UPSC mulling to put civil services exam answer sheets online

Conceding to the longstanding demand of civil service aspirants, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is mulling to put online the scanned copies of answer sheets of the candidates writing the prestigious examination.

The Commission, which conducts the annual examination to select candidates for IAS, IPS and IFS among others, is in discussion with the Ministry of Personnel over the matter.

"The UPSC is considering to upload answer sheets of candidates on its website. The matter is at the consultation stage," a Ministry official said.

The Commission, at present, does not put online scanned copies of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) answer sheets of the candidates.

However, it has been providing the answer sheets from the year 2012 onwards on specific demands, after the entire examination process gets over.

Official said the Commission will first start with uploading scanned answer sheets of civil services preliminary examination and then will go for uploading mains exam answer copies.

The preliminary examination is based on objective type questions while the mains has subjective questions.

"The decision, if agreed upon by all the stake holders, will add to the credibility of the whole selection process," the official said.

The Civil Services examination has three stages -- preliminary, mains and interview.

The DoPT is also working on reducing delay in issuance of offer letters to the successful candidates.
The Ministry has taken up the matter with all other concerned ministries-- Ministry of Home Affairs for appointments in Indian Police Service (IPS), Ministry of Environment and Forest for Indian Forest Service (IFoS), Ministry of External Affairs for Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Ministry of Finance for Indian Revenue Service (IRS)-- among others.

"We will ensure there is no delay in sending offer letters to the candidates," the official added.