New Delhi: Information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 has been rejected by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC).
The chief body governing recruitment and examination schedules for civil services has showed objection to disclose the reasons behind rejecting a candidature in the civil services examination.
However, this has left the civil services aspirant an unhappy lot.
Twenty-seven year Sharad Kumar has been burning the midnight oil studying for the past four years with an aspiration to clear the civil services examination.
But with just one attempt left he is now losing interest.
"I have given my two attempts and this is the last one left but I doubt whether it’s worth giving another year to UPSC," he says.
A letter from the UPSC authorities declares that information sought by UPSC candidates under the RTI Act cannot be disclosed as it would harm protected interests.
However, students are asking as to whose interest does it really cater when the Government refuses to disclose the basis on which the copies are being marked.
"Who are the protected interests? They have left us in a lurch. Over four lakh students take the UPSC exam every year. Only one per cent of these clear prelims and 99 per cent of them are rejected," says Sunil, an aspirant.
Another UPSC aspirant Sunil, who just attempted the examination says, "Authorities claim that disclosing the information on the basis of which copies are marked is not in the larger public interest. But the very fact that over 2,000 civil services aspirants filed an RTI application speaks the volumes of the interest. Why do they not see this huge amount of public interest?"
Only a few days back the Central Information Commission had ruled that the candidates have the right to know the procedure followed in determining of cut-off marks.
They can also seek information about total marks scored by them both in the written examination and in the interview. Candidates will also have access to standard answers to the written exams and this was with immediate effect.
However UPSC is not willing to reveal details sought under the RTI Act. This comes as a blow for students hoping to get their scores.
"Except for the answer sheet every aspect of the examination has to be disclosed," Information Commissioner M M Ansari says. “The only thing that will not be revealed is the answer sheets," he adds.
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