In spite of the liberalisation of the Indian economy which has opened up so many avenues of quality employment, an IAS berth still appeals to a large number of young Indians. For a select few like Manjunath, it becomes the be all and end all of their lives. Is there need for greater sensitisation of IAS aspirants? Can counselling play a role? IAS officer Dr Raja Sekhar Vundru joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue.
Q. Is it the respect you derive 0r change you can bring or the money you can make if you are a corrupt officer that makes people want an IAS so bad? Asked by: joel jose
A. It is the respect the IAS officer makes. It is an eminent position in the society and the position that can contribute the nation in any post. Corrupt officers are looked down upon.
Q. Do you think the 3 stages of examination should be reduced so that aspirants have other avenues to go to in case of failure to clear IAS? Asked by: Manish
A. 3 stages are the beauty of this exam, which actually test your patience and abilities. Lot of us try simultaneously for other jobs also.
Q. Should the trend of "all or nothing" applicable in UPSC examination be stopped? Can the performance in UPSC CSE be extended to appointment to PSU's? Asked by: Manish
A. Interesting question and a very good way forward. Sometimes PSUs need specialised persons. Yet a good idea for another Committee to look into expanding the job opportunities through a single exam.
Q. More than the craze of IAS, this shows the attitude of the younger generation who do not know how to cope up with and accept failure. Why are they pretending to their own families and to themselves? Is it not better to face the truth/reality? Asked by: sakuntala
A. IAS exam sometimes takes a toll of one's ability to cope up with the up and downs. I have seen people in JNU who have appeared the interview and failing in the prelims next time.Yes there should be no pretensions. But sometimes it is the candidates who raise the hope of parents which is wrong. Candidates should really analyse their failures to crack the exam in nest attempt.
Q. The statistics show that increasing number of Civil servants are today from Engineering, Medicine and MBA backgrounds. What makes you say then that its a dream of rural youth only? There are more than 15-20 people from IIMs who cracked it this year itself. Asked by: NS
A. If you see the trend it is not the IITs only who are clearing the exam...it is the small engineering college persons who are doing well. One can also see that even within these Engineering and MBBS and MBA candidates 65% are from rural background. This is the report of LBSNAA Mussoorie of the last 5 batches. Most interesting is that out of all women 90-85 percent are from a rural background.So the analysis is that the rural background youth aspires more that the elite.
Q. Shouldn't UPSC be more proactive and transparent in releasing keys, publishing marks after Prelims and Mains rather than making the candidates wait one full year? Asked by: Sandeep
A. I think they do about the prelims by releasing the key. But the Mains exam has two components Written and Interview, which makes them release marks together. Yes I agree that if written marks are released early they might help those who are not qualified for interview to get on preparing well. But I don't think there is too much of a gap of time about that.
Q. Is there a shortage of IAS personnel in the force today? would it help if the Govt increased the strength of various IAS channels? Asked by: joel jose
A. The requirement of IAS officers is always concurrently evaluated and estimated based on which state governments send their requirement. I think there is no such shortage unless a state government miscalculates and creates too many districts at one go, then there might be a shortage of Collector and other level officers.
Q. Even after Delhi HC and CIC directives, UPSC has failed to divulge information regarding question wise marks in mains examination. Do you think such secrecy and possible hints of malpractice increases the apprehension in aspirants and finally leads to steps like suicide? Asked by: Manish
A. I have an idea of how evaluation goes on. Even universities do not give Q wise marks, why should one ask UPSC.One should understand that there is a standard key for every answer which the person who sets the Q paper indicates. Broadly marks are awarded based on the key. One should realise that IAS exam is a competitive exam and not an exam for academic excellence.
Q. How are the other services apart from IAS, IPS, IFS and revenue? Like ICLS,Railways, Indian trade service etc. Your views Asked by: NS1
A. Well IAS is a generalised administrative job and facilitates policy. Other services specialise...so one can have a reasonable satisfaction serving in all other services...but IAS is the main coordinator in way as they formulate the policies.
Q. What kind of reforms you think should be done in the functioning of our bureaucrats. Do you stand by the view that they should be given necessary autonomy to avoid the political interference? Asked by: Rajiv
A. Political interference is not always negative. It is a force of the democracy. Yes, if the tenures are protected, IAS can deliver better.
Q. Problem is the dark nature of UPSC where u never realize what had actually gone wrong.I had appeared in 2010 without much study and scored 1098.2011 i had studied thoroughly and my marks had actually reduced.I don't know why even after a lot of analysis. This makes you feel helpless. Asked by: Rajarshi Dasgupta
A. I am with you on your ups and downs. This is part of life. But sometimes your answers have to be matching the question. Just analyse what was the Q and check your answers. You will the answer to your Q.
Q. IAS has become synonymous as a position for power and corruption in India. Politician/bureaucrat nexus ensures both loot the nation together. Everyday there are news with IAS having 800-900 crores kept in toilets or bedsheets. People now covet IAS not for serving the nation but to loot the nation. What do you think? Asked by: TrueIndian
A. What you have seen about huge corruption in IAS are very rare cases and horrible cases of greed and power. Like all strata of society we have black sheep in IAS also. But the youth of the nation wants to serve but not loot. I hope things change for the better. The power of the nation lies with people and the democracy.
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