33% turnout for UPSC Civil Services (Prelims) 2016

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 7

The turnout for the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) exam conducted today at 31 centres in 21 colleges and schools of the district was 33 per cent.

Of 11,558 candidates, 3,818 turned up for the first paper of General Studies in the morning. The number of candidates taking the exam dropped further to 3,758 for the evening examination of CSAT. Some candidates had come from other states, including Haryana, to take the test.

Confusion prevailed

Due to similarity in the names of schools in the city, some candidates had to face difficulty. Ritu from Jalalabad said the auto-rickshaw took her to BCM School, Sector 32, Chandigarh Road, (which was also a centre for the exam), while her centre was at BCM School, Basant Avenue.

“I wasted half-an-hour, but thankfully, I just made it in time for the test!” she exclaimed. Father of another candidate from Chandigarh said because of similarity of schools’ names, someone suggested them the route to DCM Presidency School, instead of BCM School, where they were supposed to take the test.

As Chandigarh has traditionally been the centre, many candidates from the City Beautiful were not expecting that they would have to come to Ludhiana to take the test. “It was a hassle reaching here, because Chandigarh is supposed to be the centre in general. So, coming to Ludhiana for taking the test was something new and inconvenient for us,” said one of the candidates from Chandigarh.

Security tight

The exam centres were turned into citadels as police personnel were deployed across different centres. No one else except supervisers, invigilators and candidates were being allowed to enter the examination centres. While students were not allowed to take mobile phones and communication devices inside the centres, those wearing hybrid watches were asked to leave those out.

Turned back for being late

The first paper started at 9.30 am, but candidates reaching the exam centres after 9.40 am were not allowed to take the exam. Some candidates coming from Chandigarh via train could not take the exam because the train got late. One of the candidates, was not allowed to enter the centre at BCM School, Basant Avenue, after he got late because of the delay of the train in reaching the city. “Boarding the train from Chandigarh turned out to be a big mistake. Though I started for Ludhiana from home at 5 am, the train got late in starting from Chandigarh. Not only this, it stopped several times on its way. It was supposed to reach by 9 am, but it stopped again at the outskirts at 9.30 am. I got down and hired an auto-rickshaw to reach my centre, but it was already late. I got deprived of taking my exam for one last time, as it was my last chance,” Sudhir Saini from MP, who had left his IT job for the preparation of Civil Services exam, said.

‘More current affairs’

The first paper of General Studies comprising 100 objective questions was to be completed in two hours and had a number of questions on current affairs. So students, who had kept a tab on current affairs, were beaming with confidence after the exam, while others were a bit sullen.

“The first paper had more questions on current affairs and what had happened recently, instead of questions of general knowledge and those from geography and history. That’s why my exam was so-so,” said Prathma, a candidate from Chandigarh.

Amita from the city said she was not expecting that the first paper would comprise so many questions on current affairs, so her exam did not go as well as she had wanted to. One of the students said the exam went well as current affairs was her forte during the exam preparation.

Meanwhile, Paper-II, Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) started at 2.30 pm. It was a qualifying exam requiring 66 per cent marks. It comprised 80 questions on maths, comprehension and reasoning. While some students said the CSAT this time was tougher than it was last year, others said they did the paper well enough to attain qualifying marks.

No cheating case

ADC (D) Apneet Riyait, the coordinator for the examination, said there was no instance of use of unfair means by candidates at any of the centres. No candidates, except those coming late, were turned back. “Even those coming without an admit card were allowed to take the test, after taking an undertaking from them,” she said.

Candidates calm and composed

Unlike other exams, where students are generally seen mugging up lessons just before taking the exam, a majority of students were seen chatting. Let alone mugging up and fretting, some of the candidates were walking casually with just three minutes left for the evening exam.

Enrolment up, attendance down

Ironically, the number of candidates turning up to take the exam was in fact even lower than it was last year despite much higher enrolment. As many as 3,825 candidates appeared for the exam last year in the district, while the number of candidates enrolling for the exam was around 7,800. But this year, despite 11,550 candidates enrolling for the exam, only 3,818 candidates turned up to take the test.

“Over 11 lakh candidates registered to take the exam in the country this time, which is higher than last year. The number of candidates actually turning up to take the test shows that the serious candidates remain almost the same. It’s just the enrolment that has gone up,” an official said.

The large gap between enrolment and taking the exam is also because of the limited number of attempts for taking the exam, another official said. “If the candidates are not fully prepared for the exam, they do not like to waste attempts unnecessarily,” he said.

Notably, Ludhiana was the only district from the state where the examination was conducted. It was the first time in three decades when the exam was conducted in the state last year. Earlier, the nearest centres for candidates from the state were Chandigarh and Delhi.

Attendance dismally low at some centres

Some centres had very low attendance. It is learnt that the centre at Sarabha Nagar had just one or two candidate in the entire classroom. Only nine of 19 candidates came to take the test at the College of Agriculture, PAU, which was the centre especially for the physically challenged and visually impaired candidates. According to norms, those candidates were given 40 minutes extra for completing the exam and a couple of them were also given scribes.

Officialspeak

There was no instance of use of unfair means by candidates at any of the centres. No candidates, except those coming late, were turned back. Even those coming without an admit card were allowed to take the test, after taking an undertaking from them. —Apneet Riyait, adc (d) and exam coordinator

Over 11 lakh candidates registered to take the exam in the country this time, which is higher than last year. The number of candidates actually turning up to take the test shows that the serious candidates remain almost the same. It's just the enrolment that has gone up. — An official

Sidelights

Best time for promotion!

People from institutes preparing students for the Civil Services were busy handing out promotional leaflets to students coming out after taking the exams outside SCD Government College and Government College for Girls. There were promotional banners on College Road from such institutes wishing candidates good luck for the exam

'Waiting areas'  

While candidates and their relatives had to sit and cool their heels in the open plot area among the weeds outside centres including BCM School, Basant Avenue, those having centre at Government College for Girls had a good time walking around and enjoying snacks at Rakh Bagh