UPSC Civil Services Exam 2023: Plea seeks review of CSAT cut-off criteria

UPSC Civil Services Exam 2023: CSAT qualifying cutoff: Applicants to the 2023 Civil Services Examination have petitioned the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) to lower the qualifying cutoff for Paper II (CSAT) from 33% to 23%. They contend that the level of difficulty of the queries was comparable to that of the CAT and IIT JEE exams.

UPSC Civil Services Exam 2023

The petition requests that the tribunal either direct the UPSC to lower the qualifying score or re-administer Paper II of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023. This case is scheduled to be heard by the CAT’s Chief Bench.

According to the applicants, the CSAT exam, as outlined in the UPSC curriculum, is designed to assess candidates’ general aptitude and Class X-level knowledge. However, they claim that Paper II queries went beyond the prescribed curriculum and required a level of expertise comparable to the CAT and IIT JEE exams.

In addition, the applicants contend that the difficult nature of the examination discriminates against candidates from modest socioeconomic backgrounds who cannot afford special coaching or who come from rural areas or arts disciplines.

They assert that questions from outside the scope of the syllabus and from previous years’ IIT JEE and CAT examinations were included, rendering the exam exclusive and deviating from its intended purpose. They recommend that the questions be reviewed by an expert committee and that appropriate action be taken based on the committee’s recommendations.

The argument emphasises that the UPSC is not immune to judicial review if the question paper is found to be discriminatory, capricious, or in violation of constitutional provisions.

In the case titled “Siddharth Mishra & Others v. UPSC,” Advocate Saket Jain is representing the applicants.

UGC NET Exam Schedule 2023 for June 13 to 17 exams released on ugcnet.nta.nic.in, check details here