Govt urges UPSC to postpone Civil Services prelim exam

New Delhi, July 15: Amid demands by Civil Service aspirants for scrapping the CSAT test, government today urged the Union Public Service Commission (

) to postpone the preliminary exam scheduled next month till there is clarity on the syllabus and exam pattern.

"We are also urging upon the UPSC and the committee that was constituted to look into the matter that not only report be constituted at the earliest, considering the urgency of the matter and the concern of all sections of the society... they should also consider postponing the date of the preliminary examination," Union Minister Jitendra Singh told reporters outside Parliament.

The prelims entrance exam is scheduled to to be held on August 24. Yesterday, ABVP activists had staged protests outside the UPSC office, demanding scrapping of Civil Services Aptitude Tests (CSAT), saying such a pattern was putting Hindi language aspirants at a disadvantage.

Singh, who is also Minister of State for Department of Personnel and Training and Prime Minister's Office, said, "Till the report about the final conclusions in the matter is out, these young guys and girls would not be able to make out the kind of preparation they have to do for the exam.

"Therefore, till there is a clarity over the syllabus and exam pattern they should be given sufficient time. It is quite legitimate on their part that we are suggesting to concerned authorities to consider postponement of the preliminary examination of IAS (UPSC) exams," he said.

A group of students also met Singh over the issue today. The Minister said senior officials would meet the protesting students and urge them to end their hunger strike. "We were all deeply concerned when we found our students were resorting to hunger strike. We have succeeded in convincing them. They should not resort to such extreme measures," he said.

PTI