Expert Talk | ‘Remove Ethics paper from UPSC exam…’: Former LBSNAA Director

Q: …is UPSC at any fault?

Sanjeev Chopra: To say that the way UPSC conducts exams is faulty is not true. UPSC has been conducting exams for many years. The question paper was not leaked and the interview process was fair – the sanctity of the exam was not compromised. 

It is not that UPSC has failed, it is the ecosystem surrounding it that has caused this incident to happen. 

While the whole ecosystem is not wrong, some minor loopholes need to be addressed. Such breaches can take place on a functional and operational level.

Q: Are the UPSC Examination processes and papers unable to select ethically competent candidates? 

Sanjeev Chopra: I don’t think examinations can select ethically competent candidates. 

I don’t think the Ethics paper makes much sense in this examination. 

An exam can only check how much information you have been able to store in your mind in a limited time and how much you have been able to express. When I got selected for Civil Services, I was working as a Sub-Editor in a media house. I knew that there were several people who knew more than me in that particular year but being a journalist, I knew the right way to express my knowledge. It is your knowledge and its presentation that is examined. 

I don’t think the Ethics paper makes much sense in this examination. It should be substituted with one additional paper based on the choice or priority of the service by the candidate. For example, for those who have IAS as their priority, a paper on public policy formulation can be attempted; or those who have IFS can be given a separate test on International Affairs, IRS on Accountancy, and so forth.

Another reform that I would like to suggest to UPSC is that the validity of the exam could be two years. Also, the number of attempts could be reduced to two for general candidates and reduction may be done for reserved candidates accordingly.

Q: The other institution that is being talked about is Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) as it is the training academy for IAS officers. As the former chief of LBSNAA, can you briefly tell us how the values the Academy inculcates in future bureaucrats?

Sanjeev Chopra: The conduct or behaviour seen by the person in the news is completely different from what we teach at LBSNAA. The core values of the service and the academy are clearly defined such as integrity, dedication to public service, professionalism etc. These values are taught to all trainee officers. When these trainees go to the districts as probationary officers, they face issues such as not getting a proper office, accommodation, or official vehicles; it isn’t new. Despite all these challenges, many probationary officers are performing their duties very well. One example should not tarnish the image of the whole system or institution like UPSC or LBSNAA. A criminal mind can breach any system. We should look at this incident as an aberration and not read too much into it.

On the craze of social media among Civil Servants: it is too immature and churlish. The other thing we teach in the Academy is what an IAS officer is ‘not’. 

An IAS officer is not a film star or a politician. Many times candidates are not able to understand what it means to be an IAS officer and end up making a mess of their lives. We need to focus on professional competency, which can only be seen in the quality of one’s work. The trend of civil servants being on social media is wrong. With respect to the training process, I can say that one can pick only what one wants, and that is true for anything in life.

(Find the full interview in the upcoming UPSC Essentials Magazine of the August month)

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