The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has recommended to the government that the civil services exam process be changed to replace the preliminary examination with an aptitude test common to all applicants.

The justification for introducing two objective type tests instead of the preliminary examination, the subject of which is selected by the candidate, is to provide a level playing field to applicants and test their decision-making skills.

“Public service may be rightly described as a ‘calling’ rather than merely as a profession or a career. The structure and process of governance are crucially affected by the nature and quality of public officials... While sufficient guarantees of livelihood and career satisfaction need to be built in so as to attract men and women of ability and character to public services, there is simultaneously a need to ensure that ‘aptitude for service’ is also identified among the necessary qualifications for entry,” UPSC chairman D P Agrawal said at the inaugural UPSC Foundation Day lecture series here.

“The emphasis is on testing the aptitude of the candidate for the demanding life in the civil service, as well as on ethical and moral dimensions of decision-making,” he said.

The UPSC conducts 14 examinations every year including the prestigious civil services examination.

Agrawal said the commission was also in favour of a reduction in the number of attempts and lowering entry age.

“While lowering of age of entry may be desirable, interests of rural candidates who may complete their graduate education later than their urban counterparts needs also to be considered. A reduction in the number of attempts, as proposed by the second ARC (Administrative Reforms Commission), is however called for, so as to remove the premium on cramming and memorization that a large number of attempts provides,” he said.