Civil Service Numbers Show Fewer Women

Bangalore: Fewer women and lesser numbers from rural areas are joining the coveted IAS, IPS and IFS, with the figure for last year being the lowest in the last six batches, reports Shyamlal Yadav for The Financial Express.

Among women, the decline has been more due to falling numbers clearing the UPSC exam in the general and OBC category. It was noted that in the SC/ST category, the numbers are either rising or the decline isn’t that sharp.

Further, the representation from rural areas has dropped from 48.28 percent in 2009 to 29.55 percent in 2011. Even in 2002 the figure was noted to be as high as 36.47 percent. The percentage of women among the top 266 selected candidates in 2002 was 26 percent. While in 2011, they made up 18 percent of the top 264.

Approximately 260 of the top candidates who clear the UPSC exam every year are selected for training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. Majority of them are selected for the IAS, IPS and IFS.

Amongst the candidates selected for the general category in 2002 to be IAS, IFS or IPS officers, 34 percent were women. While, in 2011 they were just 18 percent. Representation of women among OBC candidates was only 14 percent in 2002, which further fell to 12.5 percent in 2011.

In contrast, from merely 15 percent of the SC candidates selected in 2002, women reached a high of 29 percent in 2011. While their numbers among ST candidates saw a dip from 31 percent in 2002, it was still high at 21 percent in 2011.

Interestingly, the one figure that has remained almost stable is the proportion of married/engaged entrants. It has been around 24 percent successively since 2002. The number of people choosing Hindi as medium for the written exam and interview fell from 19 percent and 17 percent respectively, to 8 percent overall.