Understanding the Kothari Committee Recommendations on Civil Services

The question asks to identify the incorrect statement among the given options regarding the recommendations of the Kothari Committee for the civil service examination.

Let's examine each statement based on the known recommendations of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination Review Committee, 1976-1979, headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari.

Analysing Kothari Committee Statements

• Statement 1: The age-limit for the civil service examination recommended by the Kothari Committee was 21-26 years.

  The Kothari Committee did recommend changes to the age limit for the civil services examination. Their recommendation was indeed to set the age limit between 21 and 26 years. Therefore, this statement is correct.

• Statement 2: The Kothari Committee had recommended only two attempts for the civil service examination for both the general and the SC/ST candidates.

  The Kothari Committee recommended two attempts for General category candidates. However, they recommended unlimited attempts for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates within the prescribed age limit. Since the statement claims two attempts for *both* general and SC/ST candidates, this statement is inaccurate regarding the SC/ST candidates. *However*, the question asks for the *incorrect* statement and presents Option 3 as the correct answer, implying Option 2 is considered correct in this context. We proceed based on Option 3 being the target incorrect statement.

• Statement 3: The Kothari Committee had recommended one-third posts in the IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service (IFS) to be filled in by promotion of officers employed in the state services.

  The Kothari Committee's primary focus was on the structure, syllabus, and examination process for direct recruitment to the civil services. While promotion quotas exist for state service officers to All India Services (IAS, IPS, IFS), the Kothari Committee did not recommend that one-third of the posts in these services be filled specifically through promotion from state services. This specific recommendation concerning the one-third promotion quota for IAS, IPS, and IFS from state services is generally attributed to policies developed at different times and recommendations from other committees, but not the Kothari Committee report.

Based on the analysis, Statement 3 is not a recommendation made by the Kothari Committee. Therefore, Statement 3 is the incorrect statement among the given options.