Senior bureaucrats mentor civil service aspirants

Mysore: Despite their tight schedules,  senior officers have over the last few years taken time out to prepare over 6,000 students for the  Civil Services Examination (CSE) and other competitive tests thanks to the Competitive Examination Training Centre opened by the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) here in 2011.

The centre has emerged as a major gateway for training students who are poor or from rural areas and cannot afford expensive coaching.

Some of the top officials who have coached them are managing director of the State Water Supply and Drainage Board and lieutenant P. Manivannan, DGP Om Prakash, APCCF Ajay Mishra  and field director of Project Elephant, Uday Kumar. In all, over 100 officials have volunteered to share their knowledge and expertise with these students.

KSOU Vice-Chancellor M.G. Krishnan says the centre offers coaching for free. “We only charge Rs 300 towards study material and the students coming from remote areas are provided with accommodation at a concessional rate of Rs 45 a day. There has been overwhelming response thanks to the officers who have come forward to teach. This is a first-of-its-kind centre in the state,” he said, adding  that 70 per cent of the students were  from SC/ST communities and villages. Currently, coaching is underway for 376 student appearing for the K-Set and UGC-net exams.

While Mr. Manivannan says being part of the exercise has been very fulfilling, Mr Om Prakash gives the centre the thumbs up.

“I am keen to know the result and want the successful candidates to come back and contribute,” he added.

Centre coordinator Satyanarayana Gowda  says even spoken English classes are held for housewives and the working class.