NEWS : UPSC Shocker For 96 Babus-to-be

As many as 96 bureaucrats-to-be, who could have been packing their bags to start training after cracking the 2007 civil services exams, have been stopped in their tracks as UPSC on Thursday declared a revised list of only 638 successful candidates against the earlier 734.

The new list will not affect the service prospects of those ranked high in merit, irrespective of their belonging to the general or the three reserved categories. But the fate of those ranked below - those hopeful of getting Group A or B jobs - has come under cloud. It is now certain that some of the earlier ‘successful' candidates might not land a government job at all.

The announcement was inevitable after SC last month stayed a Madras HC order that barred UPSC from preparing the civil services merit list as per rules in vogue. The results, ironically, had to be announced (on May 16) as per the HC's earlier judgment because by then the stay order had not come; it came three days later on May 19.

The HC ordered that if a quota candidate figured in the general list, he must be considered as a general examinee even if he availed of his reserved status for getting a better service. This meant a kind of "double quota benefit" for such candidates.

The HC nullified Rule 16(2), which provides that once a candidate, irrespective of his position on the merit list, avails of his reserved status, he should be considered to belong to the protected category.

In its petition before SC, the government sought quashing of the HC order, primarily because it would violate the 50% cap on quota fixed by the earlier apex court judgments. The UPSC's practice has been to announce a truncated ‘first' list of successful candidates, taking into account the total number of reserved category examinees who qualified in the ‘general' list.

Depending on the final number of reserved candidates opting to use their special status, the commission would then announce a second list. Thursday's results have reverted to this process. Although the total number of vacancies is 734, UPSC would now have to wait and see how many reserved candidates opt to be considered as general candidates.

History shows the number of such candidates is very low because reserved status ensures them a service of higher preference.

UPSC sources said given the trend, in the final analysis, more candidates from the reserved categories - OBC, SC and ST - would not be able to get a central government job. "This is unfortunate but we can't help it," the sources said.

Courtesy : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com