Bowing to all-round pressure in Parliament, Government today kept in abeyance the recently issued controversial notification of the UPSC which gave more weightage to English in the Civil Services exams.
The announcement was made in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy after an impromptu debate on the issue following repeated uproar and three adjournments with members demanding immediate revocation of the March 5 notification.
As members sought punishment for officials responsible for issuing the "unconstitutional" circular, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav went to the extent of demanding the sacking and impeachment of the chief of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his party colleague Raghuvansh Prasad Singh were prominent among those who stormed the Well twice along with a host of Samajwadi Party members, raising slogans against the notification.
After the hour-long debate, Narayanasamy said Government has taken note of the views expressed by the members on the notification of the UPSC.
"Government will call a meeting of the UPSC to discuss and resolve the issue. In the meanwhile, we will keep the notification in abeyance. Status quo ante will be maintained," Narayanasamy said.
Lalu Prasad dubbed the UPSC move as a "conspiracy" against weaker sections so as to ensure that children from SC, ST and OBC background do not succeed in the civil services examinations despite having the required merit.
Seeking a rollback of the decision, he said the UPSC may be a constitutional body but it was not above the government and Parliament.
