New Delhi, Oct 4 The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has informed the Supreme Court that it has “arrived at a conscious and well considered decision” to publish and review the provisional answer keys for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.
The decision was placed before the apex court through an affidavit filed by the Joint Secretary (Exams), UPSC, in response to a pending writ petition that raised serious concerns of the student community regarding the opacity, and lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the UPSC in conducting the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination — particularly in concealing material information such as answer keys, cut-off marks, and candidates' scores.
“The Commission has arrived at a conscious and well considered decision,” the affidavit said, following “comprehensive deliberation” on various factors, including suggestions made by the amicus curiae appointed by the Supreme Court.
As per the UPSC affidavit, the new procedure involves five steps. First, publishing the Provisional Answer Key after the Preliminary Examination is conducted.
Second, inviting representations/objections from candidates who appeared in the examination. Each objection must be supported by three authoritative sources and “objections which are not so supported should be rejected at the threshold.” The UPSC will assess whether the sources produced are authoritative.
Third, placing the provisional answer key and objections before a set/team of subject experts of the concerned discipline/subject for in-depth consideration.
Fourth, finalizing the answer key based on the experts’ review. “Such finalized answer key by the aforesaid team of subject/discipline experts shall constitute the basis of the declaration of the results of Preliminary Examination,” the affidavit stated. Fifth, publishing the final answer key after the declaration of final results.
In its affidavit, the UPSC said it “desires to start following the modalities explained in the aforesaid decision as expeditiously as possible", terming it “an effective and adequate redressal of the grievances raised in the petition and to enhance the level of transparency in the functioning of the UPSC and also to further the cause of public interest".
The Commission has urged the Supreme Court to dispose of the petition in light of its decision.
“It is humbly submitted that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to pass the appropriate orders and dispose of the petition in the light of the decision extracted herein above,” the affidavit stated.
The petition, filed through advocate Rajeev Kumar Dubey, claimed that despite several litigations in the past, the UPSC has “successfully dodged” accountability and has failed to assign any reason as to why it is so allergic to the practice of transparency and timely disclosure of answer keys, cut-off marks, and candidates' marks — a practice commonly followed by almost all state public service commissions, as well as High Courts and other prestigious institutions such as the IITs, IIMs, and many others.
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