What MoS in PMO Jitendra Singh told a group of IAS aspirants about UPSC exam pattern

MoS in PMO Singh with an IAS aspirant

IN UPSC examinations, there should be a level-playing field to all student groups regardless of their background -- rural or urban upbringing, their stream or subject of study in high school or graduation, etc., says MoS personnel and PMO Dr Jitendra Singh while talking to a group of civil service aspirants in New Delhi on Thursday. The minister’s statement came at a time when the government decided to…
appoint a panel to revisit the syllabus, pattern and other aspects of the civil services examinations. It was also decided that the civil services preliminary examination’s general studies paper-II (CSAT) will remain as a qualifying paper till further notice.
Last year, there was a massive protest to scrap Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), a demand not acceptable to Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the government agency that conducts civil services examinations and is considered independent and impartial. But the Central government gave into the pressure of protesters and political parties when it announced that the English comprehensive skills included in the UPSC’s preliminary examination, won’t be counted for gradation or merit.
On Thursday, the group of IAS aspirants was taken to the PMO by BJP MP and popular Bhojpuri film actor and singer Manoj Tiwari. A large number of students from the Hindi heartland were part of the protest as they thought the examination pattern was tilled in favour of English medium students.
While talking to the IAS aspirants, minister Singh said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to provide maximum governance with minimum government and in order to achieve this objective, “improvement in the functioning of civil services is as equally important”. The future IAS officers entering into services need to adapt to the changing requirement of 21st century India and must have a natural aptitude to provide the kind of administration that the contemporary India requires, the minister said.