Women on top in UPSC results, but fail to break male stranglehold in overall merit list

NEW DELHI: Even as women emerged as the four top rank-holders in civil services exam 2014, men continue to dominate the merit list, bagging 950 slots as compared to 286 successful women candidates. In 2013, around 861 men were selected as against 261 women, while the gender break-up for 2012 was 753 men and 245 women.

Interestingly, though the figures are not unexpected given that the percentage of women taking the exam is itself very low. A look at the merit list for the past three years shows a slight decline in successful women candidates. While women accounted for 24.5 per cent of the successful candidates in 2012, their share slid to 23.3 per cent in 2013 and further to 23.1 per cent in 2014.

A look at the top 25 candidates in the past three years' merit lists also shows a declining representation of the fairer sex. There are eight women and 17 males occupying the top 25 slots in the 2014 list, while the 2013 breakup reads 15 men and 10 women. In 2012, there were 12 women among the top 25.

However, one heartening trend seen in civil services exam results over the last three years is the growing number of differently-abled candidates making the final cut. As many as 53 physically challenged candidates (21 orthopaedically challenged, 14 visually challenged and 18 hearing impaired) cleared the exam this year, with Ira Singhal becoming the first ever differently-abled person to top the merit list. The merit list for 2012 and 2013 featured 34 and 30 physically-challenged candidates respectively.

In terms of geographical profile of the top 25 successful candidates, the results over the recent years confirm a pan-India distribution. The top 25 candidates this year are from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The 25 toppers in 2013 list were spread across 11 states, while those featuring in the 2012 list were from across 16 states.