New Delhi, June 22 (IANS) Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that the last 11 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have seen a democratisation of India’s Civil Services with youths from poor families and remote areas getting selected for the country’s top jobs and realising their aspirations.

In an interview to Doordarshan News, the minister said that while at one time, the IAS and Civil Services were confined only to a handful of States like Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc, today, we get toppers from the States which earlier hardly figured in the civil services list toppers from Punjab, Haryana and J&K.

He cited the case of Parsanjit Kour, the young girl from Poonch, a border district in J&K, who made it to All India Rank 11 in the Civil Services Exam of 2022 in very first attempt or the boy from Punjab, Anmol Sher Singh Bedi who got All India Rank 2 in the Civil Services Exam of 2016.

This, the Minister said, has restored faith in the objectivity and equal opportunity offered by the system and, thus, also led to democratisation of youth aspiration.

“This is the true essence of democracy — where every mother, regardless of her socio-economic standing, has the confidence to believe that her child can reach the top,” said Dr Jitendra Singh.

The Minister said that the 11 years have been nothing short of transformational for India. “What generations longed for over decades has been made possible in just over a decade,” he stated, adding that PM Modi has wiped the tears of the past and replaced them with eyes full of hope and future aspirations.

Each passing year, the Minister said, has marked a new milestone — be it in infrastructure, governance, technology, or youth empowerment — creating unprecedented opportunities for every Indian.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh, stated that under PM Modi’s leadership, citizens’ self-esteem has been restored. Referring to the PM’s historic 2016 call of “Start-Up India, Stand-Up India”, he emphasised how it broadened the employment horizon beyond traditional government jobs.

“It was only then people realised that job doesn’t only mean “Sarkari Naukri”, but also innovation, enterprise, and startups,” the Minister noted.

India’s biotech sector, he highlighted, is a perfect example — growing from just 50 start-ups in 2014 to over 10,075 in 2024, with a leap in valuation from $10 billion to nearly $170 billion. He credited this to strong public-private partnerships and forward-thinking policies like Bio-E3 and the National Quantum Mission.

–IANS

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