The UPSC Civil Services examination is easily the most
difficult and the most prestigious exam in the entire country. Any discrepancy
in it becomes a matter of national debate and is even discussed in the
parliament frequently.
This year’s UPSC Civil Services Main examination was no different and had its own share of controversy with regards to certain questions in the papers. In order to address the rising controversy regarding different interpretations of certain questions, the UPSC issued a statement saying that during the evaluation of the answer sheets, all the different interpretations of the question would be taken into consideration.
The question which has attracted the most comments is the one asked in the compulsory essay paper. The topic read, "If development is not engendered, it is endangered". The Hindi translation of this topic was very different from the English meaning of this topic.
"The representations have been intimated by the Commission that the question papers are prepared and evaluated by the experts. The Commission has further informed that it has noted there could be different interpretations of the term 'engendered' and the different acceptable interpretations would be considered valid during the evaluation of the essay paper to protect candidates' interest," said Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, in his written reply to the upper house of the parliament.
The civil services examination is conducted annually to recruit officers to the grade A and grade B posts of the government and state governments.