Click to play videoBeing an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer always means becoming a bada sahib - someone defined by his elite status in society. However, now the profile of the IAS officer is changing increasingly.
The results of the 2006-07 Civil Services Examination, which was declared on Monday, categorically pointed out to the shift of toppers from metros to small towns like Bilaspur and Surat.
Of the 474 candidates who cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, 101 are women and the top ten are all from small towns.
So does that mean that - the IAS gone beyond metros and become a truly Indian service?
On CNN-IBN’s show India 360, Senior Vice President, Naukri.com, Vineet K Singh, Director, Srirams IAS, Sriram Srirangam and successful candidate of UPSC 2006, Rahul Barhat discussed this issue with host Sagarika Ghose.
Urban vs Rural
It was Mahatma Gandhi’s dream that the IAS should not be the IAS, it should be the Bhartiya Administrative Services.
And the trend that rural, non-English speaking, non-metro candidates get the top position in the UPSC, has been going on for a long time.
“It has been gaining momentum for the last 20 years. A lot of rural people have been fascinated by the power of the state, bureaucracy. They would love to be IAS, IPS officers and make some difference to society,” said Sriram Srirangam.
Srirangam added, “These people have some idealism having grown up in the rural areas. They have seen the darker side of reality and they are closer to people. So this trend is imbued with some desirable traits and they want to revamp the bureaucracy towards more egalitarian content.”
The 10 top positions in the UPSC are all from small towns. Why don’t metropolitan youngsters want to go into the IAS any more?
“One reason could be more opportunities. People can pursue a great career in what they like,” says Vineet Singh.
"I come from a village that is surrounded by water. It is an island. There are no transport facilties. I want to work for my village. That is why I prepared so hard” |
When asked if that was because of the lack of public spirit in the metros, Singh said, “May be. People in small towns have flipside of bureaucracy. So they are more interested in civil services and fell they can make a greater difference.”
Power of the IAS
“Power is just a small aspect of it. When you are brought up in a small town, you see the problems face-to-face. You have two options – sit around the fence and keep shouting or go inside the field and clean the mess on your own. I chose the second one,” said Rahul Barhat.
But is the IAS the best way? What if you end up serving narrowly political ends?
“That’s the case with any profession you take. In the end it depends on your principles and values. Personally I will not bow down to any pressure,” said Barhat.
When asked if it was just the competition of salaries that was making the metropolitan students turn away form the IAS, Singh said, “Salaries may be a larger factor. But in the last seven-eight years job opportunities have started moving to the smaller towns of India. Now organisations go to the tops 30 cities of India and candidates find reasonable jobs from there as well. A new India is getting made.”
Mayawati syndrome
Teacher-turned-politician and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, whose family traces its roots to Baadalpur Village of the then Bulandshahar and now Ghaziabad district of UP, has made it big on her own term.
The Dalit leader has created the record of being the first woman in UP to get the prestigious post as many as four times.
But the residents of Baadalpur, the village where the Dalit ki beti spent the first four years of her life, claim it has been years since Mayawati last came home.
Are the rural small town candidates necessarily public service orientated or once they get to the gaddi (position), they treat their own families and friends badly?
“I don’t think that the origin of service mindedness lie in the rural areas - I think that’s anti-science. What appeals to me is that a rural person occupying a chair of power at the district level is likely to inspire people and relatively be more accessible,” Srirangam said.
The Stephanians and Doon School people who used to go to villages and dispense village law when they were IAS officers is soon becoming a thing of the past, and the sons of the soil are taking over as District Collectors.
Srirangam explained that if there is a rural person who is non-anglicised, non-Stephanian as a collector in Chattisgarh, the entire population gets inspired.
Rise in social status?
When Barhat was asked if he had a social complex and thought he had to get into the IAS to rise socially, he denied that IAS is the only way out.
“I don’t think IAS is the only reason for social mobilisation. There are a lot of small town people making in to Infosys and Microsoft. So therefore I think it is a misconception,” Barhat said.
Small town India is where all the energy is. Like in cricket, in all the other areas of the economy, it is the small town talent that really needs to be harnessed.
“I believe the aspirations are very high and students in small towns work very hard,” said Barhat.
When asked if he feels more rooted since he is not from a metro background and can relate better to the problems, Barhat said, “You understand the problem much better when you see it yourself.
Disenchantment with the IAS
So where are the people from the metros going? To the media?
“Yes. They are going everywhere,” said Singh.
“It has to do with the way we are brought up, role models, how many parents are civil servants – all this builds up. May be the same is happening with the Indian Armed Forces as well,” said Singh.
Srirangam pointed out that the TABU (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh) factor has to go away so that we can deliver BIPASA (bijli-electricity. paani-water and sadak-roads.
"IHardwork and consistency are the two things that must be paid attention.” |
“The theme is that we should make it more Indian. It’s the TABU that is monopolising the bureaucracy. For the BIPASA to be delivered, there has to be a broad base in the bureaucracy socially and territorially. So more states should join. Northeast has to be inspired to be integrated. If we do this, it’ll be truly developmental,” said Srirangam.
Other contenders
Of the three lakh candidates that wrote the exam this year, the UPSC has recommended 474 candidates, including 101 women.
Anindita Mitra, an engineer, who ranked eighth, has topped among women.
In the top 20 list, 14 belong to Commerce, Humanities and Social Sciences stream while five were engineers and one a doctor.
Out of the 474 candidates, who cleared the tests conducted in three phases, 214 are from general category, 144 OBCs, 80 Scheduled Caste and 36 from Scheduled Tribe.
The government has reported 89 vacancies for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 20 for Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and 103 for Indian Police Service (IPS).
Srirangam pointed out that 18 of the top 20 took it in English and the other two in Hindi. None of them took it in 21 languages.
But does that cause a problem in the viva section?
“It does. But UPSC does it best to soften them out,” Srirangam said,
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