UPSC should have more transparent interviews

Government of India did away with interviews in the recruitment of Group D, C and B non-gazetted posts. The move was designed to end nepotism and corruption in the recruitment process, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ in October 2015. The policy became effective from January 1, 2016.

“But what about upper grade jobs? If according to the PM there are possible biases and corruption in the interview process for lower grade jobs, are we to believe that this is not happening in civil service exams?” asks Prof Dilip Mandal, author, editor and activist who has raised doubts on the impartiality and objectivity of the UPSC Interview process.

As the UPSC results were declared this year, Mandal and some other activists observed certain patterns in the marks obtained by the SC, ST, OBC and EWS candidates in their written exam and the interviews which pointed towards a possible bias at work.

Using the hashtag ‘#UPSCInterviewScam’ Mandal said, “The general category candidates who score higher marks in written tests also received higher marks in their interviews; but the SC, ST, EWS/OBC candidates securing equally high marks in the written test invariably secured much lower scores in interviews,

He also claimed that so called “UPSC Interview Scam” started in 1959 with “the story of the 1st IAS topper…that year Achyutananda Das, SC, secured 609 out of 1050 in the written test while N. Krishnan scored 602. But in the interview, Krishnan secured 260 out of 300 in contrast to Das’ 110.”

Mandal is not the only one who has raised the issue. Arvind Kumar, a PhD Scholar in the Department of Politics & IRs, Royal Holloway, University of London used corelation coefficient and significance tests and asked “are candidates from reserved categories awarded lower marks, or in other words discriminated against in the interview?”

Using the Pearson correlation test, which measures the relationship between two variables, Kumar claimed that, “the relation between written and interview marks of OBC candidates is statistically insignificant. Whereas for General, EWS, SC, and ST candidates, it is statistically significant. This means that the general category candidates who score higher marks in written examination are awarded higher marks in their interview too, whereas EWS, SC and ST category candidates are awarded lower scores in the interview despite scoring higher marks in the written exam.”

Could there be reasons other than caste prejudice or corruption at play? Mandal speculated, “They could be doing it so that unreserved category seats remain with the Savarnas. Maybe at the back of the mind they might be thinking ‘there is already reservation for SC, ST, OBC, now if we give them better marks in interview also, where would the poor savarnas go?’ In a way it is Savarna appeasement.”

Mandal is not convinced that marginalized community candidates might have genuine handicaps in performing better in the interview because of poor spoken English or lack of confidence and presence of mind.

“Well interviews are conducted in Hindi if the candidate so chooses. So spoken English should not be a hurdle,” he says. But he added that such a bias could not be completely ruled out. “It is possible that those who opt to be interviewed in Hindi are not seen as suitable candidates to handle tough bureaucratic positions,” he added.

The composition of the UPSC interview board is not publicly known. “UPSC does not make that information available publicly. I don’t think you will find that information even if you file an RTI application,” he reflects.

“But they should make that public. At least after the interviews are done and results are declared, they can put up the details of the interview board as well as video recording of the interviews on the website,” he added. This would make the process more transparent, he felt.

Indeed, going a step further he suggested that the interview process could also be made live. If the High Court, Supreme Court proceedings are being streamed live, why can’t these interviews? Let people watch and learn from the candidates as well,” said Mandal.

None of the candidates have come forward to make any formal complaint of malpractice or bias so far. Mandal says there are candidates who feel aggrieved but are unwilling to speak up. “They do not want any negative attention on themselves as they would like to re-appear in the exam next year,” said Mandal.

“We cannot make any concrete allegations at this moment. We are only observing the pattern, data analysis, and asking why the process cannot be more transparent” said Mandal.

If the Prime Minister could overnight abolish interviews in the lower grade exams to eliminate corruption and bias, should not the UPSC have more robust and transparent recruitment process for higher grades, a process that commands trust?” he asks.