Vedajyoti Ozah of Houston, Texas, has embarked upon the - Posoowa

2
Dreams have Wings!
Fervent desires most often have
wings that make one soar higher
and higher to achieve those goals
and aspirations. Wings that is so strong
that they can withstand the hardship of
years of struggle and sacrifices. Family,
friends and well-wishers usually provide
the wind beneath these strong wings
with their unwavering support...
The All India Civil Services are made
of such fervent desires and dreams.
Lakhs of students and professionals
from all over India toil away year after
year hoping to crack it. Some lucky
ones make it in a year or two and some
take up to 4 years or even more to
appear in the final list. But they make it
nonetheless with their sheer hard work,
immense patience and dogged
determination.
However, what is interesting to note
from the results in the recent years is
that joining the Civil Services is predominantly
a middle class dream
nurtured by students from small towns,
tehsils, under-privileged backgrounds,
economically backward areas,
vernacular mediums etc. Their
counterparts in the metros are,
meanwhile, aspiring for MBAs from
IIMs or foreign B-schools and a whole
new breed of professions. The students
from metro cities also seem to be losing
their interest and charm for the Civil
Services. While lack of fluency in
English can be a serious deterrent in
other professions in an increasingly
globalized world, in the Civil Services,
one’s vernacular medium of instruction
could be a plus point. Joining the
Services is a definite way by which these
talented boys and girls can leapfrog
onto a path of development, leaving
their middle class backgrounds far
behind. This is one career which can
give unbridled power to a 25 year old
as a District Magistrate or Collector.
IAS and IPS is that privileged service
that one can not be fired from unless
the termination letter has the signature
of the President of India on it. No other
career in India can give you this kind of
power, privileges, perks and exposure
as the Civil Services. The power and
the size of their jurisdiction make them
almost like kings or feudal lords within
our democratic system. The flashing
red lights of their pilot cars, the
cavalcade, the security around these
officers, the pretty sprawling DM’s
bungalows in the best locations of a
district headquarter, the battalion of
people to serve them, are the images
most people associate with these Civil
Servants. They are the images
youngsters from small towns dream of
and aspire to be part of. They also
realize early on that the role these
officers play in the development of the
country is phenomenal.
Though a few stories of the underdogs
make it to the headlines every year, what
is otherwise extremely heart-warming
to observe is that age old caste and class
divides are melting away in the face of
single minded determination of our
talented and meritorious average
middle-class, small town students. We
see more and more middle class families
erupting in joy as its dream of having a
member in the Civil Services come true.
Even though India is divided over 27
percent quotas for OBCs in higher
educational institutions, this year’s
successes have shown that students
from underprivileged backgrounds can
make it too given half a chance. It almost
reads like a remarkable coming of age
story of modern day India, in which
hundreds of men and women have
beaten the odds to make it to the
country’s most privileged professions.
However, it was not always so. It was
once the bastion of the elite, the
educated and the super-privileged.
Indian Civil Service (ICS) was a
competitive examination instituted in
1861, for the recruitment of officers to
help the British Empire run the country,
considered to be their crowning glory.
Earlier than that there was an
examination meant for only British and
European candidates to help the affairs
of East India Company. Indians were
thought to be fit only for lowly jobs.
But things turned around in the year
1857. The need for a team of well
trained and efficient officers was felt
more than ever. Thus a competitive
examination for civil services was
instituted in 1861. But recruitment
rules were made very strict. The entry
age was 21 and later on it was reduced
to a ludicrous 19 years. To top it, the
location of examination was London.
This restriction made it almost
impossible for Indians to appear for this
“public” examination! Over the years,
the British realized their mistake and
the rules were liberalized regarding the
age. The ratio of officers of Indian
Origin which was very less and
increased to 33% in 1923 and to 75%
by 1935. Indian police, medical, forest,
irrigation services etc. came under the
purview of Indian Civil Service. ICS
posts were the dreams for the educated
elite, as the prestige, salary and perks
were very high in ICS. Anando ram
Barooah was the first Assamese to be
selected for ICS. Examinations too later
started to be conducted in India paving
the path for hundreds of our educated
youth to join it.
After Independence, ICS made way for
Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
The examination to get into the Indian
Civil Services is conducted by the Union
Public Service Commission stationed
in Delhi. This august body arranges
numerous examinations for different
posts in administration to run the affairs
of the land efficiently.
Every year we see, thousands of under
graduates, graduates and post graduates
move out of Assam and flock to Delhi,
Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune etc. heading
towards higher studies, city exposure
and better career opportunities. And
not surprisingly, a sizeable portion of
those students nurture in their hearts
the dream of becoming a Civil Servant.
In Delhi especially, Jawaharlal Nehru
University and Delhi University provide
all the right ingredients for these
aspirants. Whether it is books, coaching
material, coaching institutes, the sights
and sounds of fellow civil servant
aspirants etc., its all around almost like
a sub culture. While some students
enjoy life to the hilt (after all, isn’t this
the age to enjoy life?), you see this other
group of students slogging away in their
POSOOWA May 2009