Speakers raise concern over decline in Kashmiri civil services aspirants

Srinagar, Nov 22: In view of the decline in the number of applicants from the Valley applying for civil services and to motivate the aspiring youth about how to prepare and crack the civil services exams at local and national level, a motivational event was held today at the University of Kashmir (KU).

The event titled “Explore your future: unlock a career in civil services” organised by Centre for Career Planning and Counseling (CCPC), KU was held at varsity`s Convocation Complex and featured motivational talks by eminent speakers which included present and former civil servants.

While presiding over the event Vice Chancellor, University of Kashmir Prof Nilofer Khan underscored KU’s commitment in supporting civil services aspirants through coaching programmes, mentorship and creating an environment to nurture success.

Referring to the CCPC`s residential coaching programme the Vice Chancellor said, “We have a group of 61 students who are presently enrolled under this residential programme and are being trained and mentored by some of the best experts and we hope that in future we will be able to accommodate more young aspirants under this programme.”

While maintaining that competent civil servants and administrators play a crucial role in policy making Prof Nilofer Khan inspired the aspirants in the audience “to become the civil servants and administrators of tomorrow so that they can help in transforming and changing the lives of the people while uplifting the marginalized sections of the society through policy intervention and public service.”

In his motivational speech Dr Bilal Mohiuddin Bhat, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar while sharing his personal experiences and journey of civil services said, “The biggest feeling in this world is when you aspire for something and get it. This joy and feeling keeps you motivated and despite so much of hectic official engagements as an administrator one never feels tired or burdened.”

Dr Bilal who qualified JKAS in 2010, IFS in 2013 and then IAS in 2016 while expressing concern over the decline in the number of applicants from Kashmir division applying for IAS, JKAS and other civil service exams said “We need specialists such as doctors, engineers, scientists, technocrats but at the same time we need competent civil servants and I want to see more and more students amongst you to crack the civil services so that you may be able to serve your people.”

Dr Bilal reiterated that consistency and hard work is the key to qualify any competitive exam and the same holds true for civil services.

In her talk “Women in Civil Services: Breaking Barriers & Making an Impact”, Bisma Qazi, SP City East Srinagar shed light on the role of women in civil services.

“Be it at local or national level women in civil services have played a significant role in fixing accountability and bringing transparency into the system of governance and administration through their unique perspective,” said Qazi who is a gold medalist from KU.

Irfan Rasool Dar (IFS) who qualified UPSC in 2020 while delivering his talk “Environmental Governance & Sustainable Development” informed the audience and young civil service aspirants about the role a civil servant can play in environmental conservation and sustainable development by educating the stakeholders at grassroots level about the policies of the government.

Sheikh Mushtaq JKAS batch 1984- former Commissioner Higher Education Department Govt of Jammu and Kashmir while expressing concern over the steep decline in the number of applicants applying for civil services said in his motivational speech “As per the statistics over less than 1000 candidates from Kashmir had applied for JKAS in the recent exam which is matter of concern and we need to analyze the situation to figure out the reasons for this declining trend.”

Earlier Director CCPC, KU Prof Nazir Ahmad Dar in his welcome address highlighted the aims and objectives of the programme and gave an insight about the various initiatives taken by the University in terms of providing mentorship, guidance, counseling, logistic support and other facilities to the young students who aim to qualify such prestigious national level exams

Deputy Director CCPC Dr Yahya Bakhtiyar proposed a vote of thanks on the occasion.

The event was attended by faculty members, scholars and students from various departments of the University.