With the aim to forge a better synergy between all allied services like the IAS (Indian Administrative Services), IPS (Indian Police Service) and IFS (Indian Forest Service), the Centre is planning to change the scheme of the UPSC test for recruitment of entry-level paramilitary forces’ officers and merging it with the civil services examination that selects IAS and IPS officers, officials said. A proposal in this regard is being thought upon, in the backdrop of the Union government last year granting the Organised Group A Service (OGAS) categorisation to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) that include CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB, officials acquainted with the development said.
The organised service tag allows a service to have its own recruitment rules and enhanced avenues for promotion, pay, command and deputation of its officers.
It usually recruits about 300-400 men and women, as per requirement projected each year, in the age group of 20-25 years for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
The deliberations are essentially aimed to change the scheme and syllabus of the CAFs (Assistant Commandant) exam that is being conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) since 2003, for recruiting officers to lead these forces deployed in the internal security and border guarding domain of the country, the officials said, reports the Hindustan Times.
As the syllabus has “not been reviewed since then”, the UPSC wrote to the Union Home Ministry in 2017, seeking its comments in finalising the new scheme and pattern of the exam, according to official documents. With the Union government granting the OGAS tag to the officers of these forces on the Supreme Court directions last year, it is now being thought upon that this test can be merged with the civil services examination, officials said.
A committee of senior home ministry and CAPF officials that went into the issue of changing the scheme, syllabus and pattern of this exam in December last year, has also suggested inclusion of new subjects like challenges of internal security, ethics and values, they said.
The CAPF service can been mentioned as a separate entity in the UPSC civil services exam notification, once a decision to merge the test is taken, officials said.
However, the recommendation is under consideration and a final decision is yet to be taken, they added.