STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The number of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from Assam that have been selected for posting across the country during the period from 1951 to 2020 is abysmally low – a mere 1.1%. Such is the situation that at present, there are only four IAS officers from Assam, one of whom is Chief Secretary, Government of Assam, Paban Kumar Borthakur.
The last time an IAS aspirant from Assam cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam was Dibakar Nath in 2016. Since then, no other IAS aspirant from the State has cleared this exam. Assam and Meghalaya have a joint cadre of IAS officers and the sanctioned strength of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre is 263 IAS officers. Assam has been poor in churning out IAS officers and as a result, IAS officers from other states are looking after the administrative system of the State. The way things are going, there will be no IAS officer from Assam among the country’s top bureaucracy.
During the period from 1951-2020, a total of 5,255 IAS officers have been posted in various parts of the country. Among them, only 1.1% are from Assam (through direct recruitment). If we look at the percentage of other states, Uttar Pradesh is the top state as the country got a total of 15.8% IAS officers from Uttar Pradesh during 1951-2020, followed by Bihar (10.7%) and Rajasthan (7.5%).
Between 2017-2021, Assam has produced only one IAS officer. During the same time, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with the highest recruitment – 129 IAS officers, followed by Rajasthan (98), Maharashtra (80), Tamil Nadu (60) and Haryana (54).
So why is Assam lagging behind in producing IAS officers? Why are IAS aspirants from the State unable to crack the UPSC competitive exam?
Recently, with the objective of encouraging more and more youths of the State to appear for the UPSC exam, the Director General of Police’s (DGP) office had distributed books and booklets among various libraries of the State. On the other hand, the State Innovation & Transformation Aayog (SITA) has decided to start five UPSC coaching centres across the State. There is already a UPSC coaching centre being run by the Assam Government.
According to former Chief Secretary, Government of Assam, Jishnu Baruah, only 6%-8% candidates clear the UPSC exam in their first attempt. “More than 80% candidates clear the exam in their second, third or fourth attempt. Another trend has been observed that majority of the engineers who get selected are from IITs (Indian Institute of Technology). Most of the IAS candidates who get selected are from engineering background followed by medical students and candidates with humanities, pure science, commerce and law etc.,” said Jishnu Baruah.
He further said, “To prepare for the UPSC prelims exam, it is not necessary to go through a vast reading list; only 5-6 base books are enough. Study for at least 12 hours daily with equal weightage to all papers. Make notes and brief summary of points. This makes it easier for revision and provides writing practice. While writing exam, time management is of paramount importance.”
He added that at least 4-5 months should be spent in preparing for the UPSC prelims exam. “Don’t hesitate, study help books for all subjects,” he said.
The former bureaucrat said that most IAS aspirants give up after failing to clear the exam in the first attempt. “Keep trying. Candidates who belong to the General category can appear for six times in the IAS exam while there is no restriction for SC/ST candidates and OBC candidates can appear for a maximum of nine times,” he said.
It has been observed that IAS aspirants from Assam prefer to go to Delhi or Kota to prepare for the USPC exams. This is perhaps because educational institutions in Assam lack a conducive environment for preparing for such a competitive exam. Maybe the youths of our State lack the competitive spirit and motivation needed while preparing for this exam. Most of them have a preconceived notion that the UPSC exam is very tough to crack and so they do not want to appear for this exam.
Whatever be the reason, it is a fact that if Assam does not start producing more IAS officers, in the near future there will be no Assamese IAS officers in the corridors of power. Although there is nothing against IAS officers from other states who are serving here, some local issues can be better dealt with by IAS officers from the State as they are more emotionally connected with such issues.
The focus of all stakeholders, including the government, should therefore be on increasing the number of IAS officers produced from the State.
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