UPSC allows candidates withdraw applications for exams

He said UPSC’s experience with the civil services Examination is that roughly 50 per cent of the over a million candidates who fill in application forms for the preliminary examination actually write the examination. 

“The Commission has to book venues, print papers, hire invigilators and ship the documents for all the 1 million applicants – which turns out to be a 50 per cent waste of energy and resources”, he said. “UPSC’s view is that if we are able to work with genuine and serious candidates, we can give them better facilities and make our system more efficient”, he added. 

A start is being made with the Engineering Services Examination, 2019 and more examinations will be brought under this arrangement. In order to avail this facility, the candidate has to provide details of application. Separate OTPs will be sent on candidate’s registered mobile number and email ID. On successful completion of withdrawal of application, confirmation message will be sent on email and also an SMS. Once application has been withdrawn, it cannot be revived.

With a view to reduce the stress for the candidates, the UPSC has brought an increasing number of exam related interactions and transactions online. In this regard, Saxena said “We are also moving ahead with shifting from a “pen and paper” mode of examination to a computer-based mode. Apart from making the examination process more candidate-friendly, the new systems also serve to cut down the time cycle for each examination.”

Bearing in mind the aspirations of the youth for better job opportunities, the chairman said that the Commission is now disclosing the scores and ranking of the non-recommended candidates in some examinations on its website and further linking it with the “National Career Services” portal of the ministry of labour and employment. 

“Central ministries and organisations can, conceivably take advantage of this arrangement wherein candidates who have cleared a rigorous screening process in the civil services, engineering services or combined medical services examinations, but could not find a place in the merit list due to constraints of vacancies, can now look forward to being picked up for other government, public sector or private sector jobs, from the same data base.”  

The measure should obviate the need for conducting of multiple and separate examinations by different organisations for posts with similar entry level qualifications, he added. This will reduce the stress on young job aspirants and also the time taken for recruitment by various bodies.

He also referred to the recent judgment of Supreme Court regarding appointment of DGPs of states as well as government’s proposal of lateral entry into the services. He said these developments have heightened the responsibilities of UPSC.