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Changes in the Exam pattern of Civil services PT
• Aptitude test for
Civil Service PT from 2011
Government of India has approved a proposal to introduce an aptitude
test in place of the existing preliminary examination to shortlist
candidates for the main examination. Accordingly, the candidates will
have to appear in two objective type papers having special emphasis on
testing their aptitude for civil services as well as on ethical and
moral dimension of decision making under a Civil Services Aptitude Test
(CSAT).
Both these papers having equal weightage will be common to all
candidates in place of the one common paper (general awareness) and one
optional paper (any particular subject of choice) under the existing
system which lays greater emphasis on subject knowledge.
As of now, the change will be effective only for the first stage of the
Civil Services Examination (CSE) from 2011 onwards. The second and
third stages CS (Main) Examination and interview respectively may
remain the same till a committee of experts goes into various aspects
of the entire system and submits its report. Confirming the change for
the first stage of Civil Service Examination, Minister of state for
personnel Prithviraj Chavan told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday March 10,
2010 that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the proposal for
introduction of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) in place of the
existing Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination. In his written
reply, he said: CSAT is expected to come into effect from Civil Service
Examination, 2011.
Officials familiar with the proposal which has got the PMs nod
explained that the changes were suggested by various committees,
including the second Administrative Reforms Commission, in their
reports submitted over the years. Most of the panels had advocated
laying greater emphasis on the aptitude of candidates than their
knowledge of a subject, arguing that specialists or experts in any
particular subject may not necessarily be good civil servants.
Referring to introduction of CSAT, an official said: The new system
will also provide a level-playing field and equity, since all
candidates will have to attempt common papers unlike the current format
which provides for only one common paper.
Though a scaling system is currently used in the preliminary
examination in order to ensure that no candidate who has opted for any
particular optional paper gets advantage because of varying degree of
difficulty of any paper or inherent scorability, the government has
received complaints objecting to the method. One related matter has
even been pending in Supreme Court for long.
Source: The Times of India, New
Delhi (March 11, 2010)
