UPSC Civil Services: With enhanced CSAT difficulty and limited study material, tough road for non-English medium aspirants

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Civil Services Examination (CSE) every year to recruit candidates for various prestigious posts in the Indian bureaucracy. The CSE is considered one of the toughest and most competitive exams in the country, with lakhs of aspirants vying for a few hundred seats.

However, not all aspirants have a level playing field when it comes to preparing for and clearing this exam. The non-English medium candidates, especially those from rural backgrounds, face several challenges and disadvantages that make their journey even more difficult.

What is CSAT and why is it controversial?

The UPSC, in 2011, introduced the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) as a part of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam to test the analytical skills, reasoning ability and aptitude of the aspirants. This move was widely criticised by aspirants especially the non-English medium candidates as the CSAT included questions on English comprehension, logical reasoning, data interpretation and decision making.

The non-English medium candidates argued that these questions were biased towards the English medium candidates and did not reflect the true aptitude or potential of a civil servant. They also claimed that there was a lack of adequate study material and coaching facilities in Hindi and other regional languages to prepare for these topics.

In 2015, after several protests and petitions, the Centre asked UPSC to make a change in the pattern of the exam. The CSAT was made a qualifying paper, with only 33% marks (66 out of 200) required to clear it. The marks of CSAT were not counted for calculating the Prelims ranking or cut-off.

Has the change in CSAT pattern solved the problem?

While the change in CSAT pattern was welcomed by many non-English medium candidates, it did not address the root cause of the problem. The CSAT paper still remains a hurdle for many aspirants who struggle to score even the minimum qualifying marks. Moreover, the difficulty level of the CSAT paper has increased over the years, with more challenging and tricky questions being asked.

Swati Mishra, a UPSC aspirant from Lucknow said that the introduction of CSAT was unfair in itself for non-English medium students and with more difficult questions in the paper, it is tougher to get through the exam.

Another issue that plagues the non-English medium candidates is the lack of quality study material and guidance in their preferred languages. Jagdish Kumar, a UPSC aspirant from Hissar said that for subjects like Science and Technology, Internal Security and Environment, it gets impossible to find study material in Hindi. He also said that even the translated books have poor translations and he ends up reading English books and translating answers on his own.

The data from UPSC's annual reports also shows that over the years, the number of students taking exams in Hindi and other regional languages has been declining sharply. For instance, in 2015, there were 2433 candidates who wrote their mains exam in Hindi, while in 2021, there were only 470 such candidates¹. Similarly, for other languages like Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu, there has been a drastic fall in the number of candidates opting for them.

What can be done to improve the situation?

The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice recently recommended forming an expert committee to assess if the present scheme of recruitment through civil services examination provides an equal opportunity to both English-medium-educated urban candidates and non-English medium-educated rural candidates.

The committee also suggested that UPSC should commission a study to analyse how the changes in the exam pattern over the years have impacted the aspirants, nature of recruitment and administration at large. It also urged UPSC to ensure that adequate study material and coaching facilities are available in all languages across the country.

Some experts have also suggested that UPSC should consider conducting separate papers for different languages or introducing bilingual papers with questions in both English and Hindi or other regional languages. This would help reduce the language barrier and ensure fair assessment of all candidates.

Conclusion

The UPSC Civil Services Exam is a dream for many young Indians who aspire to serve their nation as civil servants. However, this dream should not be shattered by factors like language or region that have nothing to do with one's merit or suitability for public service. The UPSC and the government should take concrete steps to ensure that all aspirants have equal access to quality education, guidance and opportunities to clear this exam.

Source: 

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(2) CSAT - What is the best strategy to prepare for the CSAT? - ClearIAS. https://www.clearias.com/csat-strategy/.

(3) UPSC Civil Services: With enhanced CSAT difficulty and limited ... - MSN. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/upsc-civil-services-with-enhanced-csat-difficulty-and-limited-study-material-tough-road-for-non-english-medium-aspirants/ar-AA1dRsOt.

(4) UPSC CSAT Question Paper With Solutions, Download PDF! - Testbook.com. https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/upsc-csat-question-paper.