New Delhi: Economist Sanjeev Sanyal’s remarks last week that India’s civil service examinations were “a waste of time” have not gone down well with serving and aspiring civil servants, with some even viewing the comments as “elite”.
While speaking on entrepreneur Siddhartha Ahluwalia’s podcast Neon Show last week, Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), said the popularity of the Union Public Service Commission’s civil service examinations — often considered India’s most difficult — “reflects limited aspirations”.
“Although it’s (becoming a civil servant) better than being a goon, even that is a poverty of aspiration. I mean, at the end of it, why even… if you must dream, surely you should dream to be Elon Musk or Mukesh Ambani. Why did you dream to be joint secretary? You’re not dreaming of being Sachin and Binny Bansal of Flipkart. Yeah, so that’s the point I’m making,” he said, adding that “too many young kids” were wasting their time trying to crack the exam.
Serving civil servants and UPSC aspirants ThePrint spoke to disagreed with this view, with some saying that for many Indian youngsters, private jobs were a luxury they could little afford.
“…if they don’t want us to waste time on UPSC, then what is the alternative? There are thousands of people in India with start-up ideas, thousands who want to make movies or win medals in the Olympics, but there aren’t enough options or even support systems,” said 27-year-old Suraj Sharma, who’s currently preparing for the UPSC exams at Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, a major hub for UPSC coaching in the national capital.
Jitin Yadav, a 2016-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, agreed, saying that Indian youths pick UPSC and other government examinations for their “well-defined system”.
“There’s an exam, you prepare for it, you either qualify or you don’t. You know what needs to be done,” he said, adding that in the private sector, “there is no clarity and defined system about how to get jobs”.
“It’s only in a few good institutions that you get placements but what about the rest? You’ll be in a state of imbroglio,” Yadav said.
But Sanyal’s views also drew support from various quarters, with some calling for systemic reforms.
Nothing wrong with what @sanjeevsanyal said.
Either way, UPSC needs one critical reform (IMHO). For top four to five services, only aspirants with a minimum formal work experience of three years must be considered. Will filter out a lot of folks who are merrily wasting time. https://t.co/hwNRMY5TPt
— Tushar Gupta (@Tushar15_) March 26, 2024
Just leaving it here pic.twitter.com/wnHkbDvTVY
— GAAMI (@Nothi43) March 26, 2024
Another poster said Sanyal was “spot on”.
💥@sanjeevsanyal is spot on in this podcast.
Youngsters who can do wonders are being wasted in mugging up for exams with not much real output. Administration is moving towards minimum government model anyways.
Every human born is a huge potential as a kid. British Classroom… https://t.co/7YAQobLyMd
— Dr. Shah (@ankitatIIMA) March 26, 2024
According to Vijendra Chauhan, an associate professor at Delhi University who’s frequently part of mock interview panels at various UPSC coaching centres, while Sanyal makes a pertinent point, he fails to mention the root causes of the UPSC trend: policy issues and the lack of adequate jobs.
“This ‘poverty of aspirations’, like economic poverty, is a product of the system and its policies. It is incumbent upon policies to nurture a diversity of dreams. You can’t reap fruits if you sow weeds,” he said, adding that given the state of the economy, “even IIT and IIM graduates are now rushing for government jobs”.
The Bureaucrats India, a network of IAS officers, also struck a discordant note, asking Sanyal to “reconsider” his views.
“Bureaucrats are not merely cogs in the machinery of governance; they are the architects of a better tomorrow. In the nooks and crannies of our nation, they toil tirelessly to ensure that the wheels of democracy turn smoothly. They are the unsung heroes who work behind the scenes, ensuring that every citizen’s voice is heard and every need is addressed,” the association said in their official statement.
Dear Mr Sanjeev Sanyal,
We respect your perspective, but we urge you to reconsider the impact of your words on the dreams and aspirations of millions of Indian youth. While it's true that cracking the UPSC exam is challenging, it's also a symbol of the immense dedication and… pic.twitter.com/8WCtfWuxHL
— Bureaucrats India (@BureaucratsInd) March 26, 2024
The ‘middle class’ dream
In his interview on Neon Show, Sanyal said that while every country needs a bureaucracy, not everyone is cut out for it.
“Many of them, after having gone through it, then they get frustrated through the course of their career. In the end, life in bureaucracy is not meant for everybody. And large parts of it are largely dull and boring and (are) about passing files up and down. Unless you really wanted to do it, you’re not going to be particularly happy with it,” he said, adding that if the youth put the same energy elsewhere “we would be winning more Olympic gold medals, we will see better movies, better doctors, more entrepreneurs, more scientists, and so on”.
He repeated his statements in an X thread he posted following the backlash.
“It may come as a surprize (sic), but my view is shared by most bureaucrats (who cleared the exam at some point). An attempt or two is fine for those who really want this path, but spending your entire 20s for it this is unhealthy,” he wrote.
As mentioned, it perfectly fine to attempt the UPSC or other such exams, but only if the person wants to be an administrator. The problem is that lakhs of people are spending 5-8 years repeatedly doing this exam as a "way of life". This is such a waste of youthful energy
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) March 26, 2024
The number of aspirants taking the UPSC exams has more than doubled over the last decade to 11 lakh in 2022 from 5 lakh in 2012. The number of positions they are meant to fill up, meanwhile, has remained more or less static — 1,022 posts in 2022 as compared to 1,091 in 2012.
Sanyal’s remarks have generated a lively debate on social media, with serving bureaucrats also weighing in.
“I can assure you that no one who competes in the UPSC exam dreams of becoming a joint secretary. On the other hand, those seeking lateral entry, definitely do,” Somesh Upadhyay, a 2017-batch IAS officer from the Odisha cadre, wrote on X Tuesday. He was referring to the induction of private sector specialists in government departments on a contract basis and for a specified period.
I can assure that no one who competes in UPSC exam dreams to become a Joint Secretary. On the other hand, those seeking lateral entry, definitely do.
— Somesh Upadhyay, IAS (@Somesh_IAS) March 26, 2024
Let's divide the population into elites, middle class, and lower middle class.
For the lower middle class, the UPSC can be life-changing as it will propel them into the upper strata.
For the middle class, with access to good education, current times offer the potential to… pic.twitter.com/uPDxwZ9SZb
— Rishikesh Taksale (@rishilectual) March 26, 2024
Chandan Kumar, another aspirant, believes that for the middle class, dreaming of cracking the difficult UPSC exam is more “realistic than becoming Elon Musk or Ambani”.
“It’s true that the most productive years of our youth go into preparing for this exam. But it’s not a waste of time. Clearing this exam isn’t easy, but dreaming of becoming an Elon Musk or an Ambani is stupider,” said Kumar, who, like Sharma, is preparing for the exams at a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar.
For IAS officer Jatin Yadav, the exams were about serving the country. “And I consider my preparation days the best days of my life and not a waste of time,” he said.
This is an updated version of this report.
Also Read: Selling land, borrowing money, eating less: What UPSC coaching does to poor families