UPSC to allow candidates to withdraw from exams
Source: IT News
New Delhi, October 05 2018:
Claiming that only half of the
over 10 lakh aspirants who
apply for civil services exam
actually write the test, the
UPSC on Monday said it has
decided to allow the
candidates to withdraw from
the examination, according to
an official statement.
The arrangement will be
implemented beginning with
Engineering Services
Examination, 2019, it said.
Addressing an event
Monday
, Union Public
Service Commission chairman
Arvind Saxena said the
UPSC'
s experience with the
civil services examination is
that roughly 50 per cent of the
10 lakh plus candidates who
fill in the application forms for
the preliminary exams actually
write the papers, the
statement said.
The civil services
examination is conducted
annually by the UPSC in three
stages - preliminary
, main
and interview - to select
officers for Indian
Administrative Service (IAS),
Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
and Indian Police Service
(IPS) among others.
"The Commission has to
book venues, print papers,
hire invigilators and ship the
documents for all the 10 lakh
applicants � which turns out
to be a 50 per cent waste of
energy and resources," he
said on the occasion of the
92nd foundation day
celebrations Monday
.
Saxena said, "The UPSC'
s
view is that if we are able to
work with genuine and
serious candidates, we can
give them better facilities and
make our system more
efficient."
A start is being made with the
Engineering Services
Examination, 2019 and more
examinations will be brought
under this arrangement, the
statement issued by
Personnel Ministry said.
In
order to avail this facility
, the
candidate has to provide
details of application, it said.
Separate One-Time
Passwords (OTPs) will be
sent on candidate'
s
registered mobile number and
e-mail id.
"On successful
completion of withdrawal of
application, confirmation
message will be sent on e-mail and also an SMS.
Once
application has been
withdrawn, it cannot be
revived," the statement said.
With a view to reduce the
stress for the candidates, the
UPSC has brought an
incre
asing number of exam related
interactions and transactions
online.
In this regard, Saxena said
the UPSC is also moving ahead
with shifting from a 'pen and
paper' mode of examination to a
computer-based mode.
"Apart from making the
examination process more
candidate-friendly
, the new
systems also serves to cut down
the time cycle for each
examination," he said.
Bearing in mind the
aspirations of the youth for
better job opportunities, the
chairman said that the
Commission is now disclosing
the scores and ranking of the
non-recommended
candidates in some
examinations on its website
and further linking it with the
"National Career Services"
portal of the Ministry of
Labour and Employment.
He said, central ministries and
organisations can,
conceivably take advantage
of this arrangement wherein
candidates who have cleared
a rigorous screening process
in the civil services,
engineering services or
combined medical services
examinations, but could not
find a place in the merit list
due to constraints of
vacancies, can now look
forward to being picked up for
other government, public
sector or private sector jobs,
from the same data base.
The measure should obviate
the need for conducting of
multiple and separate
examinations by different
organisations for posts with
similar entry level
qualifications, he added.
"This will reduce the stress on
young job aspirants and also
the time taken for recruitment
by various bodies," Saxena
said.
He also referred to the recent
judgment of Supreme Court
regarding appointment of
DGPs of states as well as the
government'
s proposal of
lateral entry into the services.
He said these developments
have heightened the
responsibilities of UPSC.