There is a slight dip in Muslim candidates’ performance in UPSC Civil Services Examination this year, as compared to last year. This year 29 Muslim candidates got selected, whereas last year the number was 44. Of the 29 successful Muslim candidates, 22 are male and 7 are female. Sadaf Chaudhary of Haridwar topped the Muslim candidates list with AIR 23.
UPWARD TREND FROM 2016
From the year 2016, the number of successful Muslim candidates in UPSC had started going up. The percentage had reached around 5 per cent, which is a big jump, because before that,it stood at around 2.5 percent only. In 2018, the percentage was 4 percent. In 2016, for the first time, 50 Muslim candidates were selected in the Indian Administrative Services,and 10 out of these candidates made it to the top 100. Fifty candidates from the community were selected in 2017 and 28 in 2018. In the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 batches, the number was 30, 34, 38, and 36 respectively.
FACTORS BEHIND THE RISE
According to an official of the Minority Affairs ministry, the performance of Muslim candidates had improved significantly in the last four years. Number of factors are behind this development. The Sachar Committee report of 2006, focusing on the low representation of Muslims in government jobs, advocated increasing their numbers. Since then, governments have paid special attention to the education and representation of minorities through various schemes and scholarships.
In the last few years, many coaching centers have come up across the country which provide free or affordable coaching to Muslim candidates. Among them are Jamia Millia Islamia’s Free Residential Coaching Academy (RCA), Hamdard Study Circle and Aaghaz Foundation, etc.
According to a report, 3 per cent of the total IAS officers, 1.8 per cent of the IFS officers, and 4 per cent of the IPS officers belong to the Muslim community, while the population of the Muslim community in the country as per the 2011 Census is about 15 per cent.
THIS YEAR’S PERFORMANCE
Muslims make up about 4 per cent of the total successful candidates in UPSC this year, compared to around 5 per cent last year. 761 candidates have passed this year’s UPSC-2020 exam, out of which, 263 belong to the general category, 86 to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), 220 to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), 122 to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 61 to the Scheduled Tribes (ST).
29 Muslim candidates got selected this year, whereas last year the number was 44. Of the 29 successful candidates, 22 are male and 7 are female. Sadaf Chaudhary of Haridwar topped the Muslim candidates listwith AIR 23. This was her second attempt, and she cleared the exam without any coaching. She wants to represent India abroad by joining the Indian Foreign Service.
