Major structural changes needed for online exams: UPSC Chairman

SHIMLA: Deepak Gupta, Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), who was here to attend the 17th National Conference of Chairpersons of State Public Service Commissions (SPSC), said plans to introduce online civil services examinations might still remain a distant dream with the need being felt for some major structural changes in the pattern and number of papers, considering the logistic challenge of handling 9.

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 18

Deepak Gupta, Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), who was here to attend the 17th National Conference of Chairpersons of State Public Service Commissions (SPSC), said plans to introduce online civil services examinations might still remain a distant dream with the need being felt for some major structural changes in the pattern and number of papers, considering the logistic challenge of handling 9.50 lakh applicants.

Gupta said the number of applicants for the preliminary examinations had touched 9.50 lakh last year.

Elaborating on the challenge of introducing online examinations, he said the UPSC had conducted 22 online computer-based recruitment tests in nine cities. “We conducted the structured examination for Combined Medical Services-2014 for 30,204 candidates at 151 venues in 41 cities across the country in one go,” he said.

The computer-based examination system was more secure and transparent and helped compress the gap between the conduct of examination and declaration of results. “However, I admit that there can be challenges in terms of the security of data and related infrastructural constraints,” he confessed.

The Chairman stated that as part of reforms, the recruitment rules (RRs) had been updated to keep pace with the changing job requirements, development of skills and rising educational standards. “In the last two months, we have held workshops with various departments and taking barely 18 to 20 days to clear the RR proposals of the ministries,” he stated.

Gupta also highlighted the initiatives of the UPSC with regard to the early declaration of results. “We conduct a large number of Departmental Promotion Committee meetings and our target is to become totally current within the next three months so that the delay remains a prerogative of the ministries,” he said.

Delay on the part of the ministries was often not highlighted and becoming current was important to ensure that everyone got their promotions on time, he added.