New Delhi: Scores of civil services aspirants have demanded that the syllabus for UPSC examinations to select IAS, IFS, and IPS officers be changed to give level-playing field to those coming from rural areas.
"There is a need to change second paper of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination which is known as Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT II), as it makes it difficult for people coming from rural areas of Hindi-speaking states to crack this examination," said Sampoornanand, a native of Bihar.
The CSAT-II paper carries questions on comprehension, interpersonal skills including communication skills, logical reasoning and analytical ability, decision making and problem solving, general mental ability, basic numeracy, and English language comprehension skills (of Class X level).
"The questions asked in English language comprehension skills are asked in English and no Hindi translation is provided. We find it difficult to understand them. Questions asked are also much above the level of Class X. We want it to be changed. In fact the pattern of CSAT is beneficial for students of science background," he claimed.
The civil services examination is conducted in three stages -- preliminary, main, and interview. There are two compulsory papers of 200 marks each in the preliminary examination. This is also known as CSAT I and CSAT II.
A group of students had carried out protests in Mukherjee Nagar and other areas of the national capital in support of their demand. They want the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to postpone the civil services (preliminary) examination 2014 scheduled to be held on August 24.
"Most of the students have been protesting against the pattern. We want UPSC and the government to intervene in the matter and postpone the date of preliminary examination," said Jitendra, another civil services aspirant.
The issue was also raised in Parliament recently by SP's Dharmendra Yadav and BJP's Yogi Adityanath. Adityanath had demanded that CSAT examination be brought to an end as it is difficult for Hindi-speaking students coming from rural areas.
