Civil Service Re-Examination Will Have Cascading Effects: UPSC Tells Supreme Court

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), while opposing the plea seeking extra attempt for candidates who could not appear in the Civil Services Mains exam, said if the Commission makes a provision for re-examination, then it will have cascading effects on the schedules of other ongoing examinations as well as other exams to follow.
The UPSC also submitted that accommodating such requests will lead to a chaotic situation where no examination can be completed on schedule.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the UPSC has opposed the plea seeking extra attempt and said that the petition is without merit.

The UPSC also said that DoP&T is also a stakeholder in the process of conduct of civil services exam and consequently, the views and stand of the DoP&T also may be considered in the interest of justice, on the issues raised in the petition.

The UPSC, in its affidavit also apprised the Court that the existing age range for admission to the Civil Services Examination is 21 to 32 years with relaxations for certain categories of candidates and the permissible number of attempts is also six with relaxations for certain categories of candidates. “Thus, the existing rules provide for fair opportunities to the aspirants to make an attempt at this examination to secure a placement in case one attempt is lost due to some exigencies, ” the UPSC submitted.

The UPSC also apprised the Court that it is imperative that the Commission follows its schedules of Examinations which are prepared well in advance in order to perform its constitutional obligations to supply manpower to the Government in a timely manner to fill the vacancies in the crucial positions.

If the Commission is to make a provision for re-examination, it will hardly be possible for it to complete its any examination on time, the UPSC pointed out.

“This will entail complete derailment of the schedule of post-examination activities of a particular examination but will also have cascading effects on the schedules of other ongoing examinations as well as other exams to follow, ” the UPSC said.

[“source=ndtv”]