Panel for civil service option after class XII

The second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC), which is headed by Veerappa Moily, has suggested formulating a three-year course for students who have completed Class 12 to train civil service aspirants.

In its report, “Refurbishing of Personnel Administration,” the ARC has suggested that Class 12 students should be selected for the course, which is designed to meet the requirements of the “modern and responsive civil service”.

“The purpose is that if the school pass-outs are selected for career in civil service, they will come with more commitment and a right attitude to serve,” Moily told a news agency. A national-level test conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), on the lines of the test for admission into the National Defence Academy (NDA), will be held to select the best of the candidates. The existing age criteria would be accordingly lowered.

The report says candidates would have to pursue a three-year course drawn up by National Institutes of Public Administrations (NIPA), which must be set up to conduct bachelor’s degree courses in public administration or management.

Yearly assessment test would be conducted and candidates awarded graduation degrees. In the long run, these centres would evolve as sources of civil services aspirants, said Moily, adding that the candidates’ commitment and attitude can also be assessed in such a set-up.

“Those who do not want to pursue a career in civil services will be permitted to exit and pursue their interest elsewhere,” said Moily. Those who wish to continue would be given service allotments and would undergo a two-year service-specific course in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) for Indian Police Service (IPS) and National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT) for Indian Revenue Service (IRS).

At the end of the course, the candidates would be given cadre allotment on the basis of merit and preference.

“The new system would help recruit potential civil servants at a young age and groom them when they are still in their formative years,” said Moily. This would also enable the government to tap into a much bigger resource pool than the present recruitment system.

It would also end the present “undesirable” system of coaching institutes that have sprung up across the country to prepare aspirants, he said.