Central govt not serious on UPSC prelim issue

On Jul 30, 2014

The BJP-led central government’s refusal on Wednesday to give a definite timeframe for ending the deadlock over the civil services preliminary examination clearly shows its lack of seriousness in addressing the important issue and exposes the confusion within the government itself.

Since many days several union ministers were giving casual statements of resolving the issue within a week, but the government appeared to have developed cold feet suddenly, reflected by the comments of the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Mr Prakash Javadekar in the Rajya Sabha.

On Friday, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Jitendra Singh had said the government would resolve the issue within a week.

This was followed by none other than the home minister, Mr Rajnath Singh on Monday, who again stated that the government would find a solution within a week.

After bold proclamations, the central government is now saying it is going to act soon. What does this mean ?

On the one hand, the central government has allowed the Delhi Police to adopt high handed measures to inflict brutalities on peacefully protesting students, on the other hand, it is shedding crocodile tears.

The Aam Aadmi Party demands that the following steps be immediately taken to assure the students that no injustice would be done to them :

1) The central government must immediately advise the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to postpone the prelim exams scheduled to begin from August 24.

2) The government must ask the UPSC to probe how and why it had started issuing the online admit cards for the prelims when the matter was still under consideration.

3) The UPSC must make a public statement that the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) will be thoroughly reviewed and expert panel report on CSAT will be made public.

4) Till then, the UPSC must revert to the pre-2011 system and restore the optional exam in the civil services prelims.

5) The union home ministry must order a probe into the police brutalities on peacefully protesting students. (ENDS)