Reforming the Civil Services Exam: UPSC Responds to Parliamentary Panel
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity & Governance (Constitutional Bodies - UPSC and its functions; Parliamentary Committees).
Mains: GS Paper 2 (Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies; Role of civil services in a democracy; Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies).
Key Highlights from the News
Main Issue: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) informed a Parliamentary Standing Committee that the one-year duration of the Civil Services Examination (CSE) cannot be reduced.
UPSC's Explanation: The reasons cited are the necessity of maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the examination process and the practical difficulties in managing over ten lakh applicants.
Key Recommendations of the Parliamentary Panel:
Reduce the examination period.
Publish the Preliminary exam answer key immediately after the examination.
Implement the recommendations of the Baswan Committee (2015).
UPSC's Stance on the Answer Key:
UPSC clarified that it will not change the current practice of publishing the answer key only after the completion of the examination process.
UPSC also stated that the current system works well and that the matter is sub judice (under consideration by the Supreme Court).
UPSC's Alternative Mechanism: The Commission pointed out that there is a Question Paper Representation Portal (QPRep) on its website for submitting opinions about questions.
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