CIC urges UPSC to restore detailed marks for civil services mains

UPDATE - follow-up to CIC advises UPSC to display paper-wise marks for Mains exam; no record found for discontinuation since 2018: The Central Information Commission has issued an advisory under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act ordering the Department of Personnel and Training to supply the RTI applicant with paper‑wise marks of all recommended candidates for the UPSC Civil Services mains from 2018 to 2023, and to reinstate public disclosure of that breakdown. The commission found no official record of any policy decision to stop publishing detailed marks after 2017. UPSC replied that after final results, the detailed mark sheets are sent to DoPT and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, and DoPT confirmed the marks are generated by UPSC. The request came after an RTI petition sought ten‑year comparative data for each General Studies paper, optional subject paper and the Personality Test, and also asked how different optional subjects performed. The petitioner noted that only aggregate marks have been released since 2018, limiting aspirants' ability to track performance trends. CIC stressed that candidates must secure at least 10 % in each of the seven written papers and that publishing optional‑subject marks would help aspirants choose subjects wisely and avoid unreliable sources.