DHE to resume free civil services coaching for poor students

BHUBANESWAR: The department of Higher Education (DHE) has proposed the State government to reintroduce free civil services coaching for students from economically weaker sections of society.This time, it plans to rope in a reputed IAS coaching institute for the purpose after a rigorous screening process by a selection committee which will be headed by Secretary of the department.

Around 100 aspirants will be selected for free coaching through a common entrance test, either OPSC or SSC. Officials said to be eligible for the free coaching, the student’s family income should not exceed Rs 10 lakh per annum and he or she must be a domicile of Odisha.

The beneficiaries will have to appear for the Civil Services Prelims exam within a period of two years from the day of start of coaching. Candidates who succeed at the Prelims will be trained to appear for the Mains and subsequently, the interview at the State Government’s cost. Unsuccessful candidates will be allowed to appear for the mock tests at the coaching centre for one more year.

The DHE will fund the entire coaching expenditure and provide the coaching fees to the institution in three installments every year. “40 percent of the coaching fee will be released to the institute immediately after its empanelment,” officials said.

To ensure quality of coaching, DHE officers or any inspecting authority decided by the government or a third party will be hired to monitor students and  progress of the programme.A meeting in this regard will be held at the Chief Secretary level next week.

Earlier, the State Higher Education Council had recommended that there is an urgent need to improve the civil services success rate for candidates from Odisha, particularly the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups who cannot afford to go to Delhi for coaching. The candidates may be selected through an entrance examination, it stated.

Although the DHE had previously launched a civil services coaching programme, the results were disappointing with none of the trained students qualifying for the Prelims exam. Following this, the State government had shut down the programme in 2019. Of the total candidates clearing the civil services examination, Odisha accounts for less than 1 pc. Many states like Kerala, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat have adopted centralised coaching system which results in high success rate.