Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh on Tuesday felicitated the top 20 rank holders of the civil services examination, the majority of them being women, here and said the country is moving from women participation to women leadership.

In his welcome address, he described the 2022 batch of civil servants as the "Batch of Change Leaders", as they will be in key positions of governance when India will celebrate 100 years of Independence after 25 years as one of the frontline countries of the world.

Singh said, the first four toppers and 60 per cent out of the top 20 happen to be women and this is a great reflection of demographic change happening in the last nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, where India is moving from women participation to women leadership, according to an official statement.?

The top 20 candidates comprise 12 female and 8 male candidates, it said.

He recalled that last year also the top three toppers were women and hoped that hattrick will be made in the 2023 civil services examination.

Singh also underlined that this year out of the top 20, there are only eight engineers, one medico and the rest are from humanities and he welcomed this change describing it democratisation of services through optimum use of technology.

These top 20 candidates had called on the minister at the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) headquarters at North Block here. The result of the exam was declared on 23rd May 2023.

Singh also took note of the demographic change happening over the last few years and said that they represent a pan-India coverage as these candidates hail from the states and union territories of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.?

He said this gender and demographic change augurs well for a diverse country like India.?

The minister also underlined that even candidates having done schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya School and government schools are cracking the exam, while earlier it was mostly confined to elite schools.

Singh also informed the officers that there is a huge and positive change in curricula at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie in tune with modern times, and apart from Mission Karmayogi and Mission Prarambh, young probationers will have a three-month stint of mentorship at the central government before getting the respective state or union territory to join the allocated cadre.

A total of 933 candidates (613 men and 310 women) have been recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for appointment to various services on the basis of the results of the civil services examination 2022.

On the occasion, Singh also released the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) civil list 2023.?

The publication of the e-book IAS civil list 2023 has enabled the Department of Personnel & Training to do away with the traditional way of printing voluminous IAS civil lists.?

The e-book IAS civil list is an effort by the department to contribute towards the Digital India initiative of the government of India.?

This move will also lead to economic utilisation of resources by reducing expenditure towards publishing the civil list, said the statement issued by the personnel ministry.

-With PTI Input