Rajya Sabha adjourned twice over UPSC row

The opposition on Friday created ruckus in Rajya Sabha over the issue of regional language aspirants having disadvantage in Civil Services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission leading to two adjournments during Question Hour.

Immediately after obituary reference to Pune landslide victims, opposition members including those from Congress, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal-United were on their feet raising the issue of UPSC examination pattern.

Sharad Yadav from the JD-U said the government had given an assurance that it would resolve the issue, which involves fate of seven lakh students, within seven days, but nothing has been done so far and that is why “I have given a privilege notice”.

Pramod Tiwari from the Congress said UPSC aspirants are agitating, but instead of resolving the issue, they were being caned.

The government had on July 25 said it had sought a report within a week from a three-member panel headed by former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training Arvind Varma, looking into the issue.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu’s effort to pacify the members with an assurance that clarification could be taken up after Question Hour received a loud “no” from the Opposition benches.

Stating that the ongoing issue was an “insult to Indian languages,” Ram Gopal Yadav, from the SP, also demanded that the matter be resolved at the earliest. Some SP members were seen raising the issue from the aisle.

As his repeated requests to maintain order went in vain, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the House for 15 minutes. Similar scenes were witnessed when the House reassembled and it was soon adjourned till noon.

Civil services aspirants are opposing the pattern of the Civil Services Aptitude Test, which they believe gives an unfair advantage to English-speaking students while leaving candidates from Hindi or regional languages background at a disadvantage. They want CSAT to be scrapped. The preliminary entrance exam is scheduled for August 24. 

Image: Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members stage a demonstration against CSAT format in Civil Services Examination outside UPSC in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI photo