Parliament Seeks Short Civil Services Exam Timeline, UPSC Says No

The UPSC has also argued that since it has an online Question Paper Representation Portal (QPRep) on its official website — where candidates submit their views on any aspect of a question — there is no point in releasing the answer keys immediately after the first stage (Preliminary) of the examination.

However, the matter is pending with the Supreme Court and thus sub judice, the UPSC said. 

The Parliamentary panel, in its 131st Report on ‘Review of Functioning of Recruitment Organisations of Government of India’ pertaining to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, had favoured and suggested that the UPSC have a look at the possibility of making public the answer key of the question papers immediately after the preliminary examination, instead of doing so after the declaration of the final results.

More Candidates, Venues & Centres

In its response to the panel, the UPSC argued that the period for the three-stage CSEs is already optimised to the maximum, that too, after a manifold increase in the number of candidates taking these exams over the years, entailing an increase in the number of exam venues and centres. 

In the action taken report, a copy of which is with The Secretariat, the UPSC said, “One of the most vital factors that go into the determination of the schedule of an examination is the need to maintain the utmost confidentiality and integrity of the examination process. Various checks and balances have been integrated in the examination system, which have been gained through years of experience, to eliminate the risk to confidentiality and integrity.” 

The UPSC conducts the CSE in three stages — the Preliminary Examination (objective type), the Civil Services (Mains) Examination (descriptive type), and the Personality Test/Interview. These exams are held every year to recruit officers for 19 different services, both ‘Group A’ and Group ‘B’, including top cadres like the IAS, the IPS, the IFS, and the IRS.

Existing Schedule & Recent Trends

UPSC officials said the existing trend showed that in the past couple of years, over 10 lakh candidates applied for the first stage of screening (Preliminary exam) every year. In 2023, when the number of aspirants who appeared for the Prelims was 10.27 lakh, it was conducted in 79 cities across the country, covering 2,538 venues.

It also argued that the three exam stages are held with an average gap of around two-and-a-half to three months, and there is hardly any scope to further compress the timing. The evaluation of the nine descriptive-type answer sheets alone takes over two months, as nearly 1.20 lakh of these, covering different subjects, are evaluated by different teams of experts, it added.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary panel also recommended that the Government fix a clear timeline for the implementation of the recommendations of the Baswan Committee, which was constituted in 2015 under the chairmanship of former Education Secretary B S Baswan, which had comprehensively examined the various issues regarding the CSE, including a high rate of absenteeism among applicants.