So what’s ‘your’ take on the UPSC CSE?
[Please also read the more than 90 comments on this post and join the debate! You may like the comments more.]
I have undertaken a research on the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE).
Needless to say, everyone has an opinion on this examination whether one is/was a Civil Services aspirant or not. After all, it is India’s most talked about examination.
Do you think all is fine with the UPSC CSE (and the various State Public Service Commissions)? Or do you think that the system has a lot of ills such as the lack of transparency, the unpredictability, the callous Commission (s), to name a few?
Do you admire the way various Public Service Commissions and the UPSC function or do you think that the process and structure need reform (as also highlighted in recent years through the Right to Information activism, the Natchiappan Parliamentary Committee Report etc.).
Do you think that it is the Colonial pattern of examination modified for an independent India that still emphasizes rote memory? Or do you approve of this awe-inspiring exam that takes one year to once decade for the candidates to clear (or not clear for that matter!)?
Do you think the Civil Services exams in India have become a ‘gamble’ for candidates which is only exacerbated by the holier-than-thou attitude of the Commissions?
Do you think the UPSC/PSCs are doing a satisfactory job or do you find a lot of luck, fluke and arbitrariness? Do you think that the UPSC and the PSCs are accountable and transparent? Do you think that the candidates should be informed of their scores in the examination and the procedure adopted for evaluation (including information on Cut-offs, subjects considered etc. which invariably remain clouded in secrecy)? Will you say that the UPSC is making mistakes and getting away with it?
And what do you have to say about the caliber of selected candidates? Do you think that the more able, hardworking and creative aspirants are getting selected or the more mediocre have a better chance here? Is this an examination for the intellectual and the creative person or only for those who can memorize endlessly (“crammers”, as some say)?
Can the examination be made lean like the CAT conducted by the IIMs? Or is the present format okay?
Could it be said that this “national hobby” is a cruel, dull and boring exam wasting tremendous youth energy of the country?
Why do we still hold the UPSC/IAS in awe? Why it is India’s most ‘mythicised’ exam?! Do you think it has become a tremendous phenomenon in the country and is hardly seen merely as an examination?
Do you approve the toppers endorsing dozens of coaching institutes and career magazines? Do you like the mushrooming coaching institutes claiming their expertise on the Civil Services Examination?
Do you like the demography and topography of Mukherjee Nagar in North Delhi which is dotted with UPSC aspirants, coaching institutes and billboards? Do you like the pedestrian advertisements of coaching institutes in the Delhi edition of the Hindu newspaper?
Whatever you think (or do not think), please share with me your experience/knowledge/stories/data/beliefs/likes/dislikes/opinion/suggestions about the UPSC/CSE/PSCs.
Tell me all that you have heard/seen/witnessed/felt which is not commonly known. You could be anyone – an aspirant, a successful or unsuccessful candidate (or a disgruntled one like me), a civil servant, media person, housewife, an intellectual, member of the intelligentsia, faculty member, an independent observer, commentator or a science student working in the lab who will never appear at the said exam.
Tell me anything formally/informally associated with these exams including stories of your preparation/selection/rejection/scores, stories from Mussorie/Munirka/Katwaria-Jia-BerSarai/Mukherjee Nagar, Dholpur House, Allahabad, Delhi University, question paper leaks (if any!), the corrupt PSCs, frauds of coaching institutes/magazines, the proud dowry-seeking civil servants, fake endorsements of coachings/mags by toppers, errors of UPSC (including errors in question papers), opinion of your teachers/parents, the Hindu newspaper etc.
The UPSC will not share; but we can, always! Please spread the word. Please visit/SMS/call/write/email or just hit the ‘comments’ at the bottom of this post. You may also want to read what others have said about this post.
VIKAS GUPTA, JNU, NEW DELHI-110067
(Click here for my Orkut profile; link opens in a new tab/window)
Email: upsc(dot)research(at)gmail(dot)com
Web: http://upsc.wordpress.com/
NOTE:1. I submitted a comprehensive 139-page RTI petition to the UPSC in February 2008 creatively seeking information on almost every aspect of UPSC CSE which was expectantly ignored by the commission despite first appeal. The matter is now ‘hopelessly’ with the Central Information Commission (CIC). 2. I have planned an eye-opener on the UPSC/CSE/PSCs. I will document my own story, ransack the internet, visit libraries, and meet Transparency Seekers and other stakeholders 3. This is a personal endeavour to be carried on a shoestring budget from my pocket money and does not relate to my academic research in JNU 4. This is definitely a result of my anger and frustration; however, I am only encouraged by it and not blinded by it. 5. If you are wondering over the need and relevance of this exercise, you are either a fresher/new comer to UPSC or you are having your head in the clouds. 6. Please feel free to criticize me, among other things. 7. A modified version of the above exhortation was published as wallpaper in JNU campus in early May 2008 and also on this page from 5 May 2008 to 9 August 2008.
Now hit the ‘comments’ link below. Post your comments too.
“A drop of ink can make a million think.” So, ‘drop’ a line. Tell me what you think. Or tell me what you don’t think…
