In India, the civil services - especially the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) - are viewed not just as careers but as symbols of power, prestige and social mobility. For decades, the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam has been considered the "Mount Everest" of competitive exams, a path to the pinnacle of public service.
But beneath the sheen of honour and respect lies a darker, more troubling reality: the craze for civil services is quietly destroying the prime years of countless young Indians.
The Obsession: More Than Just an Ambition:
Every year, more than a million candidates apply for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, yet fewer than a thousand make it.
What starts as a dream soon becomes an obsession. Students as young as 18 enter a preparation bubble, often cutting themselves off from normal college life, hobbies, relationships and even other career opportunities. By the time many emerge-successful or not-they are well into their late 20s or early 30s, having spent the most energetic and explorative years of life in a cycle of coaching, isolation and repeated failure.
UPSC Civil Services Exam - Statistical Overview & Social Impact (As of 2024):
👈Here is a table highlighting key statistical data that illustrates the magnitude and consequences of the civil services craze in India.
To understand the scale and impact of this phenomenon, below are some revealing statistics:
Year
Applicants (in Lakhs)
Selections
2018
10.6
990
2019
11.3
829
2020
10.5
796
2021
11.2
761
2022
11.5
933
2023
11.0+
1000 (approx)
⚠️Interpretation:
Over 99% of aspirants will not make it, despite years of effort.
Thousands spend their entire 20s preparing, often emerging without viable alternatives.
High coaching costs + low success rate = financial and emotional toll on families.
Intellectual talent gets trapped, missing opportunities in entrepreneurship, research, innovation, etc.
The Vicious Loop of Attempts:
The UPSC allows up to six attempts (depending on category) until a certain age limit. For many, this means a decade of continuous preparation. In this time, other life goals-like earning, gaining work experience, exploring alternate careers or even forming personal relationships, are indefinitely postponed.
This loop is compounded by social pressure. Failure is often met with pity or shame from family, relatives and peers, pushing aspirants into deeper cycles of anxiety and low self-worth.
Many do not prepare for UPSC because of personal passion, but to fulfill the dreams imposed by parents or societal expectations.
Mental Health Toll:
UPSC aspirants often live in intense emotional and psychological stress. The long hours of study, uncertainty of results and repetitive nature of failure lead to rising cases of anxiety, depression and even suicides. Places like Mukherjee Nagar in Delhi or Rajinder Nagar have become symbols not just of ambition but of desperation and suffering.
The worst part? Even the brightest minds can fail-not due to lack of talent or effort, but due to the exam's unpredictability. One poor interview or a marginal drop in marks can erase years of effort.
The Coaching Industry Trap:
A multi-crore coaching industry thrives on this frenzy. Some coaching centres charge lakhs of rupees, promising guaranteed success, while profiting from students’ desperation. For middle-class families, supporting a child through years of coaching often means financial strain, especially if the child doesn’t clear the exam.
Moreover, the focus is rarely on genuine learning or administrative passion.
The coaching culture promotes rote memorization and “strategy” over knowledge and real-world skill building. It commodifies the civil services dream.
Wasted Potential, Lost Innovation:
The most tragic consequence is the loss of potential. India is a young country with immense human capital. Yet some of its brightest minds are stuck in this narrow funnel, preparing for years for one job, while industries like science, entrepreneurship, innovation and creative arts cry out for talent.
What if that same energy and intelligence went into start-ups, social enterprises, education reform or climate action? The nation may gain a few thousand bureaucrats each year, but it loses hundreds of thousands of change-makers.
The Way Forward
1. Diversify Career Awareness: Schools and colleges must actively educate students about a wide range of career paths, not just glorify the civil services.
2. Regulate Coaching Institutes:
There should be accountability and transparency in the promises made by coaching centres.
3. Early Career Planning:
Students should be encouraged to have a parallel plan-UPSC preparation should not mean giving up everything else.
4. Normalize Non-Selection:
Society must stop treating unsuccessful candidates as failures. The skills gained in preparation-critical thinking, awareness and discipline should be valued across sectors.
5. Promote Alternatives In Public Service:
There are many ways to serve the nation-working in NGOs, public policy think tanks, education or local governance. These should be equally respected.
A Dream Worth Rethinking
Aspiration is not the problem. The problem lies in the narrow, rigid and obsessive manner in which it is pursued. Civil services are noble, but they are not the only way to make a difference. India must reclaim its youth from this all-consuming exam culture and channel their passion, energy and creativity into a future that is diverse, inclusive and truly free.
Because no dream should come at the cost of one’s life. And no career should be allowed to consume a generation.
The article above is AI-generated
Are you UPSC exam aspirant?
Have you decided to invest your life with a dream to clear any such highly competitive exam?
Please go through the following tips seriously that can help with these critical decisions:
1. Temptations: Do you want to go to high places, enjoy authority and be amongst the powerful people and so these exams are the way to go there? 👉Then your logic is driven by egoistic desires, tempted by glamour and is superficial. Stop and think. It is almost sure you will be miserable in life if this is your motivation.
2. Illusive Beliefs: Do you want to bring great changes in the country and also believe one can efficiently do so only if one has Authority and so you want to pursue these exams? 👉 Think again. There are people in power position who are part of great problems and there are people who have no power position but are bringing great changes, creating a silent, slow but steady revolution. If you believe you cannot bring changes without position, it’s quite likely you won’t be able to do so even with position.
3. Aptitude: Maybe you have your heart at the right place and want to pursue competitive exams for the right reasons, but do you have the aptitude? Like, are you strong in ethics, integrity, leadership, problem-solving and teamwork? Are you a voracious reader? 👉 Just go to some career consultant and get yourself assessed. Mere desire is not enough; one must have proper self-assessment.
4. Escapism: Do you want to pursue highly competitive exams because all your friends are doing the same? Or do you feel it’s cool to do so? Or have you got unlimited resources from family for coaching classes, etc? 👉 Remember, you are investing and perhaps wasting your precious life years. Do you have alternative, equivalent career plans? Do not gamble with life blindly.
Please get real, have vision, question yourself a lot to think through and pursue only if all the above reasons are clearly eliminated. You must have clear boundaries on how much life to invest in this kind of pursuit and even better, do so standing on your own feet, earning on the side, being a responsible adult.
Please look within, not look around to follow herds going nowhere.
Sanjiv Shah
Founder Member, Oasis Movement
Author, Oasis Publications
Guide & Mentor
Alive Newsletter/ Magazine27 July 2025
Year 18, Issue 19
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