What will it take to fix UPSC? Budget 2024 allocates Rs 216.72 cr for exams, selections

Over Rs 200 crore have been earmarked for expenditure on “examination and selection” of the civil servants by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in the 2024-25 Budget announced on Tuesday.

The Commission conducts the civil services examination annually in three stages - preliminary, main and interview - to select officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

The UPSC has been given Rs 425.71 crore for the ongoing fiscal in the Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Of these, Rs 208.99 crore is for expenditure on salaries and allowances of the chairman and members, besides administrative expenses, among others.

A total of Rs 216.72 crore has been allocated for the “expenditure in connection with the examinations, recruitment tests and selections conducted by the Union Public Service Commission”, according to the Budget documents.

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The Commission was given Rs 426.24 crore during 2023-24.

The UPSC has been in the spotlight since probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s case came to fore.

The Commission had recently lodged a criminal case against Khedkar, a 2023 batch probationary IAS officer, for faking her identity to fraudulently avail attempts in the civil services examination beyond eligibility.