https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Would Reducing Attempts, Lowering Age Limit Do Any Good to the IAS?

Former UPSC Chairman Deepak Gupta, a 1974-batch Jharkhand Care IAS officer, spoke to Indian Masterminds about Fake certificates, Mushrooming coaching hubs, CSAT, Domination of Engineers, and Doctors, whether one Civil Services Exam is okay for 24 central services and much more…
Indian Masterminds Stories

After the Maharashtra cadre IAS Officer Trainee Puja Khedkar was disqualified from the service for producing fake disability certificates and misrepresenting facts to the UPSC, the UPSC examination process itself has come under a cloud. Social media is full of such cases – some could be genuine but others could be the likes of Puja Khedkar. Is there a case for a thorough investigation in all disability and caste certificates filed by UPSC candidates during past 10 years?

ADVERTISEMENT

Former UPSC Chairman Deepak Gupta has had a ringside view of the IAS service, LBSNAA and UPSC examination process. He has also written a book ‘The Steeel Frame: A History Of The IAS’, discussing these problems and describing possible solutions. In a candid interview to Indian Masterminds, he spoke about all such things. Today we are presenting the first episode of this interview, focused mainly on the issues facing UPSC examinations.

Please click here to watch the full Video…

The UPSC coaching were in news for providing unsafe facilities after three students drowned to death on a classroom bring run in the basement of a building in UPSC coaching hub at New Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar. Why do we have such coaching hubs across India?

ADVERTISEMENT

Mr Gupta has presented some radical solutions to these problems. The foremost being lowering the cutoff age for the examination to 28 years and limiting the attempts to three. This will lower the pressure on the UPSC, which has at present to make arrangements for almost 16 lakh students applying for the Civil Services Exam, even though only 8 to 9 lakh students actually appear.

Limiting the examination attempts would significantly reduce the number of students appearing for CSE, he says. He even advocates that each filled-out application form should be treated as an attempt. Reducing maximum number of attempts would also significantly reduce the number of coaching institutes, as students keep attending them year after year and their main focus is to somehow clear the UPSC exam instead of serving the nation and its development.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mr Gupta feels the need to have separate exams for the IAS, the most premier service of the country. This will facilitate a longer personality test (interview), where even a psycho-analyst too need to be present. “You can’t judge a candidate properly in half an hour interview. We can’t take a longer interview because of the high number of interviewees,” he said.

Similarly, there should be separate exams for Audit & Accounts services at these are specialised jobs that require a different kind of talent. Mr Gupta also advocated taking affidavits from students about their certificates and strong penal action needed on those faking and forging their certificates.

Please listen to Mr Deepak Gupta’s journey of UPSC preparation and IAS career – in an interview done earlier – by clicking on the following link…

ADVERTISEMENT

Indian Masterminds Stories
Related Stories
NEWS
Tiger Attacks Maharashtra
Farmer Killed in Tiger Attack in Maharashtra’s Bhandara District, Villagers Protest
IAS Officers Indian Administrative Services (IAS)
Parliamentary Report Urges Stricter Penalties for IAS Officers Over Non-Filing of Property Returns
government-of-haryana
5 IAS Officers of 2024 Batch Assigned Posts by Haryana Government
NHPC Resized
Rising Giants in India's Hydropower Sector with 'Navratna' Status: NHPC & SJVN
IREDA CMD Pradeep Kumar Das
IREDA Reports Significant Financial Performance in FY 2024-25
GAIL PSU
5-Year LNG Deal: GAIL to Begin Imports from Qatar Energy Next Month
IFS Indian Forest Service resized (IFoS)
IFS Anant Prakash Pandey Appointed as Joint Secretary in Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Punjab_govt_resized
Several IAS, IPS, and PCS Officers in Punjab Await New Postings
Videos
Padmapani Bora IRS
The Rise of Assam as India’s Most Exciting Tourist Spot | Exclusive with IRS Padmapani Bora
Sajjan Yadav, IAS
The Policy Maker Who Turned India’s Vaccine Story and UPSC Struggles into Bestsellers
WhatsApp Image 2025-03-21 at 14.33
Training The Cops In Mastering The Technology Used By Criminals
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Tiger Attacks Maharashtra
Farmer Killed in Tiger Attack in Maharashtra’s Bhandara District, Villagers Protest
Anand Mahindra Tweet
Billionaire Anand Mahindra Lauds IAS Officer D. Krishna Bhaskar’s Remarkable Water Conservation Efforts
Videos
Padmapani Bora IRS
Sajjan Yadav, IAS
WhatsApp Image 2025-03-21 at 14.33
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT