COVID Compensatory Attempt For UPSC Civil Services Exam

(UPSC Extra Attempt)

1) Honourable member of Parliament Shri Deepender Singh Hooda had asked question in Rajya
Sabha on 24 March 2022, regarding demand from aspirants regarding extra attempt for various
exams conducted by the UPSC and the SSC and what actions were taken to the Prime Minister –
PM did not answered the question. The DOPT minister Shree Jitendra Singh has instead given
unnecessary information in an attempt to avoid accurately answering and address genuine
grievances.

The concerned minister has instead repeated a nebulous, vacuous information about COVID-19
related protocols being followed while conducting of the examination; these have been proved
woefully inadequate as admitted by the Supreme Court in the Arijit Shukla Matter that aspirants in
fact got infected by COVID-19 during the middle of writing the mains exams and were forced to
forgo writing the examination altogether.

Additionally, Inspite of several petitions/representations sent to the authorities by the su ering

aspirants after the deadly spread of Covid-19 in 2020; inspite of the two standing orders of the
Honourable Supreme Court passed in WP(C) 1012 of 2020 and WP(C) 1130 of 2020, the
Respondents chose not to take any decision regarding providing relief either before the eventual
date of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2020 [i.e. 4.10.2020],or thereafter, inspite of
having the discretion to provide relaxations in age and the number of attempts. In summary the
exam was forced through and conducted by the Union Government promising the Constitutional
Courts across the country. Measures promised to contain and conduct examination were destined
to have failed not being 100% guaranteed to contain, an impossible task to achieve yet promised
by the government to the courts on an a davit.These aspirants su ered and got infected during
the examination missed an attempt and are not barred because of the Union of India’s unrelenting
and insensitive stand of denial after denial.

Can the government answer this inconsistency and its stand that bulldozes on an individual
citizens right granted under Article 16 of the Constitution?

2)That the Minister concerned Shree Jitendra Singh and his subordinate o cers and sta at the
UPSC and DoPT in the Rachna VS Union of India case had in-fact stated before the honourable
Supreme Court of India under oath in an a davit, that there are no provisions provided in the rules
for conducting of examination and recruitment that permit age/attempt relaxation and that the
government has no discretion to do the same. It was based on these averments alone that the
honourable Supreme Court of India, did not grant extra attempt to the aggrieved students.
However, the SC repeatedly urged the government to take a sympathetic stand and consider relief
as well as SC refrained itself to intervene in the name of policy matter. Which the government has
not mentioned in its replies to this house and has selectively used the language/technicality
involved in the Judgement of the honourable Supreme Court of India in contravention to the spirit
of the empathy and justice which the SC had shown to the aspirants.

Can the government answer this mala de, conniving and selective use of a judgement of
the honourable Supreme Court of India to cheat aspirants out of a relief that is well
deserved?

3) Union Government in the Arijit Shukla VS Union Of India case has contradicted itself before the
honourable Supreme Court when it stated that there is discretion which can be exercised that
permit age/attempt relaxation; (In fact,DOPT has given age and attempt relaxation previously
under the rules.) However the Minister concerned Shree Jitendra Singh and his subordinate
o cers and sta at the UPSC and DoPT have simply denied any relief stating— ‘Any relaxation to
age-limit and number of permissible attempts due to COVID-19 pandemic could lead to similar
demands and impinge on chances of other category candidates’.

Recruitment rules are framed or amended or clause can be relaxed by the concerned Minister-in-
charge (in this case DOPT Minister Jitendra Singh ) in consultation with Department of Personnel
& Training and Union Public Service Commission.Recruitment Rules are subordinate legislation
and so, they are statutory nature. In this case DOPT comes under PMO.

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 Will the Prime Minister pleased to state : (Please consider these questions on priority )

a) whether the power of a minister to amend the rules is discretionary power of the
concerned minister only and not applicable to the PM? As DOPT comes under PMO,
what is the Prime Minister stand on the matter?

b) If a minister is having a power to frame rules under subordinate legislation, is this power
sacrosanct ? Is he above the parliament ? ( As hundreds of letters being sent by
Members of Parliament to consider the matter are ignored. Protocols are not followed
by the concerned minister while replying to these recommendations, also giving
misinformation in the reply to MP)

c) Can the government answer this shameless insensitivity, towards human su ering, loss
of life and violation of individual rights under the Constitution? That instead of giving relief
to the victims of a pandemic that killed millions of people in India and across the world; the
government is more concerned about age relaxation if a similar pandemic happens?

Basically the Union of India on record before the honourable Supreme Court has stated—We as a
government are more concerned about age relaxation being sought by su ering candidates in
case a global pandemic takes place and kills millions of people again; rather than actually giving a
semblance of justice and succour to the ones a ected by the pandemic that killed millions in the
rst place

4)That a number of aspirants were/and are also front line workers keeping the country together
when millions of its citizens were dying, often because of an over whelmed health care system
was failing. These same aspirants were required (often by law and government agencies and
operations of the Pandemic Act)- to perform prolonged/over-whelming duties; a fact that has
been admitted by the Prime Minister himself hailing them as “Covid Warriors”.

Can the government answer this hypocritical stand of praising and sloganeering in the
name of “Covid Warriors” when it is suitable to them; and then casting the same individuals
aside with extreme prejudice when all they are seeking for is ask is an attempt to write and
appear in examination once again?

5)That more than a dozen state governments of various political parties have already given

age/attempt relaxation to candidates as a one time measure on account of the su ering

unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic; However the Minister concerned Shree Jitendra Singh
and his subordinate o cers and sta at the UPSC and DoPT refuse to consider any possible relief
in spite of similar relief accorded by the State Governments.

That the Union Government has proposed amendments to the cadre rules of the three All India
Services, seeking to give unilateral powers to the Union Government to pick and choose any AIS
o cer (s) working in the states to be withdrawn from their services in the state of their allotment
and brought to the Centre without the concurrence of either the o cer concerned or of the state
government the o cer is serving. This alters the very spirit of the federal structure within the
Constitution.

Can the Prime Minster, answer as to the hypocrisy wherein the Union Government is over
zealous to take control over AIS o cers working under respective State Governments but
refuse to even consider the examples set by them in respect of the just, humane and
extremely timely decisions of giving age/attempt relaxation to candidates one time on
account of the su ering unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic?

6)The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel,Public Grievances,

Law and Justice headed by Shri Sushil Kumar Modi,MP,Rajya Sabha, presented the report on

24 March, 2022 to both the houses of the parliament, committee recommended as follows about
Extra Attempt ( Compensatory Attempt and Corresponding age relaxation) :

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 “The Committee is of the opinion that COVID-19 has caused untold agony and insurmountable
su ering to many. The whole of India had come to a standstill, lives and livelihoods got disrupted
and the student community was also adversely a ected. Keeping inn view the hardships faced
by the student community during the rst and second COVID waves, the Committee recommends
the Government to change its mind and sympathetically consider the demand of CSE aspirants
and grant an extra attempt with corresponding age relaxation to all candidates.”

Will the Prime Minister be pleased to state : (please consider these questions on priority)
a) whether the government has accepted these recommendations ?
b) details of the actions taken by the government on the directions given by the
honourable Supreme Court in Arjit Shukla VS Union Of India judgement in the light of the
DRSC report.
C) de ne a time frame in which Extra Attempt will be granted.

It is noteworthy that this is an issue that concerns lakhs of aspirants across the federal polity of
this diverse country and they are all su ering because of the insensitive stance of the Minister
concerned Shree Jitendra Singh and his subordinate o cers and sta at the UPSC and DoPT.

The indecisiveness on the matter should be considered some unusual or unexpected use of
the power conferred by the Constitution, they have become a law unto themselves. they
have simply in one lame line denied recommendation of the Members of Parliament,
Parliamentary Standing Committee Report onPersonnel, Public Grievances , Law and Justice as
well as honourable Supreme Court. The unjusti able delay in the announcement of the Extra
Attempt is causing physical and psychological stress among students and their families
who are already going through the repercussion of the COVID19 pandemic.
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