RS MP seeks reforms in civil services prelims exam

Lucknow: Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal on Thursday raised concerns in the Parliament over the structure of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination, urging the govt of India to reconsider or rationalise the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), which he said put candidates from humanities backgrounds at a disadvantage.Addressing Rajya Sabha, Lal highlighted that the preliminary examination currently consists of two papers — general studies (GS) and CSAT. While GS determines merit, CSAT is a qualifying paper of 200 marks, requiring candidates to secure at least 33% (around 67 marks) to have their GS paper evaluated.He pointed out that CSAT, comprising 80 questions of 2.5 marks each with negative marking, is highly technical in nature and tends to favour candidates from engineering and science streams. "If a candidate fails to secure the minimum qualifying marks in CSAT, their general studies paper is not even evaluated, effectively eliminating them at the preliminary stage," he noted.The MP argued that CSAT places humanities (arts) candidates at a disadvantage and called for either its removal from the preliminary stage or its rationalisation to ensure a level playing field.