The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has recommended to the central government and its ministries to recruit from the candidates who reach the interview stage of the civil services exams but fail to clear it, reports The New Indian Express.

“We have proposed to Central Government and the ministries to recruit people from the list of candidates who make it to the interview stage in civil services and other exams but fail to get picked up,” UPSC Chairman Arvind Saxena was quoted in the report as saying.

Saxena was speaking on the sidelines of the Twenty First National Conference of Chairpersons of State Public Service Commissions in Odisha.

Every year, as many as 11 lakh candidates reportedly apply for the civil services exam. Half of these candidates appear for the preliminaries and subsequently their number dwindles through the exam stages and eventually only 600 candidates are selected.

The government can consider recruiting from the pool of candidates who went through the rigorous screening process and failed only at the last stage. This will also help in reducing examination stress among the youth, Saxena said.

He also said that the UPSC is taking steps to make the examination process more candidate-friendly.

“When a candidate applies for the exam online, a (registration) number will be generated for the application. At this stage, we will give candidates an option to step down and there will be no problem at all,” said Saxena while adding that this will be done purely on voluntary basis.