From misery to miracle Part- I: The plight of EWS candidates in UPSC Civil Services Examination 2019

I am a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination (CSE) aspirant from Tripura in my last attempt. I started my journey in 2016 with the dream of serving the people of my country. With the introduction of Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservations in education and employment in 2019 for the first time in the country, I was both happy and relieved to be able to enhance my chances of selection by availing the EWS quota. But who knew that this happiness and relief would not last long and soon I found myself in a hapless state running from pillar to post seeking justice and entitlements that flew from the very Constitution of India. Most of the candidates, who have applied under EWS quota are sailing in the same boat as me, facing various challenges such as cancellation of candidature by UPSC, change of status from EWS to General, among others. 

Background:

On 9 January 2019, the Parliament, in record time, approved the 124th constitutional amendment bill to provide reservation in jobs and education for the economically weaker sections among the upper castes. On 31 January 2019, the Central Government issued a notification for implementation of EWS quota in government services and education.

Out of 5 lakh candidates who appeared for the preliminary examination on 2nd June 2019, around 11,000 candidates were shortlisted for the mains examination. This 11,000 included 1048 candidates under the EWS category who were effectively recommended for CSE Mains 2019. Out of these 1048, about 392 candidates, which is about 37.4% of students were impacted in many ways such as - some faced cancellation of candidature, many were converted from EWS category to General Category among others, based on the cutoff date of the Income and Asset Certificate(I&AC) which has been fixed by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) as 01 August 2019.

Out of these 392 candidates, around 32 candidates had approached Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for justice. Hon’ble The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has passed a verdict on 13 January 2020 to relax the cutoff date for I&AC till 16 August 2019 which brought relief to 20 out of 32 petitioners. Accordingly, UPSC has declared the Civil Service Mains result to the exclusion of 12 petitioners whose I&AC is dated beyond 16 August 2019. Both the excluded petitioners and UPSC have challenged the Hon’ble CAT verdict at the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi and the hearing is pending on 16th April 2020. 

Where is the parity??

In a recent development, UPSC has also been sending emails to the EWS category candidates who have been called for Personality Test stating that they must submit fresh I&AC valid for the FY 2017-18 at the time of the Personality Test, failing which they were given an additional 2-week window post Personality Test to submit I&AC for the FY 2017-18. In other words, UPSC is giving an opportunity to the candidates who have been shortlisted for Personality Test to make good, striking deficiencies in their I&AC even after the cutoff date of 1st August 2019 affixed by DoPT but denying the same opportunity to 12 EWS Candidates by withholding their Civil Service (Mains) result. (Annexures 1 and 2 )

EWS quota, a Blessing or a Burden?

EWS category certificate is merely a formal representation of petitioners’ weak economic status, a fact which is officially confirmed by the fact that all the petitioners have the required EWS certificate. The certificate declares the petitioners’ status for a Financial Year. The mere fact that the required certificate not dated earlier to a specific date of the year is a technical/procedural fallacy, which should not become a reason to deny constitutional entitlements due to applicants. The EWS benefit scheme is a social welfare measure by the government aimed at ending social and economic inequality and, empowering the marginalized. So, it needs to be executed liberally and inclusively keeping in mind the broad objective with which it was brought.

Timeline of pertinent events:

• 31 Jan 2019 - Central Government notification for implementation of EWS quota in government services. 
• 19 Feb 2019 – Issue of CS Exam Notification by UPSC 
• 2 Jun 2019 - Preliminary Exam commencement 
• 12 Jul 2019 - Pre-Exam Result declared 
• 31 Jul 2019 - (EWS Certificate should be bearing this date or earlier) 
• 1 Aug 2019 - Opening of DAF-I for Mains Exam 
• 16 Aug 2019 - Closing of DAF-I 
• 30 Aug 2019 - UPSC’s mail to EWS candidates informing about their candidature cancellation (on the ground of not clearing general category cut-off) issued to candidates who opted ‘NO’ or opted ‘YES’ but indicated the date of issue of the certificate as 01 August 2019 or later 
• 20 Sep 2019 - starting of Mains examination 
• 10 Oct 2019 - UPSC issues show-cause notice to candidates whose EWS certificates were issued on time but found in the incorrect format during scrutiny. These candidates opted ‘YES’ and indicated the date of the issue of the certificate as earlier then on 01 August 2019. Candidates are given a 1-week window to respond to the show-cause notice 
• 14 Nov 2019 - Cancellation of candidature as the candidate produced a fresh certificate issued by authorities dated Oct 2019, stating that the certificate is not issued before 01 August 2019. 
• 13 Jan 2020 - CAT extended the cut-off date of I&AC from 01.08.2019 to 16.08.2019 
• 15 Jan 2020 - UPSC declares the results of CSM excluding 12 candidates whose EWS certificates were beyond 16.08.2019 
• 20 Jan 2020 - Appeal filed by excluded petitioners in Delhi High Court 
• Feb 2020 - EWS candidates who have been recommended for Personality Test are receiving emails from UPSC asking for submitting fresh I&AC for FY 2017-18, rectifying the deficiencies in the existing certificate. 
• 4 March 2020 - IFoS 2019 final results declared to the exclusion of the EWS petitioners 
• 22 March 2020 - Courts announce shutdown due to COVID-19 
• 3 April 2020 - Personality Test for Civil Service Exam was scheduled to end, however, interviews got suspended from 23 March onwards, till further notice 

Current situation 

The petitioners have been running behind advocates and courtrooms for about 7 months now, waiting for justice. Their big dreams are dying a slow death and UPSC has shut the doors of public service permanently for some of the petitioners as few of them are also in their last attempt. That the candidates are not at fault and such implementation glitches are bound to come in the first few years of implementation needs to be underlined. It is a matter of gross injustice that the results of the CS Mains Examination have been withheld for some of the candidates merely because their I&AC was beyond 16.08.2019. The petitioners are waiting with anxiety and hope to get their due and serious prejudice would be caused to them if genuine beneficiaries are deprived of their constitutional entitlements. It remains to be seen whether the Hon'ble Courts are compassionate enough to understand the fact that in a country of 700+ districts, implementation of any program in the first year is bound to face hurdles. 

As I conclude my blog, I am waiting for a miracle to happen and for the day when-

my efforts would be proportionately rewarded, my dreams fulfilled;

my prayers answered, and a mother's smile revived.