JOIN US'Coastal belt lacks civil service culture'
“Just being an engineer or doctor is not life; there is something more in it.” That was how M Karthik Kashyap felt when he was asked why he opted for civil service even though he had an engineering degree with distinction.
“Many youngsters think that their life is done at the moment they get into a multi-national company or a software firm. Especially, there is a lack awareness among the people of Dakshina Kannada regarding the significance of civil service,” he told Deccan Herald over telephone from New Delhi.
Kashyap who secured the all India 140th rank in the 2008 civil service examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, is an engineering graduate from Nitte Engineering College. Also a student of Chinmaya School and St Aloysius PU College in Mangalore, he is proud of clearing the most prestigious examination of the country in his very first attempt. Karthik Kashyap is the son of Mangalore Mayor M Shankar Bhat.
‘Civil service culture’
Kashyap terms the keenness some of the northern states show in the central services as “the culture of civil service”.
“There is a culture of civil service in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which we lack in the coastal belt. For the ones in northern states, getting into a government job is a ‘must’. It has become a part of their culture,” Kashyap observed.
Perseverance
He, who always stood at the top in academics from his very childhood, owes his success to his commitment to the goal and perseverance, and the support from his family as well as friends.
He said he studied at least 10 hours a day for an year as a preparation for the civil service exam. “I completed my BE on June 6, 2007, and by June 10, I was in Delhi. I did not look back; began preparing for the exam seriously. I was confident enough to make it to the civil service, and now my dream has come true,” he said.
Beginning from the NCERT books, I read all the possible materials I could gather, he said who also got trained in a private coaching centre in New Delhi. He said he had done the basic preparations while he was pursuing his engineering degree itself. History was the optional, he chose for the preliminary test; he opted History and Public Administration for the mains. “I had a deep interest in History and naturally it was my first choice. Since I had an affinity to civil service, I thought it would be better to select Public Administration. Its knowledge is essential for my career also,” he said.
‘Looking for IPS’
Though Kashyap thinks that he can get into Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he is more interested in Indian Police Service (IPS). He said his family wanted him to be in the IAS but he has more fascination towards the IPS.