Candidates suffering from blindness, locomotor disability and cerebral palsy can use scribes to write civil services preliminary and main examination, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has said. Such candidates will also get compensatory time of twenty minutes per hour for the exam. However, those appearing in Indian Forest Service Examination will get additional 60 minutes for each paper.
"Candidates must write the papers in their own hand. In no circumstances, will they be allowed the help of a scribe to write the answers for them. However, blind candidates and candidates with locomotor disability and cerebral palsy where dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function (minimum of 40 per cent impairment) will be allowed to write the examination with the help of a scribe in both the civil services (preliminary) as well as in the civil services (main) examination," as per the UPSC's notification.
"Low vision candidates (minimum 40 per cent impairment) will be allowed to write the examination with the help of a scribe. Low vision candidates will also be allowed an extra time of sixty minutes for each paper at the rate of twenty minutes per hour. Each paper will be of three hours duration," said the Commission in a corrigendum issued for Indian Forest Service examination, 2015.
Due to change in pattern, the candidates applying for Indian Forest Service test will be required to appear in the civil services preliminary examination.
"Since there may be common candidates for civil services examination and the Indian Forest Service examination, after the common screening test done through civil services preliminary examination, separate lists will be prepared for the candidates eligible to appear in the civil service (Main) examination and Indian Forest Service (Main) examination," it said.
The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages--preliminary, main and interview-- to select candidates for prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
