UPSC row: SP calls for cancelling of CSAT

New Delhi, Aug 5: Supporting the ongoing agitation of UPSC aspirants, Samajwadi Party (SP) today termed the protest as "genuine" and said the civil services examination was heavily biased in favour of students from English background.

SP General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said the solution offered by the government in which it did away with the inclusion of marks of one particular paper, CSAT, in the merit list was not enough and urged the BJP to cancel the CSAT.

"This is a genuine movement of the candidates. However much brilliant a JNU student may be, he is less likely than an IIT or IIM alumnus to crack the civil services examination," Yadav said.

"The selection of candidates coming from Hindi-speaking areas has dropped from 45 per cent to 15 per cent. Those coming from English medium background have increased from 51 per cent to 82 per cent. So 82 per cent IAS comes from English medium and 18 per cent constitute all Indian languages," he said at a seminar on the 82nd birth anniversary of former SP leader Janeshwar Mishra.

Yadav urged BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was present on the occasion, to understand the circumstances of the candidates who come from different backgrounds and take up the matter with the government.

Naqvi should ask the government to find out details of those people who were instrumental in changing the syllabus and making it biased in favour of those with English background, Yadav said.

"The entire north India which has sent you (BJP) to power, ... its youth feel that their rights are being hampered. So through you (Naqvi), I want to convey the message to your party that the second paper of CSAT should be cancelled. We do not want any political benefits. We want all the people speaking different Indian languages should be benefited," he said.

PTI