Jammu and Kashmir Civil servants congratulated JKAS qualifiers, the results of which were declared on Friday.
Shakeel Maqbool, Additional Commissioner, State Taxes who himself is a central civil services officer of 2014 batch serving on deputation in the UT Govt of J&K, writes on Facebook that “First and foremost KAS is not just another job.
Besides medicine, civil service is the only other career option that the cream can opt for if they want to stay in the valley not counting limited opportunities in academia and engineering. Simply put there is no private sector worth its name in the valley. The only options are either business or government jobs. Business requires investment, and risk taking. Only a few can afford and arrange that. So for a middle class bright student wanting to stay home it is either getting into the medicine stream or into the civil services. And even in the medical stream the jobs inside the valley are in the government sector only.So if it is the government job you are looking for; civil services is the best government job out there. And if you achieve the best available you certainly deserve to be celebrated.
And mind you it is not an easy exam, the competition level is very high and it takes years of hardwork generally. Celebrations and felicitations are certainly in order after such a hard grind. Secondly, from a broader perspective, good governance requires a deeper understanding of the issues on the ground, so to say ,an ear to the soil. And who better can understand the flutters of the soil than the sons and daughters of the soil.And every society requires good governance with empathy. Civil services within the structural constraints enables the governance to be in the hands of people who have been chosen on the basis of merit without any bias to their class, ethnicity etc. That means many people from middle class and lower middle class backgrounds make it through just because of their hardwork and ability. Isn’t it good for the society that whatever discretion and power is there beyond the political executive be in the hands of people who come from the soil, from all kinds of economic, social and ethnic backgrounds; instead of a chosen few born with silver spoons or ones with shady credentials?
It is not just good , it is in fact imperative that we celebrate the success of the few who have cracked this exam as it is not just another exam. It has far wider socioeconomic consequences than people are able to appreciate. And celebrating whatever insufficient success the recent results have brought forth is essential to inspire the youngsters and students to take up this tough journey”.
Sharing his post on Facebook, Haamid Bukhari who qualified UPSC Civil Services in 2016 and is presently regulating Union Corporate Affairs ministry’s field office in Kashmir writes that “ Shakeel has finely articulated the ‘aura’ of Public Service qualified to be called as more than a vocation. I also firmly believe that the success in this competition pool is worth celebrating as this is fundamentally the display of virtues like patience, hard work, persistence and maturity of mind. One’s perception towards life changes qualitatively while preparing for an exam like Civil Services irrespective of whether you are among the lucky faces figuring in the final list or not. You end up becoming mature, worldly wise & turn less judgemental and develop a polished vision towards life with a repository of knowledge. The scheme of the exam and the preparatory days are the best of times to cherish and inculcate life long values. The stardom in social media with your success stories is not an inch of exaggeration. And it stays with you till a new batch replaces the older ones and the cycle goes on inspiring more and more.
I extend my warm greetings and congratulate all the successful candidates who have cleared the JKAS Combined Competitive Examination.”
A similar post is shared by a senior JKAS officer mentioning his thoughts about Civil Service and this officer has been a mentor to hundreds of candidates in J&K who have cleared the KAS and JKPS exams.
