More than 200 candidates who'd cleared UPSC in 2023 and 2024 did so again to improve their rank. This time, they are not getting congratulations online.
As the 2026 cadre policy determines allocations for 25 state cadres, parallel state bureaucracies operate under different rules with no all-India dimension.
We select individuals capable of becoming Formula One drivers. Then we give them rickety Maruti 800s on potholed roads and expect championship lap times.
India’s civil services were once called the ‘steel frame’. But steel is forged in fire, not moulded in a coaching class. While dilution has made the exam easier, it has also made it harder to find the game-changers we need.
The story of UPSC isn’t just that of an exam but about how India defines merit, opportunity and fairness. Over the last 100 years, its journey has been one of constant churn, reforms and resets.
The new and improved Pratibha Setu portal isn’t just a lifeline for UPSC candidates. It also offers ministries, PSUs, and private companies a database of talented individuals.
The current Iran war has laid bare a fundamental reality: 20 per cent of global energy trade cannot afford to rely on a single artery, no matter how resilient and cost-effective.
Regulator seeks feedback on allowing firms to repurchase shares via exchanges after tax changes, as markets reel from war-led selloff and foreign outflows.
It’s easy to understand why the government can’t speak the hard truth. When this war ends, as all wars do, India’s interests will lie with both the winner and the loser.
Sanjeev Sanyal makes a deeper point, which is in line with how society transforms as it develops. We should be cautious not to misconstrued it as an attack on civil services.
Civil services by nature are public services and therefore an aspirant’s motivation to join, must stem from a genuine spirit of service (seva bhav). Therefore, we must question if this is indeed the spirit which eggs most aspirants in India or is it the lure of power and social status – anachronistic feudal tendencies which began with the British Raj’s administrative service and its style of governance in the sub-continent.
In advanced nations, with institutionalised rules, most civil servant jobs now are mundane and administrative. Though these too had started off centuries ago as sinecures from political patronage. The lure of these positions transformed as societies modernized and access to public services ceased to become a function of a citizen’s personal network.
So too will and is happening in India. It is inevitable and is a good thing. Sanjeev Sanyal is correct and forward looking when he suggests that the best brains in the country must pursue innovation and growth, instead of blindly pursuing feudalistic power dynamics.
Sanjeev Sanyal makes a deeper point, which is in line with how society transforms as it develops. We should be cautious not to misconstrued it as an attack on civil services.
Civil services by nature are public services and therefore an aspirant’s motivation to join, must stem from a genuine spirit of service (seva bhav). Therefore, we must question if this is indeed the spirit which eggs most aspirants in India or is it the lure of power and social status – anachronistic feudal tendencies which began with the British Raj’s administrative service and its style of governance in the sub-continent.
In advanced nations, with institutionalised rules, most civil servant jobs now are mundane and administrative. Though these too had started off centuries ago as sinecures from political patronage. The lure of these positions transformed as societies modernized and access to public services ceased to become a function of a citizen’s personal network.
So too will and is happening in India. It is inevitable and is a good thing. Sanjeev Sanyal is correct and forward looking when he suggests that the best brains in the country must pursue innovation and growth, instead of blindly pursuing feudalistic power dynamics.