Technical education losing shine in Odisha? Parliamentary panel report flags concern

At least 65 percent of civil servants in both the Centre and State are engineers, a parliamentary panel stated in its report tabled in the House recently.

There has been a steady increase in the number of engineers joining the Indian civil services over the past 10 years compared to candidates from medical background, with the former accounting for 65 percent of total candidates getting into the civil services in 2020. However, the proportion of candidates from medical background decreased from 14 percent in 2011 to 4 percent in 2020.

While this is the national figure, Odisha is not immune to such kind of trend. An increased number of engineering degree holders opting for the Odisha Civil Services (OCS) has raised many eyebrows, indicating a lack of job opportunities for technical grads in the State.

The recently published OPSC result shows a somewhat similar picture. Swetalina Mahana who has secured rank-5 in the OPSC exams is also an agriculture engineer. Speaking to OTV, Swetalina said, “Though I started preparing for civil services much earlier, it was disrupted briefly during Covid. In fact, I had a penchant for civil services since my college days. When I got a chance, I started preparing for it.”

Similarly, Sourav Panda, who has secured Rank 40 in the Odisha Civil Services (OCS) examination, holds an M.Tech degree in Mechanical from NIT Rourkela. However, after his M.Tech, he changed his mind and prepared for civil services.

“I have always dreamt to become an administrative officer. I will join the Odisha Civil Services first and later try to crack the UPSC as well,” said Panda.

Sidhharth Patnaik, who works as the Executive Officer of Jeypore Municipality is an engineer as well. After he cleared his engineering degree in 2014, he appeared for the OPSC exams in 2015 and cleared it too.

Speaking to OTV, Patnaik said, “Studying engineering definitely helped me in the OPSC exam, but civil services is not only about clearing exams. I had a willingness to serve the people and alleviate their problems. That is why I chose the civil services.”

It's not just Swetalina or Saurabh, millions of students preparing for competitive exams belong to technical and medical backgrounds.

And all this is due to the alleged lack of employment and low remuneration in the state.

Saroj Pradhan, a job aspirant said, “Odisha does not have enough opportunities for technical students. That is why students are diverting to non-technical jobs like civil services.”

At Bhubaneswar's Geeta Govinda Sadan, hundreds of civil service aspirants, especially those from weaker financial backgrounds sit together and prepare for the exams. The place is so overcrowded that students have to sit outside too.

However, the Odisha Technical Education minister said there is no shortage of infrastructure in the state and the students are choosing different fields as per their choice.