News : IAS looks hotter as economy melts

When it is the month of May, the heat is on for everyone thanks to the mid-summer madness. But for several IAS aspirants, it is a pressure-filled month as they will write the exam that decides their destiny.

With the Preliminaries of the Union Public Service Examination fast approaching, the civil service aspirants are busy with their last leg of preparations for the exam scheduled for May 17. Be it economic recession or the phenomenal increase in the pay-cheques of salaries in the Sixth Pay Commission, aspirants are taking the exam a lot more seriously.

When contacted, a faculty member of a leading institute in the city, Hari Prasad said, “The number of applicants for the UPSC examination this year has seen a rise of 42 per cent — up from last year’s figure of 2.8 lakh to around 4.1 lakh.”

Some other faculty members explained that apart from the recession factor intertwined with the Six Pay Commission’s perks, there is a sense of heightened insecurity among many which is prompting them to take this exam seriously. Private sector jobs are not as appealing as they used to be thanks to the slowdown.

They also added that the increase in the number of applicants is corresponding to that of the increase in the intake. The intake was 425 in 2007, which has now been increased to 881.

Take the case of a software employee Sashi Kumar, who hails from Bihar. Despite having a job on hand, he is dead serious about clearing the preliminary exam.

“I have a job with an MNC. Yet I’m not satisfied with and moreover the kind of service we can render being an IAS officer is a major driving force,” Sashi said. He added that even if he doesn’t crack the exam this time, he would prefer a job in an NGO or any other social service organisation to the IT sector.

Many Civils aspirants are practicing online mock tests, sample question papers with answers and exam tips offered by many web portals.

In the wake of the negative marking in the exam, which was not there in the previous editions of the exam, students are in no mood to take any chances. “The thought that I would lose one-third of the marks, if I write a wrong answer is giving me sleepless nights. But the alluring factor of this exam is the increase in the number of posts,” said Jaiwantika Sharma, who is taking the exam for the first time.

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad District Collector Navin Mittal maintained that the district administration has taken sufficient measures to facilitate smooth conduct of the exam. “Around 21,000 candidates would be appearing from the Hyderabad centre. We have identified 56 well-furnished sub-centres all over the city keeping the increase in the number of candidates in mind,” Mittal, who is also in-charge of the conduct of UPSC exam in Hyderabad district, told Expresso.

Courtesy:- Express Buzz