UPSC recommends doing away with CSAT

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) wants to change the current pattern of the Civil Services examination and has recommended removal of  General Studies Paper-II, known as Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), from the Preliminary Exam. 

The Civil Services exam consists of three parts - Preliminary, Main and Personality Test. To qualify for the Main exam, students have to first crack the Preliminary Exam.

At present, Prelims consists of General Studies Paper-I and  General Studies Paper-II. Paper-I comprises 100 questions covering subjects like history, geography, social and economic development, etc.

Paper-II (CSAT) has 80 questions on aptitude consisting of comprehension, general mental ability and logical reasoning. An aspirant has to score minimum qualifying marks in Paper-II (33 per cent) and only then the marks scored in Paper-I would be considered for short-listing them for the Mains.

The UPSC has sent a proposal regarding this to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

The UPSC has also proposed to levy a fine on applicants who fail to appear for the examination.

Penalty for absentees

In a bid to curb absenteeism, the USPC wants truant candidates to pay a penalty. Every year, about 10 lakh students apply for the exam, but only a half eventually appear for it. The Civil Services exam is held to select officers of  public services such as IAS, IPS and IFS.

CSAT Exam

The CSAT - which was introduced in 2011 - had triggered protests as some aspirants claim that it gives an advantage to those with English, maths and science backgrounds.

In 2015, the government declared the test as just a qualifying exam. Now, candidates appearing for the CSAT need to score just 33 per cent to quality for the Mains exam.

The CSAT exam consists of seven papers including Indian languages, English and General Studies. The exam also analyses the candidate’s decision-making, comprehension and communication skills.

If the UPSC has its way, the CSAT exam won’t be mandatory from 2019-20.

Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill

The Union Cabinet has approved the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019.  It will replace the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019. The Bill will replace the ordinance promulgated on February 21, which ceased to operate after six weeks after reassembly of Parliament.

Impact

The Bill will help tackle the menace of illicit deposit-taking activities, which at present are exploiting regulatory gaps and lack of strict administrative measures to dupe poor and gullible people of their hard-earned savings.

Background

The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme Bill, 2018, was considered by the Lok Sabha on February 13, 2019, and after discussion, the same was passed, as amended through the proposed official amendments, as the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme Bill, 2019.  However, before the same could be considered and passed in the Rajya Sabha, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on the same day.

Salient features

* The Bill contains a substantive clause that bans deposit-takers from promoting, operating, issuing advertisements or accepting deposits in any unregulated deposit scheme. The principle is that the Bill would ban unregulated deposit-taking activities altogether, by making them an offence ex-ante rather than the existing legislative-cum-regulatory framework that only comes into effect ex-post with considerable time lags.

* The Bill creates three different types of offences - running of unregulated deposit schemes, fraudulent default in regulated deposit schemes and wrongful inducement in relation to unregulated deposit schemes.

* The Bill provides for severe punishment and heavy pecuniary fines to act as a deterrent.

* The Bill has adequate provisions for disgorgement or repayment of deposits in cases where such schemes nonetheless manage to raise deposits illegally.

* The Bill provides for attachment of properties / assets by the competent authority, and subsequent realisation of assets for repayment to depositors.

* Clear-cut timelines have been provided for the attachment of property and restitution to depositors.

* The Bill enables the creation of an online central database for the collection and sharing of information on deposit-taking activities.

* The Bill defines ‘deposit-taker’ and ‘deposit’ comprehensively.

* ‘Deposit takers’ include all possible entities (including individuals) receiving or soliciting deposits, except specific entities such as those incorporated by legislation.

* ‘Deposit’ is defined in such a manner that deposit-takers are restricted from camouflaging public deposits as receipts, and at the same time, not to curb or hinder acceptance of money by an establishment in the ordinary course of its business.

* Being a comprehensive Union law, the Bill adopts best practices from state laws, while entrusting the primary responsibility of implementing the provisions of the legislation to state governments.