| Civil Services Aptitude Test is being mooted at the preliminary level from 2011 and the UPSC is expected to push for changes in the Main examination too |
Those aspiring to be civil servants must have not only the required skills and knowledge, but also the right
values which would include integrity, commitment to public service and above all, commitment to the
ideals and philosophy embodied in the Constitution.
So a number of committees and commissions were setup to make recommendations on various aspects of
recruitment. The first committee was the Macaulay committee of 1854. This committee established the
principle of ‘transferability of academic talent to administration.' The Macaulay system continued till three
decades after Independence.
In 1976, the Kothari committee recommended a sequential system of examination based on the dictum
that “the average quality would get richer as the stream proceeds from one ‘stage to the next'. Accordingly
the examination was designed as a sequential three stage process - an objective type Preliminary
examination comprising one Optional and General Studies, a Main examination which would comprise 9
written papers and finally a Personality Test.
In 1989, Satish Chandra Committee was appointed to suggest reforms and it recommended minor changes
to Kothari model. Accordingly, an ‘Essay' paper was introduced and the marks for the Interview were
enhanced. Presently, the Civil Services Examination is conducted on an annual basis on this pattern.
The new millennium demanded excellence at every level of governance which required almost total re-
shaping, re-structuring of the economic as well as the administrative apparatus of the government.
Responding to this need, the Y.K. Alagh Committee, in 2001, recommended significant changes.
At the Preliminary level, it suggested that the ‘optional' subject should be continued but the General
Studies paper should be recast to that of a Civil Services Aptitude Test comprising questions on basic
awareness', ‘problem solving and analytical abilities' ( situation from the civil services arena to be taken to
test reasoning and understanding of problems ) and ‘data analysis ability'.
In order to establish a level playing field it recommended that the optionals at the Main examination be
replaced by four compulsory papers - Sustainable Development and Social justice, Science and Technology
in Society, Democratic governance, Public Systems and Human Rights. The Second Administrative
Reforms (Veerappa Moily) Commission in its report in 2008 upheld the recommendations of the Alagh
Committee and made a few more significant suggestions.
The first step in this direction is its proposal to introduce a Civil Services Aptitude Test at the Preliminary
level from the year 2011.
The Preliminary examination is expected to be re-modelled in either of the following formats:
Format-I : In this format, following the Alagh committee recommendations the Preliminary examination
may comprise the following two objective type papers - the Optional Subject (300 marks) and Civil
Services Aptitude Test (200 marks).
Format-II : In this format, following the recommendations of ‘P.S. Bhatnagar' the Preliminary examination
may comprise the following two objective type papers - Civil Services Aptitude Test (300 marks) and
General Studies (300 marks).
The Union Public Service Commission may choose any of the above formats and a notification may be
expected by May-June this year. Whatever the format, the Civil Services Aptitude Test appears to be on
the anvil.
Likely pattern of a Civil Services Aptitude Test
It would comprise questions which would test the ‘problem solving', ‘analytical', ‘logical reasoning' and
‘decision-making skills' of the aspirant. To ensure that these questions are relevant they would necessarily
be from the arena of civil services with an underlying essence of Public Administration in practice.
The UPSC is expected to push for changes at the level of the Main examination too. It is seriously
examining the proposal of including compulsory papers exclusively from the domain of humanities based
on the French Model of examination. The compulsory papers that are expected to be introduced are:
sustainable development and social justice; democratic governance, public systems and human rights;
Indian Constitution with an emphasis on Indian legal system including administrative law; economic
theory and Indian economic system; administrative theories and organisational behaviour and Indian
administrative system. However, these changes are not expected in the near future.
Changes
The news of any change is an unnerving moment for any long term serious aspirant. However, if one is
mentally prepared, the transition becomes easier.
Given below are a few broad guidelines to help the prospective aspirant to prepare for the examination :
First and foremost, there is only a proposal for a change in ‘principle'. The change is to be debated and
accepted. The UPSC has to formally declare the new pattern. Till then, all aspirants should continue with
the old pattern.
As the questions would be from the arena of the civil services, all aspirants irrespective of their
background should try to understand the philosophy behind the Constitution, its ideals, its principles and
its focus on development. Having understood the constitutional framework they should comprehend the
position of the civil services in the relevant context.
Having acquired basic knowledge within the given parameters, the next step would be to understand the
logic behind every provision. Till now, what was tested was the ‘what', now what would be tested will be the
‘why'.
The mode of preparation should change from the ‘descriptive' mode to the ‘explanatory' mode.
Having established a base for developing reasoning and problem solving skills, the prospective aspirant
can ‘hone' them at the appropriate juncture.
GOPALA KRISHNA. V.
Director, Brain Tree
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