UPSC aspirants have been on a hunger strike demanding an extra attempt for those who could not appear for exams due to COVID-19
Highlights
- UPSC aspirants, who had not been able to appear for exams, have been asking for an extra attempt
- To press their demands, the aspirants have been sitting on a hunger strike for nearly 25 days now
- They say like everyone else, they too were badly affected by the pandemic and deserve a fair chance
Nitish Bharadwaj, one of the many UPSC aspirants, is a voice among the chorus, demanding an extra attempt for those who could not appear for their exams due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But is anyone listening? Explaining what went wrong with him, Nitish told India TV Digital that he had appeared for one of the exams for mains in January this year, soon after which he started showing symptoms of coronavirus. He tested positive the next day and requested authorities for some relief, but no one helped. Nitish said he had to breach the quarantine rules and sit for exams in fever, yet he could not clear his mains.
"What do I do now?" asked a worried Nitish.
And not just Nitish, scores of UPSC aspirants have been observing a hunger strike in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar on a rotational basis, in demand for an extra attempt. Some of them even had to be hospitalised.
On Sunday, when India TV Digital got in touch with many of those on protest, aspirants explained why today they rely solely on the government's decision to carve their future.
On hunger strike for 24 days now, aspirants of the Union Public Service Commission say they have met and have spoken to several political leaders, however, their demand for an extra attempt remains unfulfilled.
UPSC aspirants sit on hunger strike in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area, demanding an extra attempt
"I fought with my husband's clinical depression during my 2021 exams. He lost close relatives and colleagues. It was a long fight. I lost my attempt and my dream. But govt didn't understand the plight of aspirants," said another aspirant who recognised herself as Manisha Damdhere.
Explaining the other side of being a doctor, aspirant Himani said, "We served the people during the worst times of the pandemic. Few of our fellow aspirants lost their parents. We are not demanding any job, we are just asking for two fair chances for 2020 and 2021."
Aspirants said they are disappointed with the response received thus far, from the authorities. They reiterated that all they want is a chance to sit for exams.
UPSC aspirant Hiten said, "We are not asking for govt job but only seeking an opportunity to appear in the exam."
Another candidate S Panda said aspirants should be granted age relaxation. "What we asking for is a fair chance to appear in the examination. What’s our mistake? We lost our precious years of life and our family members. We deserve two compensatory attempts and two years of age relaxation."
UPSC aspirants on hunger strike in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area, demanding an extra attempt
UPSC Extra Attempt - What Parliamentary Panel Told Govt
On Thursday, a parliamentary committee asked the government to 'change its mind' and consider the demands of UPSC aspirants. The committee mentioned the hardships faced by the aspirants and said they should be granted an extra attempt with corresponding age relaxation.
The committee is of the opinion that COVID-19 has caused untold agony and insurmountable sufferings to many, the panel said in its report tabled in the parliament.
The whole of India had come to a standstill, lives and livelihoods got disrupted and the student community was also adversely affected, it said.
“Keeping in view the hardships faced by the student community during the first and second COVID-19 waves, the committee recommends the government to change its mind and sympathetically consider the demand of civil services examination (CSE) aspirants and grant an extra attempt with corresponding age relaxation to all candidates,” the report said.
Asked if the Union Public Service Commission is considering giving an extra attempt and benefit of age relaxation for all candidates in view of the havoc wreaked by the first and second COVID-19 waves, the commission replied that the issue of granting age relaxation and extra attempt to the candidates due to the pandemic had been brought before the Supreme Court of India vide writ petitions filed by the aspirants.
“In view of above, no such proposal is under consideration in this department,” said the report of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice on Demands for Grants (2022-23) of the Department of Personnel and Training.
The panel, headed by BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi, asked the government to appoint an expert group or committee to assess the impact of changes made in the scheme, pattern and syllabus of civil services examination in the last 10 years on the quality of recruitment and administration at large.
“The expert group so constituted may assess if the present scheme of recruitment provides an equal opportunity to both English-medium educated urban candidates and non-English medium educated rural candidates,” it said.
UPSC aspirants sit on hunger strike in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area, demanding an extra attempt
UPSC Extra Attempt - Demand Grows on Twitter
Meanwhile, the issue has already garnered much attention on social media, as hashtags like #UPSCExtraAttempt and #CompensatoryAttempt were seen trending on Twitter. On being asked of their concerns and demands, here's how the aspirants responded.
UPSC Extra Attempt - What happened in Supreme Court Earlier
The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that additional attempt in the UPSC civil services examination is “not possible”. The court was hearing a plea filed by three aspirants who had cleared the UPSC 2021 prelims exam but could not appear in all papers of the main exam after testing positive for COVID-19 and are now seeking an extra attempt to appear in the exams.
The UPSC had recently told the top court there is no provision for holding re-examination in case a candidate fails to appear in the test on the scheduled date for any reasons, including ailment or accident incapacitating him to take the exam.
The bench said it would hear the matter on March 28 and asked the apex court registry to circulate the affidavit along with the paper book of the case.
In its affidavit, the Centre has said that the Civil Services Examination (CSE) is conducted by the UPSC annually in accordance with the CSE Rules notified by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) every year for a particular CSE.
It said the matter of compensatory/extra attempt has been adjudicated by the apex court in the past against the plea of hardships faced by the aspirants due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was not granted.
The Centre said that any relaxation to the age limit and the number of permissible attempts due to the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to similar demands being made by other categories of candidates.
Meanwhile, the petitioners have also filed a rejoinder affidavit in response to the affidavit filed by the UPSC in the matter.
The rejoinder affidavit, filed by advocate Shashank Singh, said the petitioners are entitled to a compensatory attempt in place of their missed last attempt due to COVID-19 and the absence of a policy for them.
