Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
This year, eleven candidates from J&K State have qualified Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) exams, thus making the way clear for them to enter into various prestigious central services which includes Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and many other services in Postal, Accounts, Railways and other Central Government departments.
Last year, eleven candidates from J&K – five of them doctors, had cracked the examination. Seven candidates among the selected lot hailed from Kashmir which included two Kashmiri Pandits as well. There were two girls as well among the selectees; one Dr Sehrish from Kishtwar who had joined IPS last year and a Kashmiri Pandit girl namely Pooja who originally comes from Haal village of Pulwama. Dr Sehrish again appeared for the UPSC exams 2012 for rank improvement and she got 23rd rank. This would pave a way for her entry into IAS. Dr Syed Aabid Rashid, a medico hailing from Srinagar got 23rd rank last year and got inducted into IAS with J&K cadre. Dr Abid who is a friend of Dr Shah Faesal (UPSC 2009 topper) had qualified UPSC 2010 also and had got into IPS with J&K cadre service but he again appeared in 2011 exams and got better rank which facilitated his induction into IAS.
The other candidates who qualified UPSC civil services exams last year included Mohammad Aijaz from Mendhar Poonch, Bashir Ahmad Bhat from Sopore, Owaisa Iqbal from Leh, Dr Inam Ul Haque from Shopian, Showkat Parray, Raj Kamal, Vikas Kundal from Jammu and many others. Mohammad Aijaz had qualified Indian Revenue Service (IRS) during 2010 but got into IAS last year with J&K cadre.
Qualifying the UPSC exams by eleven candidates this year is a clear indication that getting into Indian Civil Services is gaining momentum in Jammu & Kashmir, particularly the Kashmir valley. The urge & craze to enter into Indian Civil Services gained a sudden rise soon after a young lad from Lolab Kupwara, Dr Shah Faesal, topped the 2009 UPSC exams and became a youth icon, not only for Kashmiri youth but for other Muslim youth across India as well.
Before Shah Faesal’s great entry into IAS, only a few candidates from J&K had qualified UPSC exams in 2007 or 2008 which included Shahid Iqbal Chowdhry who is presently DC Reasi and Imtiyaz Ismail Parray (IPS). In 1990’s, hardly anyone from J&K State could make it to IAS or IPS except a few like Abdul Gani Mir, the incumbent IG Kashmir who qualified to get into IPS in 1994 and Javaid Mujtaba Jillani who is also a IG level police officer.
The Initiative for Competition Promotion, a registered Trust based in Srinagar formed by Abdul Gani Mir, IG Kashmir and Dr Shah Faesal, has also played a great role towards motivating Kashmiri youth to enter into civil services. The trust provides free coaching to the candidates aspiring to become future administrators and police officers. The youth from J&K State are very much talented and have enormous potential to crack any competitive exams but only thing they need is proper guidance and coaching. It is hoped that in future also more and more youth from J&K State would qualify not only UPSC civil services exams but other prestigious exams like IIM, IIT etc as well.
The author is RTI & Social Activist. He is founder of J&K RTI Movement. Contact at [email protected]
