Dear Editor,
Being a student of public administration,, I would like to tell readers/subscribers that bureaucrats are of two types: Generalists and specialists.
Specialists are experts in their subjects. Their job is of advisory nature. But generalists are supposed to multi-task and hold various responsibilities. The job profiles of both are different from each other. Hence, the recruitment processes of both are also different. But in our state every officer is a specialist and the government wants even peons and drivers to be experts in maths.
A generalist should have good knowledge of history, geography, polity, environment, culture, and art. Hence, while recruiting generalists, their general knowledge should be tested but not their knowledge of a particular subject, ie, mathematics.
The UPSC and other states are giving more emphasis on environmental studies. They want civil servants/generalists to have knowledge about the environment, for at the time of disaster or natural calamity these officers are engaged in rescue operations. In such works, knowledge of quadratic equation or geometry is useless. That’s why the UPSC has introduced general studies Paper 3, which is on environmental studies, disaster management in the mains exam, replacing the optional paper.
When the recruiting agencies of other states are modernizing their recruitment process, why are we lagging behind them? After all, there is a term called relevance. Knowledge of maths is of no use for a generalist.
Therefore, I would like to appeal to the chief minister to consider our appeal and take steps to replace the elementary maths paper with general studies on environmental studies for Group B non-gazetted posts.
Sincerely,
An aspirant