AIZAWL: Over 500 students in Mizoram will appear in a selection test to recruit for free sponsorship of 40 civil service aspirants.
With Mizoram facing acute shortage of central civil servants, the state government has announced Super IAS 40 programme to provide one year full sponsorship to 40 aspirants to go for coaching at reputed coaching centres in Delhi.
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The Mizoram Youth Commission (MYC) is overseeing and implementing the programme.
MYC chairman and MLA Vanlaltanpuia told a news conference on Thursday that a total of 575 candidates will appear for the selection test to be conducted in five centres across the state and Delhi.
He said that there are 397 candidates in Aizawl centre, 88 in Lunglei centre, 38 in Siaha centre, 27 in Kolasib centre and 25 others in Delhi centre.
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The written results will be declared on June 27 and personal interview will be held on June 28 and June 29, he said.
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He said that candidates who score at least 50 per cent in the written test will be shortlisted for a personal interview.
Vanlaltanpuia said that students, who received under the programme, would not be allowed to write for other competitive exams under central and state governments until they write two preliminary examinations of Indian Civil Service conducted by the UPSC.
He said the youth commission would closely monitor the selected candidates and the government would stop their sponsorship or ask for repayment if their conduct is not upto the mark.
He said that the government will only select meritorious students for full sponsorship and would not fill up all the 40 seats if there are no qualified students.
He expressed hope that the northeastern state will produce some IAS officers in the near future.
Under the Super IAS 40 programme, the state government will provide 1 year full sponsorship to 40 civil service aspirants to receive coaching at Vajiram & Ravi Vision IAS and ALS in Delhi.
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The Mizoram government had launched Super IAS 20 programme in 2020-2021 to provide sponsorship to students for a six month crash course coaching in Delhi.
But none of the selected candidates i have cleared the civil service exams in 2021.
Despite holding the distinction of being the second highest literate state in the country, Mizoram has failed to produce IAS officer from its soil for the past 13 years and the last Mizo to crack UPSC examination was Grace Lalrindiki Pachuau, the daughter of former state chief secretary Vanhela Pachuau, who joined IAS in 2014.
Last year Mizoram drew the attention of main stream media when the Centre appointed a senior IAS officer Renu Sharma of AGMUT cadre as the state chief secretary against Chief Minister Zoramthanga’s request to appoint a Mizo IAS officer for the top official post.
Recently, there was public outcry on social media platforms when a civil society group planned to picket before the chief secretary’s office demanding her replacement.
The group claimed that there were several problems, including language barrier, when a non-local IAS officer is appointed as chief secretary.