New Delhi, June 09 : A group of IAS candidates from the 2023 batch has taken legal action by filing a petition against the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) regarding the recently conducted Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) exam. The candidates argue that the difficulty level of the exam was on par with highly competitive exams like CAT and IIT JEE. They have approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) seeking a direction for the UPSC to lower the cut-off score for Paper II CSAT from 33% to 23%.
In their petition, the candidates are requesting either a reduction in the cut-off score or a re-examination of Paper II as part of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023. The case is scheduled to be heard by the Principal Bench of the CAT.
The applicants claim that the CSAT exam, as per the UPSC syllabus, is meant to evaluate candidates’ general aptitude and their ability to solve basic questions related to comprehension and logical reasoning at a Class X level. However, they allege that the difficulty level of the questions in the CSAT exam was comparable to those found in exams like CAT and IIT JEE. This, according to the applicants, deviates from the prescribed syllabus and puts candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds at a disadvantage, particularly those without access to specialized coaching or from rural areas or the arts stream.
The applicants further argue that approximately ten questions in this year’s CSAT exam were sourced from topics covered in the Class XI NCERT Mathematics Syllabus, while some questions were taken from previous years’ IIT JEE or CAT exams. Advocate Saket Jain is representing the applicants in the case titled “Siddharth Mishra & Ors. v. UPSC.” The applicants have also requested the formation of an expert committee to review the questions and recommend appropriate action based on their findings.
