Sat-ire

UPSC Civil Services Exam is one of the most prestigious and competitive exams in India, wherein every year around 10 lakh candidates apply and only about 900-1000 candidates make it to the final list. This makes it the toughest exam in the country with a success rate of less than 0.1%. Further, the fact that this is the third and final time I was attempting this exam and I could not even qualify the preliminary stage in my previous two attempts created a do or die situation for me. On the other hand, the Indian judiciary is infamous for the high pendency of cases running up to around 30 million. The ratio of judges per citizen is severely low - 17 judges per 1 million citizens. This coupled with the expenses of hiring good counsels makes it really tough for the common middle class to gather the courage to approach the judiciary for their due. Fate had it, that I was burdened with both these challenging circumstances at the same time. I am Satabdi Mazumder, a UPSC aspirant from Tripura....

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...