Union Government constitute expert committee to revive UPSC civil services exam pattern

Union Government has constituted an expert committee to examine various issues related to UPSC civil services examination to select IAS and IPS officers.
The committee panel would be headed by the former IAS officer from Chhattisgarh cadre B.S. Baswan and shall consist of leading academicians, technocrats and senior bureaucrats.
The committee will look into all aspects of civil services examination including age relaxation, eligibility, syllabus and pattern of examination.
Based on the report of the committee, Union Government will further make changes in the civil services exam pattern which is conducted annually in three stages — preliminary, main and interview.
Background

• The committee has been confronted by Union Government following the demands from across the country for revisiting the pattern and syllabus of the civil services examination.
• It was being alleged that the current syllabus and pattern civil services examination tends to benefit students from mathematics and engineering backgrounds.
• In order to meet public demand Union Government is trying to revive the examination syllabus and pattern to provide a level playing field to aspirants from diverse educational streams.
• Earlier, Union Government had made General Studies Paper-II (also known as CSAT) in the preliminary examination as a qualifying paper with the minimum marks fixed at 33%.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2015