Jitendra Singh proposes initiative to help women prepare for civil services exam

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday proposed a special training initiative on the lines of 'Women Super 30' group to help them prepare for the civil services examination.

He has asked Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani to work out a plan in this regard, according to an official statement.

The proposal was mooted during a video conference interaction with the faculty of Mussoorie-based Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) -- the country's premier training institute for civil servants.

During the interaction, Irani and other officials of the ministry were briefed about the activities of National Gender Centre at LBSNAA and the possibilities of further collaboration on women and child issues, the statement said.

"Jitendra Singh appealed to the Women and Child Development Minister to work out a plan on the lines of 'Women Super 30' group so that they could be trained for civil services exam in a focussed manner," it said.

Super 30 is a training programme run by Patna-based scholar Anand Kumar. As part of the programme, he trains 30 deserving, economically-backward students for IIT-JEE entrance exams every year.

During the video interaction, Singh said women are excelling in the civil services exam and for the last few years they have been among the toppers.

Women candidates topped the exam for three consecutive years, the Union minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions said.

In 2014, it was Ira Sehgal from Delhi, Tina Dabi in 2015 and Nandini from Karnataka in 2016, he added.

Singh said women candidate toppers and women candidate pass-outs have also contributed to making the demography of civil service exams pan-India. Till few years ago, the list of successful civil services candidates was confined to a few states, while many other states went unrepresented.

In the Mussoorie academy, he said, while around 20 to 23 per cent probationers are women candidates, women constitute a significant parts of the faculty there.

Singh also hailed the social activities undertaken by the faculty members, including conducting classes for needy children.

He noted with appreciation that even during the corona pandemic these classes were not interrupted and held online.