Many aspirants are eagerly waiting for the Civil Services 2013 Mains result; some are elated of the fortune of two more attempts. With results there will be jubilation for the ones who made it through and renewed efforts from the rest. The actual marks would only be published later in the year and to their disappointment a few would find themselves not qualified in the compulsory language papers. Further disheartening is that other papers would not be evaluated depriving one of even the opportunity to even assess one’s efforts. Last year there was an attempt to do away with the idea of compulsory papers and including English marks in total. Protests against the move resulted in reversing the decision and was followed with UPSC scaling up the difficulty level in the compulsory papers.
While English has become indispensable in this globalised era, the students who were educated in native medium are not at equal footing with the English medium. The students in most schools (especially government Schools) are to say the least are not provided equal opportunities to develop their English skills, if not deprived from the same. The trend is to chose a private school(ASER 2012).
On the other hand multilingual students( Often whose parents were on the move seeking employment) struggle with compulsory language. They are Jack of many languages and master of none. It is worth remembering that legends like Krishnadevaraya, Raja Ram Mohan Roy were experts in many languages. It is a cruel reality of Indian education system that we are unable to meet the basic linguistic standards demanded.
A more equitable assessment would be to use the aggregate of the compulsory papers to calculate the qualifying marks as it was being done earlier in prelims General Studies(GS) Paper-I and II and evaluating all mains papers irrespective of compulsory papers. This would cater to the needs of both as the educational arrangements result in acquiring relative expertise in at least one language thereby offsetting any disadvantage arising because of the discomfiture with the other. Rendering linguistic competence as a prerequisite might hinder a few otherwise deserving candidates.
Further the leverage which some gain ( adepts in Hindi and English) in CSAT can be balanced by affecting individual qualifying marks for GS papers(A discretionary right of UPSC as per notification but seldom used).
It is noteworthy to remember that learning a new language has boosts memory power. Scholars from King Krishnadeva Raya to Raja RamMohan Roy had mastered numerous languages. Given Indian diversity bureaucrats should be challenged as well as encouraged to keep learning new languages, both foreign and domestic. As for a candidate appearing in Civil Services Mains, start mastering one Indian language.
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