Ask yourself whether you enjoy learning something new every day. If not, don’t enrol. Ask yourself if you find happiness in serving the society. If yes, you are in for this long game. Civil service experts and IAS-IPS-IRS trainees of Dr. Laxmaiah IAS Study Circle were as direct as teachers could get when it came to honing the future of UPSC aspirants who turned up in huge numbers at Ravindra Bharati to join The Hindu Civils Aspirants’ Forum.
The Forum, an awareness platform on ‘How to crack civil services’, was launched by The Hindu on Sunday in association with Dr. Laxmaiah IAS Study Circle. Over 200 young aspirants, most of whom were engineering and medicine students, had come for the meet which taught them how to clear all the three rounds — prilims, mains and interview — of the Union Public Service Commission examination.
Speaking at the meet, Mohan Kanda, former Chief Secretary of undivided Andhra Pradesh and a seasoned IAS officer, asked young men and women to join civil services to serve the poor and the needy. In a speech that met with cheers from the gallery, Mr. Kanda told the youngsters to forget fear when they serve people. “You should never become the servants of the government, but of the people. As a civil servant, you should be answerable only to the Constitution of India,” he said, adding India was the only country which provided Constitutional protection to its public servants. “Stand up and be counted,” Mr. Kanda said.
Dr. Laxmaiah, who also addressed the gathering, told the students that Civils coaching was like a marathon and not a sprint.
Being the members of The Hindu Civils Aspirants’ Forum, students can pose questions to experts at Dr. Laxmaiah’s coaching centre, who would be available on drpvlakshmaiah.com . The Forum members would also get online UPSC coaching material. The Forum does not screen the aspirants at the entry level and all the services would be provided free of cost.
Students who attended the crash civils initiation programme said they were familiarised with the basic foundation for UPSC exam preparation in just five hours. “The programme offered a nice base to grow from. It helped me understand various contributing factors, including focused study which will help in training myself to crack the exam,” said Kartik Mathur, a B.Tech. student from Gitam University, who would be starting his civils coaching in December this year.
Students had also come from different districts to attend the short coaching meet. “I realised that I should focus on the subject I am most comfortable with to get through. As a mechanical engineering student, I wish to stick to the sciences in clearing the examination,” said Arvind Talari, who had arrived here from Anantapur. Parents who accompanied students also interacted with the experts.
