Union Health Ministry releases Rules for UPSC CMS exam 2022, Details

New Delhi: The Department of Health, operative under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently published the Rules for the 2022 Combined Medical Services, which is held by the Union Public Service Commission.

Published in the Gazette of India dated April 6, 2022, these Rules have specified the eligibility criteria, the syllabus of the examination, examination scheme, reservation criteria, conditions applied for both written and physical examination and all the other important factors related to the examination.

CMS examination is conducted by UPSC for filling up the posts of Medical Officers in various organizations including Indian Ordnance Factories, Indian Railways, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council functioning under the Government of India.

As per the Rules published by the Union Health Ministry on April 6, the exam will be conducted for the posts of two categories. Posts in Category I are the Medical Officers Grade in General Duty Medical Officers Sub-cadre of Central Health Service. However, in case of Category II, the posts include- (a) Assistant Divisional Medical Officer in the Railways, (b) General Duty Medical Officer in New Delhi Municipal Council, (c) General duty Medical Officer Gr-II in East Delhi Municipal Corporation, North Delhi Municipal Corporation and South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

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It has been specifically mentioned in the rules that "A candidate may compete in respect of anyone or more of the services/posts mentioned above. A candidate who qualifies on the results of the written part of the examination will be required to indicate clearly in the Detailed Application Form the services/posts for which he/she wishes to be considered in the order of preferences. The candidate is advised to indicate his/her preferences as he/she wishes so that having regard to his/her rank in order of merit due consideration can be given to his/her preferences while making appointments. While indicating preference a candidate shall have to indicate choice between Category I and Category II first duly keeping in view the eligibility for the two categories of posts/services in terms of Rule 5(a)&(b) below. Subsequently the candidate will also indicate preferences among services/ posts of Category II. Candidates will be recommended by the Commission based on the preference of categories given by them in the Detailed Application Forms, order of merit and number of vacancies."

Eligibility Conditions:

The Rules have also provided details about the eligibility conditions of the candidate- including their Nationality, upper age limit along with its relaxations, qualifying degree (MBBS), eligibility conditions for those candidates already employed in Government service etc.

However, the Commission has clearly mentioned that if candidates are found to be guilty of obtaining support for candidature by illegal means, impersonation, submitting fake documents, or any other means violating the rules, then "in addition to being liable to criminal prosecution, shall be disqualified by the Commission from the Examination held under these Rules; and/or shall be liable to be debarred either permanently or for a specified period" both by the Commission or the Central Government and "shall be liable to face disciplinary action under the appropriate rules if already in service under Government."

Apart from these, the Rules have also mentioned the process of preparing the merit lists- one for Category I and another for Category II, way of applying reservation, the minimum qualifying marks and its relaxations, health conditions and medical check-up, reservation conditions for candidates with physical disability, reservation criteria for candidates belonging to economically weaker section, etc.

It has been clearly mentioned in the Rules that "No person- (a) Who has entered into or contracted a marriage with a person having a spouse living; or (b) Who having a spouse living has entered into or contracted a marriage with any person; shall be eligible for appointment to service:

Provided that the Central Government may, if satisfied that such marriage is permissible under the personal law applicable to such person and the other party to the marriage and there are other grounds for so doing, exempt any person from the operation of this rule."

Examination Scheme:

Besides the eligibility conditions, the Rules have also mentioned about the Scheme of the Examination as well. The CMS examination will be conducted in two parts- Part I is the written examination of 500 marks and Part II is the Personality Test of 100 marks for those candidates who qualify in the written test.

For the 500 marks Written Examination, the Paper-I of General Medicine and Paediatrics consists of 250 marks. In case of Paper-II which is of 250 marks as well, the candidates need to appear in subjects including Surgery, Gynecology & Obsterics, and Preventive and Social Medicine.

Apart from the scheme of the examination, the Rules also specify the General Instructions for the Examination including the instructions for the candidates with benchmark disability, penalty rule for wrong answers, etc. Regarding the Written Examination, the Rules Say, "Both the Papers of the CMSE will be of MBBS standard.

Regarding the 100 marks Personality Test, the Rules mention, "The Interview for Personality Test will be intended to serve as a supplement to the written examination for testing the General Knowledge and ability of the candidates in the fields of their academic study and also in the nature of a personality test to assess the candidate's intellectual curiosity, critical powers of assimilation, balance of judgement and alertness of mind, ability for social cohesion, integrity of character, initiative and capability for leadership."

The Rules also give details about the brief particulars relating to the services/posts to which recruitment is being made through CMS examination. These posts include- 

Apart from this, the Rules have also specified the Regulations relating to the Physical/Medical Examination of the Candidates- for General/SC/ST/OBC/EWS candidates. In fact, it also mentions in detail the standards prescribed for distant and near vision with or without glasses for different types of services. It has also dealt with issues like Night Blindness and Colour Vision in detail, and also the Ocular condition other than visual acuity, use of contact lenses, guidelines for special Opthalmic Board, Guidelines for Reporting on Border Line Unfit Cases. 

Not only the eye sight, but the physical examination will deal with the issue of blood pressure, hearing ability, guidelines for appointing pregnant women for jobs which do not require physical training, rules of physical examination regarding the issue of disability, guidelines for reporting on border line unfit cases, list of services identified suitable for persons with benchmark disability along with the functional classifications and physical requirements, etc.

The Letter of undertaking for using own scribe and a medical board report format have also attached with the Rules specified by the Health Ministry.

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