UPSC to accept all answers for essay

NEW DELHI: Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will accept different versions of the answers to the essay paper of the Civil Services (Main) examinations, 2016.

The test paper had an essay that carried 125 marks, but the framing of the proposition in English and Hindi created confusion for the candidates.

In Hindi, the version read: "Stri-purush kay samaan sarokaroko shamil kiye bina vikas sankatgrast hain" (devoid of gender inclusiveness, development is endangered) while in English it was -"If development is not engendered, it is endangered".

Aspirants who were writing the tests in English did not interpret "engendered" as related to gender equality .

Speaker of Puducherry legislative assembly, V Vaithilingam has written to the commission for a "compassionate evaluation." Earlier, many candidates had also shot off a letter to PM Narendra Modi and members of the commission on the same.

"A large number of candidates come from diverse background and languages. In such a situation, it would be a gross injustice to a lot of them whose fate depends on such a high mark question if evaluation is not done judiciously," Vaithilingam said.

In his reply additional secretary and controller of examination, UPSC, said, "The matter has been examined in the commission in consultation with experts. The commission has noted that there could be different interpretations of the term "engendered'. The different acceptable interpretations will be considered valid during evaluation."

The Civil Services (Main) examinations was held from December 3 to 9, with the first day's paper carrying the essay question.