I am extremely pained to see the turn of events in ongoing UPSC protests. The violence, the mayhem, the loss of credibility from the side of protesters (mind you, I am not using the term students) and government is appalling. There are new rumors every hour and the issue has surpassed the logical contour of discussion. I come from a middle class family, have semi-rural background, studied in hindi medium school till 12th, got opportunity to study in the best engineering college of India, cleared UPSC exam multiple times by english medium. Given this background, I think, I am fairly equipped to comment on the situation. I can say with certainty that this exam is biased towards english medium students. Introduction of CSAT has created a double barrier for hindi medium arts graduates. It is true that after introduction of CSAT, passing prelims is very easy for engineers/MBAs etc. One can find many supporting statistics for falling number of selections from indian languages. But there are two big questions that needs to be answered by so called hindi-messiahs First, Is CSAT is the sole reason of dropping numbers of selections from indian languages. I think, answer is a big NO. English has always been a part of this exam at mains stage. Mathematics and reasoning was also there in a big way in earlier pattern. So essentially, nothing is changed in new pattern. The only real issue is the pedestrian quality of translation in question papers, which should be ratified surely. Other than that, after 2008-09 recession, many professional students came into the competition, which has reduced selections from indian languages. Increasing number of enrollment in english medium schools by current generation is also a very big factor. Second question that must be answered is whether UPSC exam is a job creation MNERGA scheme where all types of interests must be accommodated or selection of candidates for a particular kind of job. All of us know the answer. CSE exam provides the top 2% of government officials. We must be very sure about ability of these officers to converse in english AND indian language alike. We must make sure that they have basic mathematical abilities. CSAT exam is definitely a right step in that direction. Those who think that they are ill-equipped for such work, should, imho, stay away from this exam. There are other better things to do in life. I have personally suffered many times due to subjective nature of this exam, but that does not make me question the validity of criteria adopted by UPSC. Ridiculous arguments such as PM of India also is not very good in english are floating on social media. People must understand if that is the case, PM of India is not qualified for being a good civil servant. UPSC is protector of merit (defined based on skills required in job) and must not bow down to street protest led by vested interests like coaching institutes, political student unions etc. The culture of dissent is good for democracy but violent protest must be condemned at all cost. Constitutional sanctity of UPSC must be protected and cherished. Believe me, if an engineering student can learn history, a medical student can learn economics, a science student can learn essay writing, then it is not very difficult to learn a basic english for anyone. The right thing to do is going back to your study table rather than organizing chaotic street protests. All izz well. May good sense prevails. :-)
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 15:05:24 +0000
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