women’s performance in civil services exam: 34 per cent milestone
The latest round of hiring for the elite All India Civil Services has yielded a heartening statistic : More than one-third of the new recruits, or 34 per cent, are women. Women took the top four ranks; 12 of the top 20 are women. Women toppers of the three-stage exam, considered one of the toughest in the world, for recruitment to the higher bureaucracy, are not an unusual feature. But the substantive increase in women in the latest intake is heartening. Of a total 933 recruits based on a written test and an interview, 320 are women. The number of women recruits was 215 in 2021 (25.8 per cent), 238 in 2020 (28.5 per cent), and 220 in 2019 (23.9 per cent). That the women who finally make it to an array of all-India services are selected through an objective and rigorous process makes their high representation a milestone, when the corporate world is struggling with gender diversity at its senior levels.
It will fall to the government to ensure that this statistic of 34 per cent is not just a flash in the pan, but endures and improves, with a non-discriminatory work culture in a male-dominated eco-system. Some measures are already built into the system, for instance in the set pay structures and redressal mechanisms, unlike in the private sector where paying women less than men at the same level is rampant. Many new recruits, both men and women, claim that the main attraction of a career in government is the opportunity to serve the country. Many may simply revel in the power and prestige of the job, and the opportunities for upward social mobility. More women in high-profile jobs should inspire all women to work.
But the prospect of the closing gender gap in the mid to top rungs of government seems to have made little positive impact on the other more sobering statistic — the formal participation of working age women in the nation’s workforce overall has dropped precipitously from 32 per cent in 2005 to 25 per cent in 2021 (according to the World Bank). One of the world’s fastest growing economies is also where women continue to be held down by patriarchy — the more affluent a woman’s family background and the more highly educated she is, the less likely she is to take up work outside the home, with family pressures on her to act as caregiver, increasing concerns of safety at the workplace and the abysmal public transport in most cities. India can never attain its true economic potential until women participate in greater numbers, not just in the civil services, but in the workforce as whole.