IAS coaching creates an uneven playing field for students from poor background: Senior Odisha official

Amid the ongoing case of the three IAS aspirants drowning to death in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi, senior Odisha official has stated that the mushrooming coaching world creates an uneven playing field for the students with poor background.  Speaking to Asianet Newsable's Anish Kumar on a range of issues in the backdrop of his recently unveiled book – The Collector’s Mother, principal secretary in Odisha, Bishnupada Sethi, gave a candid glimpse into the world of IAS aspirants. 

Sethi has penned a tale of sheer grit of his mother to surmount all odds to make her son an IAS. Battling extreme poverty and discrimination, the mother fought all adversities to lead her son onto the path of pursuing aspirations. Sethi’s book – The Collector’s Mother: How an underprivileged woman inspired her son to become an IAS officer – gives glimpses of rural life where extreme poverty brings an avalanche of crises in life. Yet, the mother, a simple woman, fights with all her might to lay grounds for her son to break away from the vicious cycle of poverty.   

Sethi answers a few questions about the book and his past.

Question: What are your thoughts on lakhs of IAS aspirants spending moolah at coaching institutes to get into civil services?
Answer: Most of the aspirants who get into the IAS take coaching for the examination. When an engineer does not take his core subject which he must have studied hard for four to six years (including PG) and prefers to take an optional from Arts stream, the success can be attributed to the coaching system only. The Institutes do lot of analytical works, engage experts to prepare the aspirants for the examination in a short time. They advertise their success stories and draw students to their institutes, guaranteeing success. It has become more a complex situation now. It becomes difficult to sit for the examination without some support from coaching institutes.

Question: Do you think the coaching institutes create an uneven playing field for IAS aspirants from underprivileged backgrounds? 
Answer: Analysing the success rate in civil services, we find that students are drawn to Delhi and few other places for preparation. One has to spend a lot of money for stay, food and coaching expenses which the poor students can not afford. Besides, one has to prepare for few years without being employed somewhere for which the family has to support. There is no guarantee to get qualified. The immediate concern for a under privileged person may be to earn livelihood soon after graduation and meet other needs of the family. Coaching creates an uneven field for the poor students.

Question: How do you look back at your journey from poverty to becoming an IAS officer?
Answer: There was possibility that I would have dropped out of my primary school, at a time when the school was hardly functioning in the village. It was possible that our entire family of five would have been eliminated decades ago, when our neighbours in collaboration with powerful elements in the villages were attacking us in the middle of dark nights, putting poison in our food etc. I could not have got out of the village and probably, ended up as a poor man in my village. I wonder that such a journey has been possible with a lot of blessings of my parents, who had indomitable grit, stamina and unshakable faith in God.

Question: Do you think poverty can hold back the resolve of a person to realise potential?
Answer: Every person can realise great potential. However, poverty puts up many obstacles in one’s path. Despite being a brilliant student, my father dropped out of his school as he was required to look after his bed ridden mother and mentally ill brother when his village was facing drought, famine, food shortages, joblessness and several other miseries. One poor student has to be extremely fortunate to realise his potential as he needs a lot of support in the long process. There is great possibility for the resolve of a person to break down somewhere in the long journey to success.

Question: You have given a vivid description of poverty in rural parts of Odisha in your book, The Collector’s Mother. How is the situation now?
Answer: It will be false to say that such situation does not exist anywhere now, albeit my village is transformed to a great extent. There are interior, underdeveloped areas which need a lot of attention. However, we have now a number of welfare programs for the poor including for the overall development in several aspects like food security, agriculture development, education, skilling, self-employment unlike in the past. The opportunities have expanded manifolds and the leaders take pride and responsivity for the empowerment of people in rural areas. Democracy has taken deeper roots. Government expenditure for eradication of rural poverty is enormous.
 
Question: What was the difference in the life of your mother after you became an IAS?
Answer: Till I became an IAS officer, we were subjected to life threatening situations on account of hostility of villagers. For few years after I became an IAS officer, some of the villagers still continued their grudge and humiliated my mother for which  we took assistance of the Police. However, as my name and fame spread due good work done in district postings, many villagers started coming to her seeking help to get various assistances from the government and for intervention if anyone faced harassment. She would demand my involvement to seek justice for such people. As people got benefits, the number of people approaching her increased. She won the love and respect from the entire area and became very popular for her selfless activities. People in the locality used to address her as Collector’s Mother signifying her dignity and importance.

Question: Did your background influence your performance as the policy maker and an administrator?
Answer: Yes definitely and in a great way. As we suffered due to land matters, I organised camps in interior pockets during my first posting in Gajapati district to ensure land rights. I would keep open my grievance cell 24x7 and people could just walk in. I took up a drive in Rayagada district to restore land to the tribals who had been wronged in the past. The success was enormous, which caused my transfer from this Naxalite affected district at the behest of powerful sections.

Protesting against my transfer, the Naxalite elements called for a Bandh, though I had nothing to do with Naxalites. For my pro- poor initiatives, the National Human Rights Commission which was monitoring poverty and alleged starvation deaths in KBK region had commended my work. I was instrumental in formulating a highly rated Rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy for the state, while working for UNDP. So many examples can be cited.

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