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The Newshour Debate: Drama Vs Merit - Part 1 (29th July 2014)

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• published: 30 Jul 2014
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Hundreds of Civil Services aspirants Thursday (July 24) clashed with police, set several vehicles including a police jeep on fire, and indulged in stone-pelting in North Delhi's Burari area, leaving at least 10 policemen injured. According to Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Goel, the incident took place around 8.30 PM when about 500 to 700 protesters tried to block the main highway by-pass road, demanding scrapping of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT). The Opposition Friday (July 25) created ruckus in Parliament over the issue of regional language aspirants having disadvantage in Civil Services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice during Question Hour following Opposition's demand for a clarification by no other than the Prime Minister or the Leader of the House on the issue. The matter figured in Lok Sabha too though it did not lead to any adjournment. The government appealed to protesting Civil Services aspirants to be "patient" and said it would not tolerate any injustice to them on the basis of language. Civil service aspirants scaled up their protests Friday. Opposition parties Friday (July 25) attacked the Centre over the UPSC row and said that the admit cards for the CSAT examination should be revoked until the issue is resolved. Lashing out at the government, National Students' Union of India (NSUI) alleged that Central Government is not taking the demand of UPSC aspirants seriously. Saturday (July 26) Expressing concern over falling success ratio of students from rural background in UPSC civil service examination, Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention into the matter. Sunday (July 27) the government convened a high-level meeting to resolve the issue. The meeting was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh among others. Monday (July 28) Rahul Gandhi assured a delegation of Civil Services aspirants that no injustice will be done to them and he will raise their concerns at all appropriate fora. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding his intervention in the UPSC row as large number of Hindi medium students from the state write the prestigious exam every year. Tuesday (July 29) Hundreds of students under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest outside UPSC office, demanding scrapping of Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT). In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists -- Siddharth Nath Singh, Leader, BJP; Brijesh Kalappa, Spokesperson, Congress; Shefali Misra, Media Spokesperson, AAP; Naveen Prakash, UPSC Aspirant; Rahul Easwar, Social Activist; Sanjay Bhoos Reddy, President, IAS Officer Association; R K Misra, President, Navbharat Democratic Party -- discuss whether a basic level of English proficiency should be mandatory for a civil service aspirant