Around 10 years back, career options of youngsters was used to be doctor or engineer. Some opted for CA, some for defence and a few chose Civil Services. The number of youngsters preparing for Civil Services examinations was not much, specially in State. Maharashtra Government had long ago constituted a committee headed by ex-Chief Secretary late Arun Bongirwar, for suggesting measures to increase the percentage of youngsters in Maharashtra in cracking Civil Services examination. The recommendations started showing result. Of course, the efforts are needed to be taken at the level of respective district administration. Dilip Walse Patil, the then Minister of Higher and Technical Education gave it the required momentum.

 

A select few knew that it was Walse Patil who brought drastic changes in the pre-IAS coaching centre at Nagpur and Pravin Darade, the then District Collector took efforts while working on it. But the mere physical development was not enough as the number of students in Vidarbha opting Civil Services was not satisfactory. In last five years, the number of students from Vidarbha opting and cracking Civil Services examination is growing drastically. The credit goes to Prof Pramod Lakhe, Director of Government IAS Training Institute, Nagpur. He spoke to ‘The Hitavada’ as to how he brought changes and how the students’ persepective about Civil Services examination is changing. “If we compare students from Pune and Vidarbha preparing for competitive exams, it is seen that our students are lacking in awareness, presentation, and language.

 

If we work on improving these three factors then the percentage would increase. This is what I noticed. Since the examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is the one that studies personality in all aspects. Only those students who use their own heads and can think independently will survive. This is what we tried to imbibe among these youngsters,” said Dr Lakhe. Dr Lakhe conducts practice interviews of ‘UPSC’ students on behalf of the Government in Delhi. ‘UPSC’ is the second most difficult examination in the world. It is not at all that students from Vidarbha cannot compete with others in this. However, when a comparative study is done between students from Pune, Mumbai and students from our area, our students show awareness about competitive examinations, lack of confidence, inferiority complex about English language, and presentation skills.

 

Therefore, if you want to study for ‘UPSC’, it is necessary to pay attention to these shortcomings, added Dr Lakhe. “We tried to generate interest among the students about the preparation of this examination. We told the students who approached us, that they can crack the examination. That confidence building was very important. At the same time their study was equally important. They don’t need to push themselves hard but they need to do it regularly, everyday,” elaborated Dr Lakhe. “The all-round personality needs to be developed. No one is born with these qualities. However, while preparing for the examination, you need to keep examining yourself regularly. If we imbibe our own decision-making ability, leadership qualities, good presentation, patience, and comprehensive knowledge, the dream of increasing the percentage of students from Vidarbha in UPSC can be fulfilled, Those who really want to study for UPSC should take advantage of Government institutions,” appealed Dr Lakhe. n