Govt won’t rename UPSC paper

The government has refused to give a name to the first reform in nearly two decades in the way India selects its key civil servants.

The government has refused to give a name to the first reform in nearly two decades in the way India selects its key civil servants.

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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Saturday notified the public notice for the changed civil services examination that will give at least 880 candidates the dream job. About 4 lakh people apply for the prestigious examination every year and only half of them are able to take the examination.

The preliminary examination slotted for June 12 this year will be the first after the government changed the syllabus to incorporate what was dubbed as an "aptitude test".

Saturday's notification describes the alterations made to the syllabus for the preliminary examination but does not give it a new name (Civil Service Aptitude Test) — as proposed by the UPSC.

A senior government official told HT that the Department of Personnel and Training — the government's HR manager — had turned down the UPSC request.

"It was felt that even in its new format too, the examination did not really test the candidates’ aptitude… it just has a little more mathematics, English and logical reasoning," the official said.