Ahmedabad, March 15:
Candidates from Gujarat are finally breaking the jinx of not performing at Civil Services. Forget the ones and twos in the past, this year 30 students have cleared the Mains. However, clearing the Mains is just the first important step; there are more rigorous tests ahead and aspirants from Gujarat are known to falter in them. However, with so many students clearing the Mains this year, the IAS Training Centre at Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) [spipa.gujarat.gov.in] which trained them feels quite a few have the chance.

Till now, very few Gujarati aspirants have been clearing the Union Public Service Commision exams. But, thanks to a resolve by state-government run IAS Training Centre at Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) to perform better, for the first time in the fifteen years since it was set up, the Centre has registered a record number of 30 students clearing Mains, 20 of them belonging to SC/ST category. After a dismal performance last year, Chief Secretary S G Mankad conducted a review and instructed the IAS centre to reform into a more result-oriented institute.

“We undertook a number of reformative measures to fuel an increase in the number of aspirants clearing the competition. We got them the best faculty, some from Delhi who are known figures in IAS training,’’ said Satish Patel, Joint Director, SPIPA.

For the first time all the students were given hostel facility till the final exam so that they saved time in commuting especially aspirants like Mihir Raika, a sales tax officer from Surat. Also, while earlier the Centre banked on local faculty resources, this time more specialists, including some big names in private coaching from New Delhi, were roped into training aspirants. Sumesh Mehruwala, a personality development and communication skills specialist, was brought in to boast the candidates confidence.

The six Gujarat-cadre civil servants who came to the Centre for Foundation Training also coached the aspirants for two months. Those students who had cleared the Civil Services last year were also called in for guiding students. “We updated our reading materials, opened library for 24 hours and the result is before us. Also, considering the importance of essay writing we conducted special sessions on it,’’ Patel added.

With 23 of 30 candidates having opted Gujarati Literature as their mains subject, special lectures were conducted in Gujarati Literature, with top lecturers from Gujarat University invited for the purpose.

From 1992 till 2004-05, an average number of five students have cleared Mains. The Centre, till date, has produced an average of two civil servants each year. Out of 56 students who were trained at the IAS Training Centre at SPIPA in 2005-06 batch, 41 had managed to clear the preliminary round which was also a 15-year high for the Centre.

However, the number of girl candidates passing out did not account for an encouraging figure. Only 3 girls managed to make it to the mains round, while the number of girl-students who took coaching at the Centre was 13. “Only 2 out of 13 girls qualified the preliminary round and both managed to clear mains. Girls usually lag behind boys in terms of numbers because pertaining to several other commitments, they are not able to devote much time on preparation.

The case was not different for boys but we took several measures to make our students give their 100 percent to preparation,’’ Patel further added.

Courtesy: Indian Express

for more details about Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) visit:
http://spipa.gujarat.gov.in/iasstudy_centre.htm