CHENNAI: In the wake of rising demand from aspirants preparing for the UPSC Mains examinations to join the state government-run All India Civil Services Coaching Centre (AICSCC), the institute has introduced online coaching this year and enrolled 75 students. Earlier, the institute offered online coaching for prelims examination alone.
This apart, AICSCC has also pushed the intake for the full-time residential coaching from 220 candidates to 296. Of the 710 UPSC aspirants from the state who cleared the prelims this year, 496 applied for admissions in AICSCC and 371 have enrolled in the institute.
To accommodate as many candidates as possible, the institute arranged for additional accommodation nearby and launched the coaching in online mode. The move is part of the state government’s efforts to improve Tamil Nadu’s representation in the civil services, which dropped to just 27 in 2021, under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme, said officials.
In 2024, 57 candidates from TN were selected for the civil services, the highest in the last five years, with 35 of them trained at AICSCC. In comparison, the institute had only seven successful candidates in 2021. Historically, AICSCC has had a strong record, contributing 73 of the 100 selected candidates in 2014, its best performance in the last decade. According to officials, the number of applications for mains classes itself is an indication of the institute regaining its influence in helping aspirants prepare for the exam.
Besides, AICSCC also trains 225 candidates full-time and 100 candidates part-time for the upcoming prelims. Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC) in coordination with AICSCC will hold an examination on July 26 to select 1,000 aspirants, who will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 7,500 for 10 months to prepare for prelims under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme. Based on this examination, interested aspirants will also be admitted for coaching in AICSCC in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai.
Speaking about the growing participation of women in UPSC exams, T Sankara Saravanan, principal of AICSCC, said that 30% of the 375 candidates currently preparing for the mains at the institute are women. “Even though there is no reservation for women in union government services, their participation in our programme has steadily increased. This shows the impact of state initiatives like Naan Mudhalvan scheme and Pudhumai Penn programme,” he said, adding that 40% of the successful candidates from AICSCC are women, higher than the national average of 24%-34%.
Saravanan noted that once the new residential facility to accommodate 500 aspirants in Anna Nagar is completed, the institute will be able to support even more candidates.