The Government has approved the proposal for introduction of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) in place of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination. In CSAT, one of optional subjects which a candidate could have chosen out of 23 optional has been replaced with common paper on aptitude test.
Aspirants for the civil services will face a different pattern of examination from next year as the government has approved a proposal to introduce an aptitude test in place of the existing preliminary examination to shortlist candidates for the main exam.
Accordingly, the candidates will have to appear in two objective-type papers having special emphasis on testing their "aptitude for civil services" as well as on "ethical and moral dimension of decision-making" under a Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT).
Both these papers, having equal weightage will be common to all candidates in place of the one common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any particular subject of choice) under the existing system which lays greater emphasis on subject knowledge.
Accordingly, the candidates will have to appear in two objective-type papers having special emphasis on testing their "aptitude for civil services" as well as on "ethical and moral dimension of decision-making" under a Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT).
Both these papers, having equal weightage will be common to all candidates in place of the one common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any particular subject of choice) under the existing system which lays greater emphasis on subject knowledge.
As of now, the change will be effective only for the first stage of the Civil Services Examination (CSE) from 2011 onwards. The second and third stages, CS (Main) Examination and interview respectively may remain the same till a committee of experts goes into various aspects of the entire system and submits its report. Confirming the change for the first stage of CSE, minister of state for personnel Prithviraj Chavan told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the proposal for introduction of CSAT in place of the existing CS (Preliminary) Examination. In his written reply, he said: "CSAT is expected to come into effect from CSE, 2011." The proposal to this effect was sent to the PMO last year by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) which conducts CSE every year to select candidates for elite all- India services, including IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS and others Group 'A' and Group 'B' central jobs.
Officials familiar with the proposal which has got the PM's nod explained that the changes were suggested by various committees, including the second Administrative Reforms Commission, in their reports submitted over the years. Most of the panels had advocated laying greater emphasis on the "aptitude" of candidates than their knowledge of a subject, arguing that specialists or experts in any particular subject may not necessarily be good civil servants.
Referring to introduction of CSAT, an official said: "The new system will also provide a level-playing field and equity, since all candidates will have to attempt common papers unlike the current format which provides for only one common paper." Though a scaling system is currently used in the preliminary examination in order to ensure that no candidate who has opted for any particular optional paper gets undue advantage because of varying degree of difficulty of any paper or inherent scorability, the government has received a number of complaints objecting to the method on one ground or the other. One related matter has even been pending in Supreme Court for long.
Officials familiar with the proposal which has got the PM's nod explained that the changes were suggested by various committees, including the second Administrative Reforms Commission, in their reports submitted over the years. Most of the panels had advocated laying greater emphasis on the "aptitude" of candidates than their knowledge of a subject, arguing that specialists or experts in any particular subject may not necessarily be good civil servants.
Referring to introduction of CSAT, an official said: "The new system will also provide a level-playing field and equity, since all candidates will have to attempt common papers unlike the current format which provides for only one common paper." Though a scaling system is currently used in the preliminary examination in order to ensure that no candidate who has opted for any particular optional paper gets undue advantage because of varying degree of difficulty of any paper or inherent scorability, the government has received a number of complaints objecting to the method on one ground or the other. One related matter has even been pending in Supreme Court for long.
• The Preliminary Examination shall now comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each and of two hours duration each. Detailed below is the new syllabus and pattern of the Preliminary Examination, which is brought to the notice of the prospective candidates intending to appear at the Civil Services Examination (CSE) in 2011 onwards:
Paper I - (200 marks) Duration: Two hours
• Current events of national and international importance
• History of India and Indian National Movement
• Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic geography of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization
• General Science.
Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two hours
• Comprehension
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Decision making and problem solving
• General mental ability
• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. -Class X level)
• English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).
• Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus of Paper-II) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper.
• The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
