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Tug of war over language in civil services exam
Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Mar 12, 2013, 02.43AM IST
NEW DELHI: The revamped civil services examination - which selects candidates for elite central services including IAS, IPS and IFS among others - has set off a 'language' war.
It has drawn criticism from political parties with a number of them writing to the Centre requesting to withdraw the UPSC's notification which tilts towards aspirants who "know better English".
Even the clause which will not allow students speaking a certain regional language to take the exam in that medium unless there are at least 25 applicants willing to appear in that particular language has also been resisted. The new clause says, "In case there are less than 25 candidates opting for any approved language medium, then those candidates will be required to write their examination either in Hindi or in English only" - giving a clear tilt in favour of those who knows either Hindi or English.
A number of representations have reached UPSC, raising objection to its notification which gives 100 marks weightage to the 'English' language paper. Parliamentarians raised the issue in Rajya Sabha on Monday, saying the new exam pattern will unfairly give advantage to candidates from urban areas or English-medium educated aspirants.
Earlier, English language paper was qualifying in nature where its marks were not counted for selection. But under the new pattern, notified last Tuesday, its marks in the CSE (Main) will be counted while preparing the merit list for 'personality' test and final result.
Besides, the new pattern has completely removed the other regional language paper (any one of the languages enlisted in the 8th schedule of the Constitution) which used be qualifying in nature along with English.
Resenting the new pattern, which will also not allow students speaking a certain language to take the exam unless there are at least 25 applicants willing to appear in that particular language, TDP member C M Ramesh on Monday said, "The decision of UPSC goes against the interests of students of Andhra Pradesh."
Noting that aspirants from his state will not be allowed to opt for Telugu language as 'optional' paper unless there are 25 such applicants, Ramesh, while raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, said the decision had come as a "bolt from the blue" for his state and was "unjustified, illogical, unfounded and injustice to Andhra Pradesh".
Notwithstanding protests over the new pattern, government sources, however, said there was no move at all to withdraw the notification. "Giving weight to English by allotting 100 marks was a well thought out decision, keeping in mind the importance of the language in day-to-day administrative practice," said an official.
He said all 8th Schedule languages were, after all, treated equally and therefore it should not be resented.
Earlier, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "The practice of adding marks obtained in English to grand total of UPSC exam results is not only an attack on the morale of students but also affects future prospects of aspirants from rural and tribal areas and that of aspirants living in urban slums and the urban poor and middle class youths."
Terming the new exam pattern as "anti-people and unnecessary", the CM had last week demanded that the government should intervene and withdraw the notification.
In his letter, Chouhan said these youths could not compete with other aspirants whose English language skills were at par with international standards. Higher-level English medium schools could not be established in rural and urban areas due to administrative weakness, he added.
"But innocent youths are being punished for this even when they are not responsible for this, rather they have become victims," the chief minister said. He said it was wrong to assume that 100 marks, earmarked for English, out of total of 2,075 marks, do not play significant role in civil services exam................................................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDMvMTIjQXIwMjEwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Tug of war over language in civil services exam
Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Mar 12, 2013, 02.43AM IST
NEW DELHI: The revamped civil services examination - which selects candidates for elite central services including IAS, IPS and IFS among others - has set off a 'language' war.
It has drawn criticism from political parties with a number of them writing to the Centre requesting to withdraw the UPSC's notification which tilts towards aspirants who "know better English".
Even the clause which will not allow students speaking a certain regional language to take the exam in that medium unless there are at least 25 applicants willing to appear in that particular language has also been resisted. The new clause says, "In case there are less than 25 candidates opting for any approved language medium, then those candidates will be required to write their examination either in Hindi or in English only" - giving a clear tilt in favour of those who knows either Hindi or English.
A number of representations have reached UPSC, raising objection to its notification which gives 100 marks weightage to the 'English' language paper. Parliamentarians raised the issue in Rajya Sabha on Monday, saying the new exam pattern will unfairly give advantage to candidates from urban areas or English-medium educated aspirants.
Earlier, English language paper was qualifying in nature where its marks were not counted for selection. But under the new pattern, notified last Tuesday, its marks in the CSE (Main) will be counted while preparing the merit list for 'personality' test and final result.
Besides, the new pattern has completely removed the other regional language paper (any one of the languages enlisted in the 8th schedule of the Constitution) which used be qualifying in nature along with English.
Resenting the new pattern, which will also not allow students speaking a certain language to take the exam unless there are at least 25 applicants willing to appear in that particular language, TDP member C M Ramesh on Monday said, "The decision of UPSC goes against the interests of students of Andhra Pradesh."
Noting that aspirants from his state will not be allowed to opt for Telugu language as 'optional' paper unless there are 25 such applicants, Ramesh, while raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, said the decision had come as a "bolt from the blue" for his state and was "unjustified, illogical, unfounded and injustice to Andhra Pradesh".
Notwithstanding protests over the new pattern, government sources, however, said there was no move at all to withdraw the notification. "Giving weight to English by allotting 100 marks was a well thought out decision, keeping in mind the importance of the language in day-to-day administrative practice," said an official.
He said all 8th Schedule languages were, after all, treated equally and therefore it should not be resented.
Earlier, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "The practice of adding marks obtained in English to grand total of UPSC exam results is not only an attack on the morale of students but also affects future prospects of aspirants from rural and tribal areas and that of aspirants living in urban slums and the urban poor and middle class youths."
Terming the new exam pattern as "anti-people and unnecessary", the CM had last week demanded that the government should intervene and withdraw the notification.
In his letter, Chouhan said these youths could not compete with other aspirants whose English language skills were at par with international standards. Higher-level English medium schools could not be established in rural and urban areas due to administrative weakness, he added.
"But innocent youths are being punished for this even when they are not responsible for this, rather they have become victims," the chief minister said. He said it was wrong to assume that 100 marks, earmarked for English, out of total of 2,075 marks, do not play significant role in civil services exam................................................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDMvMTIjQXIwMjEwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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