Professionals and Civil Services

25 February 2013 at 18:36 by Initiative for Competition Promotion

The issue of Professional ra!uates parti"ularly the #n ineers an! $o"tors oin for the Civil %ervi"es has al&ays attra"te! attention an! even a bit of "ensure a"ross In!ia' #ven the Parliamentary %tan!in Committee on (ome )ffairs has observe! it tantamount to &asta e of professional s*ills a"+uire! at reat "ost an! ,thro&in the fun!s spent on the "an!i!ates- professional e!u"ation !o&n the !rain,' I am rather surprise! to see virtually the same ar uments bein repeate! ad verbatim no& in .ashmir after the latest I)% results in &hi"h four people from valley/ $r %hah Faisal0 $r 1mair0 $r 2ayees an! $r %ho&*at +ualifie! for the servi"e' In"i!entally all of them happen to be professionals' 3ast year also three people from the state/ #r Imtiya40 $r 2a hav 3an er0 $r %hahi! I+bal &ho 5oine! In!ian Civil servi"es &ere from professional ba"* roun!' Four or five people from %tate &ho 5oine! In!ian Forest %ervi"es in re"ent past are a ain from professional ba"* roun!' I !on6t have the e7a"t statisti"s about the number of professionals 5oinin the %tate Civil %ervi"es 8.)%90 but they "ertainly outnumber the people &ith re ular a"a!emi" ba"* roun!' There &ere many voi"es a ainst the so/"alle! internal brain !rain an! several "omments &ere presente! : some of them severe on our alle e! mis!emeanor 8of !esertin the profession9; I suppose all these people are marre! by a myopi" vie&'The first ar ument is that after havin obtaine! professional !e rees they are ettin into the I)%<.)% !ue to &hi"h these seats are lost to those &ho &oul! have pursue! en ineerin or me!i"al or other professional "areers' %e"on!0 the money spent by the =overnment on provi!in a subsi!i4e! professional e!u"ation is &aste!' In every bat"h of #n ineers or $o"tors pro!u"e! in state a !e"ent per"enta e o abroa!0 many o in for hi her stu!ies &ithin the state or other parts of the "ountry0 fe& lu"*y ones et the P%C "onfirmation an! the rest are ren!ere! 5obless' >e have seen en ineers 5oinin ban*s an! !o"tors see*in Rehbere-Taleem. %o0 many of those not in the "ivil servi"es are not in 5obs relate! to their fiel!s: &oul! this also be "alle! &asta e? >hen a !o"tor or en ineer oes abroa! &e use! to "all it brain !rain' @o& &e "all it brain ain an! are prou! of our ne& hero: the @2. &ith !ollars in his po"*et' Compare! to the @2.0 a professional 5oinin the "ivil servi"es is able to ma*e a more !ire"t an! lastin "ontribution to the nation an! to nation/buil!in ' To!ay0 the @2. professional is an assetA the resi!ent professional &ho staye! ba"* to &or* for the oo! of his nation is a !rain on its resour"es' %ome lo i"; Thir!0 the notion that "ivil servi"es are meant for liberal arts or history ra!uates or B' %" ra!uate stu!ents has lon been rubbishe!' To!ay-s "ivil servant has a very "omple70

even te"hni"al 5ob on han!' #n ineers in the I)% have been ma*in sterlin "ontributions &ithin the =overnment : espe"ially in te"hnolo y relate! areas' )s re ar!s +uality0 a +ui"* loo* of a!mission to various "ourses is revealin ' The number of people optin for s"ien"e sub5e"ts is hi hest at the C2 level0 perhaps be"ause of our so"iety-s obsession &ith en ineerin an! me!i"ine' )fter the 12th stan!ar! e7ams best amon s"ien"e stu!ents flo"* to the "ourses li*e De!i"ine an! #n ineerin ' @o& by sayin that professional in the "ivil servi"es are a !rain &e are virtually sayin that the best stu!ents shoul! not enter our publi" servi"es; Ef "ourse it "an be ar ue! that e7ams !o not reveal true the potentialA that many brilliant stu!ents &ithout fa"ilities<tuition are unable to "ompete' But0 these are entirely separate issues that nee! to be !ealt &ith on a !ifferent footin ' )s lon as e7ams an! mar*s are use! to !e"i!e merit &e have to a"*no&le! e them as a measurin s"ale' %o0 ho& professionals "an possibly re!u"e the +uality of inta*e beats me' The last ar ument is that professionals usually opt for #n ineerin <%"ien"e<Daths for their optional papers0 &hi"h are s"orin 0 an! so have an unfair a!vanta e' But the fa"t is professionals "ra"*in "ivil servi"es e7am usually opt for at least one arts paper: %o"iolo y0 Psy"holo y0 1r!u an! Publi" )!ministration0 #"onomi"s et"' Fuality0 sheer +uality0 is rarely !efeate! by artful : or for that matter : artless ma"hinations; In the spe"ifi" "onte7t of &hether our !o"tors or en ineers shoul! 5oin the servi"e0 the assertion of &ealth of talent an! s*ill0 "arefully nurture! bein G&aste!6 in the "ivil servi"es0 an! that these servi"es "an be manne! by Glesser mortals6 or the G eneralists seems o!! to me' (o& surprisin that a servi"e that is hi hly value! in terms of the potential "ontribution it "an ma*e to the mana ement an! overnan"e0 shoul! be "onsi!ere! inappropriate for the s*ille! an! the talente!' I &oul! thin* it is here that their servi"es &oul! be re+uire! the most for the reater "ommon oo!' The e7pansion in the !uties of the overnment ma*es it imperative that the "ivil servi"es are manne! by people &ith "aliber' )fter all0 the stan!ar! of a!ministration !epen!s on the people appointe! to these very responsible posts' It mi ht even be sai! 8&ithout bein flippant9 that it is the !uty of talente! youn persons to serve the nation'

From the an le of the so"iety also0 professionals in "ivil servi"es "an brin about "ross/ fertilisation of talents to the enri"hment of the vibran"y an! resilien"e of publi" servi"e as a &hole' It has "ertainly a lot to !o &ith some of the +ualities asso"iate! &ith the traine! min! of the professionals/pre"ision0 mastery of !etail0 sense of perfe"tion0 lo i"al analysis0 fo"us on the essentials an! result/orientation' They "an un!erstan! te"hni"al aspe"ts of s"hemes better0 "on!u"ive to more effe"tive implementation' In "ivil servi"es they have the opportunity !ire"tly to influen"e the =overnment on a &i!e variety of problems an! issues0 an! emer e as broa!ban! personalities sooner' )n! &e must realise that there ou ht to be spa"e for every !is"ipline &ithin the "ivil servi"es even if the nee! to have professionals of all hues enterin it has never been reater than it is no&'

The apparent intelle"tual !is!ain of the "ivil servi"es is perhaps "ause! by some of our o&n inse"urities0 espe"ially in institutions of hi her learnin ' In"i!entally all those &ho happen to ta*e the vie& a ainst professional 5oinin "ivil servi"es are from routine a"a!emi"s' $oesn6t it in!ire"tly put a +uestion mar* on their o&n "re!ibility?

By the &ay ho& many $r %hah Faisal60 $r 1mairs6 $r %ho&*at6s or #r Imtiya46s &e have sen! to these servi"es in the past? ) fe& professionals optin for these servi"es shoul! not soun! alarmin ' 3et6s hope more an! more people from our valley et into these servi"es so that these pseu!o/"riti+ues really have a point to ma*e'