National Essay Writing Competition for College Students, with Cash Prizes

Organizer: CAG

The Office of the CAG is organising the third National Essay Writing Competition on 4th October 2024 at selected field offices from 2.30 PM to 4.30 PM.

About the Competition

• The competition is open to all college students who are currently enrolled in a course of study at any institution recognised by any university in India and are not more than 23 years old as on 1 August 2024.
• There is no registration fees
• Mode of Competition: Offline only

Winners of the competition will be awarded cash prizes as follows during Audit Diwas, ie., 16th November 2024.

• First prize₹50,000
• Second prize: ₹40,000
• Third prize ₹30,000

The registration is open till 3 October 2024 subject to capacity constrains at various locations (list of locations is available in the portal)

Visit Here to Register

• The participants will be given an option to select their choice of stations from the list of stations where the competition will be conducted. The participants will be allotted a centre at the station selected by them on first come first serve basis.
• The address of the centre allotted to the registered participants will be sent by e-mail to the participants.
• No changes will be allowed in the station once allotted to the participant.
• Registered participants should report to the centre at least one hour before the competition to facilitate verification of documents, attendance and seating.
• There are no registration charges for participation in the competition. Participants will have to make their own arrangements for travelling to and from the allotted centre.
• The topic of essay will be shared with participants on the spot at the time of the start of essay competition in the premises of IA&AD field offices.
• The length of the essay should not exceed 1,500 words. Participant will also make a smart summary of the essay in 150 words capturing the essence and central idea of the essay. It may be located at the beginning or end of the main body of the essay. The essay may be written either in English or Hindi. The essay should reflect original thinking and presentation. The CAG of India shall not bear any responsibility for copyright violations or infringements of intellectual property carried out by the participants.
• Online registration of participants will open at 0000 Hours on 14 September 2024 and applications will be allowed till 1000 Hours, 03 October 2024 subject to capacity constraints at various locations, at the discretion of the Headquarters/centre in charge. Onsite registration will also be allowed for walk-in participants on First cum First Serve basis on the day of the competition, till two hours before the scheduled starting time of the competition, subject to capacity constraints. The address of the centres would be uploaded in the CAG’s website, website of the field offices and the Essay competition portal to enable walk-in participation.
• The participants would be required to upload the following documents on the portal:
  • A scanned recent colour passport size photograph of the participant in jpg/jpeg format. The name of the jpg/jpeg document should be the name of the participant followed by ‘-photo’1.
  • A scanned document of the student’s ID showing proof of enrolment of the student at the University/educational institution. The name of the document should be the name of the participant followed by ‘-id’2.

• For example, if the name of the participant is abc, the name of the jpg/jpeg image will be ‘abc-photo’.
• For example, if the name of the participant is abc, the document name will be ‘abc-id’.

• scanned document showing proof of date of birth, such as birth certificate or Class 10th or equivalent mark sheet. The name of the document should be the name of the participant followed by ‘-dob’3.
• Original Photo ID issued by the College/University attending is required to be produced on the day of competition for identity verification of the participant on site at the registration desk by the field offices. Participants registering on walk-in-basis should carry copies of all the documents mentioned in para 11.
• Failure to provide any of the above documents or providing inauthentic documents may lead to disqualification.

Essay Evaluation

• The best three essays in each language will be awarded cash prizes as mentioned in para 5, subject to the conditions mentioned in the scheme.
  • The criteria for evaluation of essays will be
  • Originality of thought and depth of knowledge,
  • Clear reasoning and quality of argument,
  • Critical analysis,
  • Structure and writing style
  • The decision of the evaluation committees will be final and binding on all the participants.

Declaration of result:

• Declaration of result: Results will be published on CAG’s website www.cag.gov.in and ‘National Essay Writing Competition 2024’ portal https://cagessaycompetition.co.in/ by 5 November 2024.
• Prizes for winners: The prizes will be awarded on 16 November 2024. Details will be sent to the prize winners separately.
• Competition winners will be notified of the competition result by e-mail. Reasonable efforts will be made to contact the prize winner for 10 days; if the winner fails to respond to our notification attempts within this time, we reserve the right to disqualify that participant and offer the prize to the next eligible participant and thereafter until a winner is found.

All eligible students who participate in the competition shall receive participation certificates in digital format.

General instructions for participants

• Ruled stationery essay writing booklets will be provided at the centre.
• Participants may write only their Registration number on the top sheet. No other details of the participant will be mentioned anywhere on the essay writing sheets. If found, his/her participation will be cancelled.
  • Electronic devices like mobile phone, digital diary, smart-watch etc. will not be allowed during the competition, however, arrangements will be made for safe custody of the same, at the respective centre, when the participants are engaged in the competition.
  • If a participant is found to be using any unfair means e.g., cheating, canvassing, possessing / using any electronic device like mobile phone, digital diary, smart-watch etc. during the competition, his/her participation will be cancelled.
  • If an entry is found to violate the guidelines, it will be removed from the evaluation process without giving any intimation or explanation to the participant.
  • Arrangement will be available to provide water to the participants during the competition and refreshments at the end of the competition.
  • The CAG of India shall have an exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable license to copy, store, edit, distribute, transmit and publish competition entries.
  • We may undertake publicity activities relating to the competition and prize awards. The winners shall agree to the use of their name, photograph, educational institution and disclosure of region of residence in any post-prize-winning publicity activities.
  • Any dispute or any issue related to this competition shall be decided by the CAG of India which will be final and binding.
  • The CAG of India reserves the right to cancel or amend all or any part of the competition/or the guidelines/evaluation criteria etc. at any time without any public notice

For Details: Visit Here