Don’t make interview board aware of candidates’ caste: Delhi minister to UPSC

Amid complaints of caste-based discrimination in UPSC interviews, Delhi’s Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday wrote to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), suggesting that the interview board should not be made aware about the caste of candidates.

He also suggested that interviewees are chosen randomly instead of “clubbing reserved and general category candidates separately”.

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“Many candidates have alleged that there is systematic discrimination in awarding the marks of the interview to reserved category candidates.

“Further, they have suggested that the possibility of this discrimination can be eliminated if the interview board members are not made aware of the caste of the candidate and the interviewees are chosen randomly instead of clubbing reserved and general category candidates separately,” Gautam said in a letter to UPSC Chairman Pradeep Kumar Joshi.

“I believe these suggestions have got merit and can easily be acted upon by the UPSC. Such action will ensure a level playing field in the interview for all candidates,” he said.

The minister also asked the UPSC to apprise him about the action taken to prevent discrimination against reserved category candidates during the interview process.

The UPSC Civil services 2020 interviews will be conducted from August 2 to September 22. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday as a special case allowed five civil service candidates, who had cleared the UPSC main examination but were disqualified for not submitting the degree certificates by the cut-off date, to appear for the interviews.