Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal has said that 5-8 years of preparation for civil services examination by lakhs of students is a 'waste of youthful energy'.
Mr Sanyal said one should only attempt UPSC or other such examinations if one wants to become an administrator.
"As mentioned, it (is) perfectly fine to attempt the UPSC or other such exams, but only if the person wants to be an administrator.
"The problem is that lakhs of people are spending 5-8 years repeatedly doing this exam as a 'way of life'. This is such a waste of youthful energy," he said in a series of posts on social media platform X.
Mr Sanyal further said it may come as a surprise, but his view is shared by most bureaucrats, who cleared the exam at some point.
"An attempt or two is fine for those who really want this path, but spending your entire 20s for it...is unhealthy," he said.
The economist pointed out that an entire industry "indeed entire cities like Kota" is dedicated to taking an exam where less than 1 per cent of applicants will succeed.
"And this is (happening) every year. Imagine this huge effort being directed at other fields," he said.
UPSC conducts the civil services examination every year in three stages - preliminary, mains and personality test (interview) - to select officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Economist Sanjeev Sanyal Accepts Chancellorship Of Pune's Gokhale Institute UPSC IFS Mains Exam Date 2024 Released, Check Full Schedule UPSC CAPF Reserve List Released, Check Steps To Download "Sanjoy Roy Raped, Murdered Kolkata Doctor": CBI Chargesheet In RG Kar Case "Why Not?" Farooq Abdullah On Post-Poll Alliance After J&K Poll, Rival Says... Huge Currency Swap Agreement To Help Maldives On Foreign Exchange Reserves Explained: What Is microRNA, The 2024 Noble-Winning Discovery Satellite Data Shows Punjab Farm Fires Lowest In 3 Years In Festival Season, Misery Floods People Of North Bihar Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.