Chapter 11 - Deciphering CSE Notification - UPSC PDF Download

UPSC civil services paper, it seems, is still evolving in the recent times. Changing patterns, question trends and syllabi is not a new phenomenon now and the current aspirants should be prepared to witness this volatility in the CSE at any stage. This time, in CSE 2022, UPSC had tried to redress the grievances of students of Hindi medium as well as those of non-engineering section with a single blow. Now the paper 2 of CSAT remains qualifying and the score in this paper is not considered in the final merit of ranking in preliminary examination. This has come as a relief for the non-engineering students (supposedly) and I hope that this change of marking scheme of the examination may result in increase in the number of humanities students in the final list of merit of civil services examination.

      Yet the game is far from being over. Those who found paper 2 as a bottleneck to their selection must not become complacent, for they can’t afford to forget that in India competition is enormous, whatever be the pattern or the marking scheme of paper. On the other hand, those who found solace in paper 2 of CSAT, those who had always felt that preliminary is not an obstacle in their success merely due to the existence of paper 2 being counted in the merit of ranking, are now a little anxious; for they have to burn their midnight oil to find the name in the merit list of students who are eligible to take mains examination. It is high time now that both the groups of aspirants, that is, the one who cherished the paper 2 and those who abhorred it, must now halt such discussions as to whether the decision of UPSC was bona fide or not. What has been decided has been decided and one must realize that any administrative decision, any policy, any act or any regulation of govt. has two sides to it – some will be intended beneficiary and others will be, inevitably, at the receiving end, though unintended by the government. Thus, my sincere request to all the aspirants – both, those who are jubilant and those who considers themselves not fortunate enough with regard to this decision – is to put an absolute full stop on furthering the judiciousness of the decision and get back to the basics. The question is what else to do apart from routine studies. One should start with the exhaustive reading of the notification for CSE.

Quick summary of the important facts of the notification for CSE 2022

1. The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for Civil Service (Main) Examination based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in General Studies Paper- II of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and total qualifying marks of General Studies Paper-I of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination as may be determined by the Commission.

One-third score in paper 2 of CSAT is absolutely not a herculean task. This criteria had exited even before when one was required to score at least 30 marks in paper 1 and 70 marks in paper 2. Yet, one must not become complacent in their approach regarding this paper. It would be a serious and sad state of affairs if one could not attain this qualifying marks in this paper and then it should be prudent enough for a person to profoundly rectify his/her weak areas in an exhaustive manner. As of now, I feel that even three mock papers of CSAT paper 2 shall be sufficient to judge whether an aspirant risks losing out on mains due to non-performance in paper 2 or not.

“Now I am through.” These were the opening words on mobile phone of one of my close friends from Punjab, when the changed marking scheme was disclosed on the date of CSE 2022 notification. He had two histories; one was the ‘history’ optional subject and the other was a history of poor performance in paper 2 for the last three attempts which had always snatched away his opportunity to write mains! Nevertheless, I tried to calm down his excitement, “It is undoubtedly good news for you that CSAT paper 2 won’t be evaluative this year, yet you should not underestimate the competition for CSE. I know you have performed well in the GS part every year for the last three years but please realize that this year the performance ought to be even better and for this efforts can’t be reduced at this stage.”

As is seen from the past years’ trends of paper 1 of CSAT consisting of all the GS topics, the weightage of art and culture has been on rise. Moreover, it is easier to crack economics, polity, and modern history and to some extend geography than solving the art and culture questions as well as that of ecology and environment. Those engineer who were weak on this aspect very well compensated in the paper 2 of CSAT. Now this cushion is a matter of past. Each aspirant has to now go into the depths of these topics of art and culture and ecology/environment, if they want to remain in competition. (Study the special section on art and culture given previously)

2. There will be negative marking for incorrect answers for all questions except some of the questions where the negative-marking will be inbuilt in the form of different marks being awarded to the most appropriate and not so appropriate answer for such questions.

An indication that the decision making question with no negative marking shall be there in paper 2 of CSAT, though one out of all of the options would be the most appropriate one. Although CSE 2022 paper 2 didn’t find any such questions. At the outset of paper the candidate must first read the instructions to attempt the paper which shall clearly tell whether there will be some questions with no negative marking. If there are no decision making questions be lest assured that paper will be lengthier.

3. Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, any candidate who appeared in the Civil Services Examination, 2011 but is otherwise ineligible for Civil Services Examination, 2015 due to completion of the number of attempts available for examination under this rule, shall be permitted an additional attempt.

My dear aspirants do not forget that CSE 2022 also saw the influx of candidates who appeared (whether selected or not selected) in CSE 2011, the very first year of the introduction of CSAT. This is bound to increase the competition in the present year. It seems to me, that there exist a tendency even among the selected candidates, to exhaust their attempts, if they have not made into IAS. Thus, most of the selected candidates, who have otherwise not been eligible to write CSE, are not going to let go this golden opportunity for them in the present year. One of the person whom I know is posted in Delhi in the group B administrative services recruited through CSE 2011 and he had been waiting for this chance from the last one year. There would be many like him who want to upgrade their services.

4. 25% marks in Indian Language and 25% marks in English as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.

The minimum cut off for English remains the same but for the compulsory Indian language paper it has decreased from 30% that was required in 2014 CSE to 25%. That doesn’t mean that it should be taken lightly. The rules for the compulsory paper remains the same – attempt the whole paper. It should not give an impression that you have left any question unanswered due to any reason, even if writing the whole question paper means reduction in the quality standards of the answers. Generally, it appears that incomplete answers for the two compulsory papers attract disqualification.

5. Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics.

This new concept was introduced in CSE 2014, mains, and continues in the present year also. UPSC is trying to test the rapid thinking ability of an aspirant not only in multiple choice questions but also during their subjective writing skills. How to deal with two essays during the severe time constraint is laid down in the mains section of this book.

6. The number of vacancies to be filled on the result of the examination is expected to be approximately 1129. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this examination. The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled. The interview will carry 275 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks). 

The above figures are indicative and UPSC is not bound by them. However, one can say, from the past trends that once the results of the preliminary exam is declared, there would be at least 15000 aspirants eligible for writing mains examination. And there would be at least 2500 aspirants eligible to appear in the personality test of CSE 2021. The weightage of the interview is not tinkered with and it remains same.

Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning here that the provision of extra ordinary leave (EOL) in government of India is being exploited by the already selected candidates of the past years, those who doesn’t make it to IAS. Officers from other services are availing this facility of EOL to study ferociously for the forthcoming attempt, without requiring to quit the present service or be reduced in seniority. This is the latent competition which all fresh aspirants have to face. 

In the end, I must mention that civil servants are not the product of extra ordinarily high IQ, neither are they prodigies in their fields. During the last two years I have met many of those who have cleared this supposedly toughest exam of the country and come to the conclusion that it would take commitment and little common sense/rationality to find for yourself a seat in the final list of merit. Of course, I can’t disagree with the influence of such factors on which we as a human being have no control, which you may call as luck, and which I call as chaos of the universe. Yet, our actions should be such so as to minimize the effect of these factors and such action should be unidirectional focused and planned as per the strategy which an aspirant deems fit after making an informed decision.

Remember, my dear friends, in terms of thermodynamics, entropy of a system increases with time unless external energy is applied to restore its orderliness. Same with the life. You give it an opportunity by not doing anything, sitting idle, procrastinating, waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen, and you will find your control on various aspects that affect your life becoming debilitated and the universe takes its own course then. The entropy, that is, the disorderliness of your life increases if you do not timely attend to its various facets and it shall waste no opportunity to spiral out of your hand.

        Thus, it is high time now to address to your immediate needs – your right, not only to secure an employment for yourself and feel financially capable and independent but also that role in the society which is prestigious, respectable and even glamorous!  The charms of civil services continues unabated in India and so must your efforts to realize your dreams.