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“Need for Civil Services Exam Reforms”
Blaming bureaucracy for all ills is not fair. The current recruitment process is per se flawed. It is patterned on the colonial practice followed for recruiting subordinate bureaucracy. Undoubtedly, there has been a gradual decline in the quality of higher civil services selected by the Union and States PSCs over the last several decades.
No one-shot written exam and personality test can measure qualities like leadership, decision-taking ability, empathy, communication skills etc. It merely tests memorization ability and answer-writing speed of the candidates. It is merely like a lottery. One bad day luck can kill years of preparation, wasting lakhs of rupees spent on coaching, family time and worst of all, the morale causing mental health crisis leading to depression, suicidal tendency etc.
Against this backdrop, the selection process should be modern, scientific and truly merit-based. The same model should be followed by the States PSCs and other recruitment bodies especially the NTA for conducting the NEET exams.
Selecting India’s future DMs/collectors, SPs secretaries, ambassadors, IPS officers through a single-shot exam conducted on a single day, is not a test of merit but a test of “kismat”. It is a disaster. I am referring to the Prelims exams held by the UPSC and States PSCs for selecting bureaucrats.
The UPSC civil services exams in its current format, claims to locate the best minds.But,in reality, the system is structurally unfair. The bureaucrats’ job is not to write 100 answers in three hours. Its job is to meet the aggrieved people, hear their grievances and take ethical decisions as per rules.
Let the civil services aspirants’ talent, sorry “suitability”, be tested in three or four successive days rather than in three hours for the written exams and thirty minutes spent on single personality test.
The interviews for the written-qualified aspirants should be held successively for two days by different Boards and the average should be taken as final score of the candidate. It may be noted that inter-boards moderation is not feasible due to statistical unviability.
It destroys accountability. Bureaucrats recommend outsourcing to avoid responsibility. It kills quality and creates unemployment and inequality. This was one major factor responsible for paper leaks and data leaks in the recent serial leakage scams. Let us learn from experience.
A K Saxena (Former civil servant)
No one-shot written exam and personality test can measure qualities like leadership, decision-taking ability, empathy, communication skills etc. It merely tests memorization ability and answer-writing speed of the candidates. It is merely like a lottery. One bad day luck can kill years of preparation, wasting lakhs of rupees spent on coaching, family time and worst of all, the morale causing mental health crisis leading to depression, suicidal tendency etc.
Against this backdrop, the selection process should be modern, scientific and truly merit-based. The same model should be followed by the States PSCs and other recruitment bodies especially the NTA for conducting the NEET exams.
Selecting India’s future DMs/collectors, SPs secretaries, ambassadors, IPS officers through a single-shot exam conducted on a single day, is not a test of merit but a test of “kismat”. It is a disaster. I am referring to the Prelims exams held by the UPSC and States PSCs for selecting bureaucrats.
The UPSC civil services exams in its current format, claims to locate the best minds.But,in reality, the system is structurally unfair. The bureaucrats’ job is not to write 100 answers in three hours. Its job is to meet the aggrieved people, hear their grievances and take ethical decisions as per rules.
Let the civil services aspirants’ talent, sorry “suitability”, be tested in three or four successive days rather than in three hours for the written exams and thirty minutes spent on single personality test.
The interviews for the written-qualified aspirants should be held successively for two days by different Boards and the average should be taken as final score of the candidate. It may be noted that inter-boards moderation is not feasible due to statistical unviability.
It destroys accountability. Bureaucrats recommend outsourcing to avoid responsibility. It kills quality and creates unemployment and inequality. This was one major factor responsible for paper leaks and data leaks in the recent serial leakage scams. Let us learn from experience.
A K Saxena (Former civil servant)
