india

Updated: Sep 17, 2014 15:53 IST

Vice-chancellor of Patna University YC Simhadri on Wednesday likened Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers to clerks and said civil services examinations were similar to undergraduate examinations conducted by colleges. 

He was delivering a lecture at Nebula, the foundation and fresher’s day programme at the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna (IIT-P).

"I do not consider IAS examinations great. People failing three times in a row somehow pass in the fourth year to become IAS. They are simply clerks in a government office," YC Simhadri said.

He added that the entrance exams for the IITs test students' calibre and select only the best.

"IITs are a brand. An IITian is considered a valuable human resource across the world," he said.



Read | CSAT row: Voices for and against the new pattern

He also took exception to the government merging separate and distinguished institutions like Banaras Hindu University (BHU) with the IIT and renaming Bihar College of Engineering (BCE) as National Institute of Technology. 

"BHU and IITs are two world class institutions. Merging them has dissolved their importance. Similarly, BCE, a prestigious constituent college under PU, was unnecessarily given a separate name and identity. If the government loved Varanasi and Patna so much, it should have started a separate IIT and an NIT," Simhadri said, evincing applause.

He said he considered former chief minister Nitish Kumar as a man of vision, who brought forth an IIT and other reputed institutions to Patna and upped its educational status.



Read | CSAT row: Govt says no more changes to UPSC exam

Simhadri advised students to dream big, set high professional and personal goals, nurture ideas, measure success by problem-solving ability and not wealth and always give back to society by performing duties with high integrity. 

"At present, people doing good things are criticised or troubled. Never lose heart over negative criticism but embrace positive criticism," said Simhadri.