State of Service

Faesals achievement as a topper of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) 2010 has encouraged the Valleys youth to opt for the civil services. Last year,12 Kashmiri men and women made it to the elite services,the highest number ever from Jammu and Kashmir.

At the guest house,Faesal is not just an inspiration but also a means for these aspirants. He is part of the initiative that brings together these youth. He is also one among the several bureaucrats who personally guide them to realise their dream.

The guest house is a new home for these men. The lodging and teaching come free of cost. The effort is to provide them an environment for learning, says Dr Syed Abid Rashid,a doctor,who is part of the initiative and made it to the IAS this year. Rashid qualified for the Kashmir Administrative Services in 2009,made it to the Indian Police Services in 2010 and ranked 23 in the IAS this year. We guide them and provide them with study material. They only pay for the food.

The initiative has grown from the individual efforts of some J&K officers. In 2008,some bureaucrats from the Valley launched a campaign called Initiative for Competition Promotion (ICP). Its early members included a 1994 batch IPS officer,Abdul Gani Mir (currently J&Ks Inspector General of Police,Crime),and some Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers from the Valley. They contribute from their pockets to run this ambitious project.

The aim was to motivate boys and girls to appear in competitive exams, says Shahnawaz Bukhari,a J&K government officer associated with the initiative. There were several officers,in the police and civilian administration,who were conducting counselling sessions for the youth at an individual level. All of us had the same motive. ICP came from there.

The three-year-long effort of ICP has slowly paid dividends as more boys and girls try their hand at the civil service exams. In the past three years,the number of candidates for the civil service exams in Kashmir has risen from a 100 to more than 400.

The turmoil in the Valley has only helped. The exposure of Kashmiri youth,who left Kashmir for other cities for higher studies,played a major role in generating this interest. The Valleys political situation failed to prevent these aspirants from opting for the civil services because they see it as a completely apolitical affair,a new career choice which has become more attractive because of the availability of coaching centres and mentorship of local officers.

There is a tendency to see every positive development in Kashmir through the prism of larger politics,specially in terms of a pro-and anti-India stance, says Wasim Akram,a postgraduate in chemistry,who is preparing for the exams,It is purely a career choice,an option to work for the people,in an effective way.

In a region,where people havent looked beyond medicine and engineering as career options,for the longest time,the trend is changing. Out of the 12 candidates who qualified for the Indian Civil Service exams this year,five have a degree in medicine or veterinary sciences.

For decades,the Valleys youth would look up to the doctors. But as doctors are trying their luck in the civil services and making it to the final selection list,more people are motivated to prepare for these exams. The response is very good, says Khairul Bashar,Director of The Civils a coaching institute for civil service exams in Srinagar. Unlike other centres,we have more girls than boys at our Srinagar centre.

We are now realising that a world exists beyond medicine as well, says Wasim Qadir Dar,a doctor who is preparing for the civil services. It takes us six hard years to complete an MBBS degree and another 5-10 years to become an accomplished doctor. But only two years of hard work is enough to qualify for the civil services. An administrator,who is a doctor,can also serve his people better.

The Civils is the first civil services coaching centre from New Delhi that has ventured into Kashmir. A graduate of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU),Bashars first interaction with Kashmiri students was when he visited University of Kashmir,in Srinagar,to teach civil service aspirants. During my interaction with the students here,I felt that I should open a centre here. The students have the ability,they only need encouragement, says Bashar who shuttles between Delhi and J&K. I am here because I felt that these people need me. My entire faculty comes from outside and we take more classes here than at any other centre.

The University of Kashmir conceived the idea in 2004 and two years later Kashmirs first coaching centre for the services started. In 2008,the coaching centre was turned into full-fledged Centre for Career Planning and Counselling. At that time there was no coaching centre for civil services in Kashmir, says director,CPCC,Professor MA Sahaf,who also teaches Management at University of Kashmir. We realised the significance of such exams and decided to come up with it (the centre).

For the past five years,the university has procured teachers from outside Kashmir to guide their civil service aspirants. The response is very good, says Professor Sahaf. A large number of aspirants come to us and ask us to start part-time coaching classes. But as of now,it is not financially feasible.

Like The Civils,many other commercial ventures are also picking up. The position looks much better in terms of awareness and motivation. I see great prospects, says Mohammad Shafi Pandit,who runs the Ascent Coaching centre for civil service aspirants. Ascent was launched in 2009 after Pandit quit his office as the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission a recruitment agency that conducts state-level civil service exams. Now,the valley students see it as an achievable career option.

Pandit himself is the first Kashmiri Muslim to make it to the IAS. A 1969-batch IAS officer,Pandit ranked third at the all India level and was offered the Indian Foreign Services. I opted for IAS because I wanted to do something for my own people, he says.

Mir,Faesal,Bukhari and Rashid also have the same motivation. It is our effort to give something back to society, says Rashid. What we are today is because of our people. We are not doing them any favour. We owe it to them.