Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Not democratic

Sir, — The concern of the parliamentary committee led by Pranab Mukherjee on engineering and medical graduates attempting the UPSC examination reflects the kind of infancy on the part of our politicians (Concern over IIT graduates joining Civil Services: April 24 ). The aim of institutions like UPSC is to pick brilliant people for the most revered and critical jobs. Any decision to debar engineering and medical graduates means debarring a section of intellectuals.

In a democratic set-up, this kind of decision goes against the essence of democracy. If the argument is that huge money is spent on these students, then it must first devise a strategy to counter brain drain, which is proving to be more evil.

Amit Sharma,
Panchkula, Haryana

Sir, — A lot of money is spent on IIT graduates and medical students. But in spite of this, the nation is deprived of their services as they go abroad. It is ridiculous that a qualified doctor or an engineer becomes an IAS or IPS officer.

Prithvi Pal Singh,
Dehra Dun, Uttranchal

Sir, — The Civil Services should be representative of society. Diversity enables the administration to take a holistic view of the scenario and devise practical solutions. A team should have members with complementary qualities. A team of ``like only'' promotes ``inbreeding and ``stagnation''.

To say that a professional joining the administration is like ``money going down the drain'' is to denigrate the role and responsibility of the administrative services whose role has been commendable in nation building in independent India.

A lot of subsidy has gone into the education of IIT students and they have a bigger responsibility to ``repay society'' in the long run by being honest and sincere administrators.

H. Gulshan,
Lucknow

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