INDIA
The Indian Government’s push for lateral entry into the Public Service is reflected in a downturn in vacancies through the traditional examination method, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced.
Minister of State for Personnel, Jitendra Singh (pictured) replying to a question in Parliament, said vacancies across all Public Services in India had now been on the decline for four years.
He said the decline was especially marked in the number of vacancies for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS).
“The number of personnel recruited by the UPSC has reached its lowest of 2,352 in 2018-19,” Mr Singh said.
“According to statistics, a total of 3,750 candidates were recommended by the UPSC in 2015-16; 3,020 in 2016-17; 3,083 in 2017-18 and 2,352 in 2018-19.”
He said the trend was likely to continue “as the motto of the Government is less Government and more governance”.
“The thrust for lateral entry and the de-linking of the Railway Services from the Civil Services examination all indicate that the number of vacancies for Civil Services Examination would see a downward trend in the future,” Mr Singh said.
He noted that while the first Indian Railway Management Service examination was scheduled for 2021, the merger and restructuring of the existing railway services might have an effect on the number of vacancies for the 2020 examination.
New Delhi, 10 February 2020
