"Removal of English Language Comprehension Skills section from UPSC Prilims Examination"

 अनुश्रुत                                                    AnuZ ruta

                               This is summary of discussion conducted by AnuZruta: the IIT Law                                School  Knowledge club, which is students' initiative in Rajiv                                          Gandhi School of  Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur.

Removal of English Language comprehension skills section from the UPSC Prelims Examination has been the subject of continuous debates over the past some time. The team of AnuZruta organised an open discussion on the same where every member put forward their views and gave new dimensions to this issue.

A section of the members sided with the UPSC candidates stating that English was not really necessary when contemplating the aptitude of an eligible student. Stating how the aptitude of a person does not depend merely on his language skills, the members argued that the onus should be on providing an equal opportunity to all, in which the English language can prove to be a hindrance. Members also pointed out that at the end of the day majority of the Indian population is Hindi-speaking, instead of English. In fact, interpreters could be used to act as intermediaries wherever and whenever communication issues arise. Members even gave examples of their personal experiences, and justified that English was not needed for IAS officers posted in rural areas.

At the same time, there were enough supporters of the view that English is a link language and hence, should be included in all major examinations when forming the administration of our country. Giving examples of how Patent claims, lawyers claims, official gazettes etc were written primarily in English, the members debated that in the era of globalization the importance of English can never be understated.  CSAT tests the knowledge of a candidate related to basic science and general knowledge, and English too should be compulsorily included as a basis level. To counter the statistic that India includes major Hindi-speaking population, these members proved how majority of these candidates opt for an English-medium paper.

In the end, all members put forward some common solutions to this row. All agreed that the UPSC examination should be language neutral and a thorough survey should be conducted to propose a new format of the exam. A common consensus was drawn to harmonize the standard of English language taught in different states/boards so as to give equal opportunity to all. It was also suggested that the course and the exam could be segregated to test the English proficiency according to the requirement of that candidate needing to know the language.   

   

Team AnuZruta,

Rajiv Gandhi School Of Intellectual Property Law,

IIT-KGP, Kharagpur.

Disclaimer: This blog or any post thereof is not to be considered to be in any way associated with the official stand of IIT kharagpur or RGSOIPL on the issues being discussed in the said post. The opinions on the blog are the authors own and should not be considered as legal advice.