The news of the topper of civil services making it in the fifth attempt is more than commendable, as it shows the dedication of the person as well as his unrelenting perseverance. This will be a role model for several aspirants who want to make it to this most prestigious service or even a management, engineering or medical course. In fact, even the perseverance shown when pursuing the CA certification is analogous to this effort. Interestingly, as is normally the case, several coaching classes for the civil services have showcased their contribution to the success of candidates by advertising on the front pages of various newspapers.

A broader issue which is raised is that given the limited seats that are available for the courses or positions in the civil services, the number of years spent preparing for the same is very high. For example, almost 13 lakh candidates take the civil services preliminary examinations, with around 15,000 making it to the main examination. Further, a little less than 3000 are called for interviews for around 900-1000 positions.

These numbers will keep rising as a fresh set of eligible candidates join the fray and a large part of the set of candidates who have not been able to qualify take it again. The system allows them to do so 5 times with an age limit. Normally these candidates tend to work exclusively on preparing for the exams and rarely would be working elsewhere. While this may not be the case with other public examinations, the civil services endeavour is one which requires complete dedication and is hence not generally done on the side with a regular........

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