More engineers qualifying for civil services is worrying

In India, the aspiration to join the civil service is shared by numerous young people. The Union Public Service Commission, a central government body, conducts the Civil Services Examination, which is open to graduates of any discipline.

Despite being one of the toughest exams globally, the allure of power, prestige, and amenities in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) drives aspirants to attempt it. IAS officers undergo extensive training followed by practical experience, culminating in positions such as District Magistrate (DM) or secretaries in ministries based on seniority.

Historically, IAS was viewed as a career for humanities graduates, but this changed as candidates from various disciplines, especially engineering, joined the aspirant pool. The number of candidates with humanities backgrounds is on the decline. From 2011 to 2020, the percentage of engineers, many of whom passed out of IITs, among selected candidates rose from 46 per cent to 65 per cent. This shift raised concerns about technocrats leaving specialised fields, potentially impacting crucial sectors.

Government’s standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law, and justice, in its 131st report titled, Review of Functioning of Recruitment Organisations of Government of India, emphasised that a considerable number of technocrats were giving up their specialised domains for the lure of becoming a civil servant. This trend, according to the committee, could potentially negatively impact other crucial sectors.

While IAS officers are essential to the Indian bureaucracy, their efficacy depends more on qualities developed during their training than on their educational background.

So, if more and more engineers are being selected for the Civil Service exam, should it be considered a matter of concern? It should be, according to what the members of the above committee think. Such concern has been raised from other quarters as well. The argument here is that if engineers and doctors do not stick to their area of study for work, it is a loss to our nation as their specialised education is wasted away and the opportunity for this specialised education could’ve been given to other deserving candidates. Another opinion is that engineering subjects score better, leading to the success of students choosing optional papers in science and engineering, giving them an unfair advantage. In fact, civil service aspirants research a lot to decide their optional subjects in order to maximise their score.

Making a law to allow students only from a few particular streams and restrict others in the career of the Civil Service is neither fair nor feasible. The best UPSC can do is ensure that the difficulty level is the same for all the candidates and that no unfair advantage is available to anyone in any manner. Those involved in developing tests for competitive examinations know that it is not an easy job. Also, it will be foolish to ask engineering students to apply only for engineering jobs. When IIT and IIM graduates can choose to be stand-up comedians and filmmakers, why can’t they choose to become IAS officers?

The interesting part is that UPSC also conducts the Indian Engineering Services Examination, which is obviously open to engineering graduates and postgraduates only.

The concern raised by the above standing committee is genuine, but no feasible solution appears to be in sight. Wouldn’t it be better for now to focus more on examination reforms to select the best fit for our civil services as well as job creation and equipping our young population to become employable? One such reform was to allow the use of Hindi and many other Indian languages in this examination, which has led to more candidates from the hinterlands qualifying for a service that has remained elitist for a long time.

(The writer is a human resource development professional.)