The Career opportunity in IAS

 

            The great scientist Marie Curie used to say and practice– “every person comes to the world with a task written for her or him and must strive to accomplish it.”

 

Carrier consideration is the main plank of education of the present day. It is possible to choose and pursue a career of one’s choice if there is determination for hard work. All India Services offers one such career where rewards in terms of job satisfaction and possibilities of bringing about social change are enormous. Especially for those who can think of a task carved out for them in bringing about social change and are ready to strive for it.

 

Every year the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) conducts nation-wide examinations to choose nearly five hundred candidates who will later on fan out in the whole of the country to manage government responsibilities of the highest order. They may be officers of Indian Administrative Service or Foreign Service or Police Service. They may be sent to manage Forests, Income Tax, Custom Collections, Defence establishments, Ordinance factories, Accounts, Railways, Telecom engineering  & so on. True, the number of candidates recruited per year has gone down from around one thousand some thirty years back to nearly three hundred in the wake of privatization. Yet the need for integrated services of All India character will continue to remain.

 

Most of the All India Service jobs have two main aspects – one is regulatory, the other is policy formulation. Both require skills of Management, Resource planning, and the understanding of social and technological polity.

 

Coming specifically to the Indian Administrative Service, or the IAS, this service offers the maximum job variety and understanding of the social mileau in the deepest sense. Of course, it is a tough career and the competition to come in this service is tough too .

 

According to latest statistics, nearly three and half lakh candidates filled up form for the examination in 2003, out of which only sixty per cent i.e. nearly 2 lakh took the preliminary examination.  Out of these only six thousand were selected for final exam and only four hundred were selected for all the All India Services put together, among which there were only seventy for the IAS.  Thus it is obvious that the selection process is very tough.  Still the rewards of getting selected are very fulfilling.

 

Talking specifically of women IAS officers of Maharashtra cadre, one finds the list extremely impressive.  The first woman IAS of Maharashtra was Smt Malti Tambe Vaidya who worked as Revenue Secretary in Maharashtra and finally as
Chairman of National Film ____________.  Dr. Shanta Shastri served as Secretary to GOI for  Indian System of Medicines.  Smt. Bansal contributed to shaping up the future of children of the country in capacity of Secretary of Elementary Education to Govt. of India while Smt. Chandra did the same in Govt. of Maharashtra.  Smt. Sohoni  looks after the General Administration.  Smt. Gokhale became the first lady IAS Collector when she was posted in Kolhapur Distt.  Smt. Sanjivani managed the Censor Board, Smt. Mehendale, the first lady Divisional Commissioner in Nashik,  Smt. Bagchi took care of tourism, Smt. Satyanarayana for Civil Supplies and Smt. Zutshi of finances.  This amply shows, how various lady officers in IAS are contributing to major policies and running of administration and governance.  Even the illustrious IPS officers like Smt. Borwankar are doing proud to Maharashtra.

 

The preparation for this examination is quite elaborate and arduous.  From the date of getting a form from UPSC to the date of result, it takes two years.

 

The job of IAS, IPS and other senior Govt. officers is also quite tough.  It involves long hours of duty and being available for all emergencies like cyclones, earthquake, drought, floods, accidents, election, war, etc.  So a question is often asked – how good is it for women.

 

Here is a sad experience.  In my first year of IAS service, I was on training with the Tahsildar of Haveli under Pune Collectorate.  One day, an elderly head clerk brought his daughter’s wedding invitation. When enquired about her I was told that she had been selected in UPSC written examination and was called for viva but a choice came whether to go for viva or to say good bye to UPSC and go for marriage. She had to forgo her career at the  demand of the would-be father-in-law.  I only hope that the lady may now be looking after their family business and thus pursuing a career of her own rather than just  remaining confined within the house.

 

As against this, my own experience was quite opposite and quite exciting.  I always had support from my in-laws  as well as from parental house.  This meant being able to work through long and odd hours whenever needed.

 

For a working lady, especially when she is occupying a responsible post, some constraints are bound to be there which are generally not felt by the male colleagues, especially in terms of children’s health, emotional support system and upbringing. Often  they are used against giving more meaningful posts to lady officers. The most commonly perceived constraints are : lady officers may not be able to put in hard work, may not adjust with politicians and politicking. There is always the glass-ceiling effect – which means women officers will never be given postings of real value and responsibility. The perception is that they may not be able to manage both house and office, may have disadvantage for not being able to participate in late night cocktail parties.  Even if some of these constraints may be there for person to person, I have not seen women officers particularly suffering from them.  On the other hand, any good work done by them especially in field posting, catches the public eye and attention more quickly and the respect they command for such a work is worth all the hard work and trouble.

 

It however remains a fact that if someone remains concerned about transfers, about not being always accommodated in desired city or region, if one wants senior level responsibilities but not the necessary learning which is required  to cope up with them; in short if one is looking for soft jobs, then maybe the IAS or the Central Services are not for them.

 

As for future trends, since the globalization and privatization is set in, the role of governance will be shifting towards regulatory issues, social sectors and consumer protection against malpractices. There will also be major role for strategic planning to safeguard the nation's interests from the aggressions of other countries coming through trade and services rather than from wars as in past. Officers will remain  more busy with better policy formulation, modernization, crime reduction, efficiency, transparency and accountability.  This has still remained a big challenge. Hence, anyone aspiring to make the IAS as a career, will be able to contribute towards a better governance if one can develop a proper tuning with the common masses and their socio-cultural dreams and aspirations.  That is a reward more than a career.

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