in the next three to four decades. All the best to them in their careers. CSE 2013 was the first examination after revamping of the examination process in accordance with the recommendations of the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission. There is heavy emphasis on General Studies in the new pattern of the examination. One paper in the Preliminary Examination and five papers in the Main Examination- I am including the Essay Paper too- are in General Studies and basically test the memory of the civil service aspirants, except the Essay Paper and Paper V- General Studies IV, which test higher mental faculties of analysis and interpretation too. There is preponderant emphasis on communication skills in the chosen medium of examination. It needs analysis by the UPSC to verify whether the emphasis on the ability to recall and written communication skills has adversely affected aspirants with higher IQ. One such analysis could be ascertaining the correlation between Paper II of Preliminary Examination and marks in the written part of the Main Examination. Paper V- General Studies IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) - has doubtful value. It is proven that a written examination can never test the value system of job aspirants as they can easily present answers in which they actually have no faith. Testing of value system can be done only over a period of time, and not in hours, with the aspirants placed under constant supervision as in the case of SSB interviews. With a Paper of such doubtful reliability, it can easily degenerate into another Essay Paper. This is the actual feedback from countless aspirants. The reliability of this paper to test the values and aptitude of the aspirants needs monitoring. The problem is that the Expert Groups for CSAT and Main Examination looked at them in a compartmentalised manner without an integrated approach. When I was invited by the UPSC Expert Group on the CSAT to interact with them- which was a honour- I had pleaded that the CSAT, Main Examination and the Training during probation should be looked as a whole so that when the selected officer completes his probation he is ready to handle the work for the next 20 years till he enters the domain of contributing to policy making. I got a curt reply from the Chairman of the Committee that their brief was to look into the CSAT only. About 3000 candidates appear to have been called by the UPSC for the Personality Test for selecting about 1100 among them. UPSC can examine whether it is at all necessary to call candidates in the ratio of 5:2. The Personality Test has a weight of 275 out of total of 2025. While no meritorious candidate should be left out, it is necessary that no hope is given to candidates who will have absolutely no chance of selection. More candidates for interview also mean more time and resources. Statistical models can be easily developed by the UPSC based on data of the past few years to decide a rational and realistic ratio of candidates for interview to number of posts. While the Members of UPSC have impeccable credentials and integrity -otherwise they would not have been chosen- mere guidelines may not ensure uniformity in assessment. I have been a strong advocate of structured evaluation of the performance of the aspirants in the Personality Tests, as the pitfalls of the Personality Test as a selection tool are too well known. Such structured evaluation will eliminate Halo Effect, Bias and mistaking flowery language for analytical abilities. It is time that the UPSC introduces such structured evaluation in its Personality Tests. It is unfortunate that reaching a certain age is considered in India as a substitute for formal training in conducting interviews. Training is a continuous process and UPSC should consider periodical training for its Members in Interviewing Techniques. The training need can easily be assessed through correlation of written examination and interview marks of the aspirants interviewed under the chairmanship of each Member. Poor correlation will indicate the need for training of the concerned Members. A preliminary assessment indicates that most of the top 300 finally selected may have given the Personality Test in English or Hindi. It is also understood that there are restrictions on choosing a regional language as the medium in the Personality Test if the chosen medium for the written examination is English, though the Notice of CSE 2014 does not lay down any such restriction. If it is indeed true that such restriction is in place, the Government should step in and rectify the situation. There should be no relationship between the medium of study, medium chosen for written examination and medium of interview. The job aspirants should have freedom of choice. When I enter the portals of UPSC it is always with reverence and respect and the above suggestions are made to enhance the reputation of UPSC further.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 05:56:16 +0000