We can achieve

Civil Services..... We can achieve…. The Tips

Dr.G.T. Kumaragururajan MBBS, PhD

Medical officer, Corporation of Chennai 

                                                                                                                               and Civil service aspirant

(Went up to Interview level both in UPSC and TNPSC).

From time immemorial, every man's aim was to exercise control over his dominion of authority. It was the singular imperial effort of Europeans and Arabs that led to the colonial expansion and later exploitation of the hitherto third world countries. This uncontrolled exercise of imperial authority led to large scale devastation and exploitation in the form of war and armed rebellion against the rulers by the ruled. The age that followed was no different. Many futile attempts were later made to streamline such indiscriminate exercise of power. In India, the Britishers enjoyed enormous and unfettered powers in multivarious disciplines and it was a long fought struggle before indianisation of superior civil services was introduced.

Civil services in India remained largely at the mercy of British lords till the idea of establishment of public services commission was suggested by the Montague Chelmsford report which reflected in the Govt. of India act of 1919. The first public service commission was set up on 1^st October 1926. Later the Federal Public Service Commission was established under the Government of India Act 1935.

Ever since India attained independence, the Federal Public Service Commission was rechristened to be called as Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). UPSC is the supreme constitutional authority to recruit civil servants. It is extremely autonomous body of experts chosen from amongst persons with remarkable integrity and long standing experience in the faculty of administration at various levels of the hierarchy. Consequently state public service commissions and provincial public service commissions were established.

Why civil services…..?

Many of us may think as to why people are interested in studying civil services. In fact it is the only platform in which a person may, in an overnight’s time, improve upon his present position drastically to insurmountable heights. An IAS or an IPS officer command so much respect in the society and  often people regard it as an extremely difficult task to become one and that it requires lots of monetary and muscle power. In reality, it is not so. In fact it is the one of the few instances where systematic hard work succeeds irrespective of the social and economic status. Civil servants have this extremely rare opportunity to work in such a situation where responsibility commensurate with the authority, channelizing the entire process leading to public welfare and sustainable development.

System of examination …..

UPSC conducts the examination for civil services in three phases as Preliminary examination, Main examination and Interview. Preliminary examination is basically with multiple choice questions which have two papers namely a compulsory general studies paper and one optional paper. There is negative marking for both GS and optional paper. Main examination involves theory type questions containing short answers and long answers .Here there are two optional subjects, GS papers and essay paper apart from two qualifying papers. Interview is held by various boards constituted by UPSC from time to time, headed by its members.

How to go about it…..?

Preparation for this highly coveted service requires extremely careful planning and systematic hard work right from the beginning. First, one has to make up the mind as to whether he wants to become a civil servant. This is an extremely important step because, the entire array of events namely preparation, examination and the time component involved must be borne in mind. It is a relatively time consuming process and requires lots of perseverance and the quality of perseverance in itself is a “trade mark” feature of a civil servant.

The next important step is to when to start preparing and how to prepare. Always we say earlier, the better! Preparation and background work must start by the second year of graduation at least. The candidate must cultivate of habit of accalamitasation to the habit of preparation. Guidance from seniors who were successful or who are on the road to success may go a long way in the preparation.

Last but not the least is the careful selection of optional subjects. The choice of optional subjects varies with both the individual and also the period in which the candidate appears for the examination. Usually a candidate chooses his subject of study in undegraduation or post graduation as his optional subject. But this choice can also be made according to the ability of the candidate to understand and grasp the subject and the most preferred optional during the period of examination.

Thus civil services is one of the most sought after career for lakhs and lakhs of prospective aspirants who wish to improve upon their status in a relatively short span of time and at the same time gain the rare opportunity to formulate policies that govern our country and participate in the most crucial part of public welfare.

So folks go ahead! Choose civil services as your career! Serve the public interest and protect the national trust. Jai hind!!!

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