More often than not, we wonder when a credible aspirant could not make it through the interview. And when this happens we look at the sample papers he/she has written before, to see what went wrong and compare the ones who got through.The answer we always found is simplicity. Both have written same content but the way it was represented , makes all the difference.
If we draw little analogy from famous yet brilliant movies , for eg:- Pulp Fiction(English) ,Sholay(Hindi) , Nayagan (Tamil) ,Godavari (Telugu) ,Gapa helebi Sata( Odia) , The Good Road (Gujrati) – Naagarahaavu (Kannada), Manichitrathazhu(Malaylam), Shwaas (Marathi) , Aparajita Tumi(Bengali) – the story line is not out of the box , but their representation was out of the box and that is why they got the success.A credible aspirant with incredible dedication when could not get the success – the reason behind this is simple – He/She has all the content , but the write-up was complex , superfluous and unnecessary adjectives make the reading cumbersome.
*The movies we have picked only for cause of explanation .
Civil services examinations are not there to show our literary skills , but to show the depth of our understanding. It has always been difficult to write the complex things in the simpler way.If you look at the best leaders – they have always followed simplicity. Their writing rarely have a wasted word, that means they have deeper understanding of things compared to other.
Another example would be , all of us would have come across editorials of Hindu newspaper, when a particular journalist or people from other profession writes a piece , more often than not we find it non-engaging .But when we come across an article written by serving/retired bureaucrats , we know how engaging it is.
One such inspiring article one would be this:-
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/pulling-a-village-out-of-poverty/article5797148.ece
In day-to-day life too, almost all of us use Google as our search engine. There were search engine before and after google, but there is only one google. Its algorithm is one the most complex , as we have heard.So while the background , or thoughts in our mind can be complex , it is essential to represent them in simple manner.Simplicity appeals to everyone, it helps you connect with the reader , not offend him/her with your literary arrogance (even though not intended) .
This exam does not demand greater skills ,it demands greater understanding .
“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you probably don’t understand it yourself.” – Albert Einstein
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[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.