Students from across country flock to Chennai for IAS training

Twenty-six-year-old Akhilesh Kumar, a resident of Muzhffarpur in Bihar, is staying in Chennai for almost a year now. He lives as a paying guest in Anna Nagar, which is located only a few kilometres from the IAS coaching centre that he goes to. 

“In the last few years, Chennai has become the hub of education and many IAS coaching centres have become much more affordable here. Everybody goes to Delhi and it is difficult to get admission in good academies and find cheap accommodation in the capital. In Chennai, the institutions with good success rates are affordable and are located in the heart of the city,” says Akhilesh, who is all set to write the preliminary exams on June 18.

There are also institutions that give free coaching classes to the deserving students. For instance, Manidha Neyam IAS Academy, run by former Chennai Mayor Saidai S. Duraisamy, conducts an entrance exam every year to select deserving candidates and provide them with free coaching. This year the test will be conducted on April 30. 

The city also has an institute that is run by IAS officers. Officers IAS Academy is run by IAS officers who provide guidance to the aspirants. RA Israel Jebasingh, an IAS officer from 2004 batch, R Rangarajan from 2005 batch (All India Rank - 46), S Subramhanyan, IRAS (Retd) from 1979 batch and UPSC panel member and S Saravana Kumaran, IRS officer from 2004 batch are the brains behind the academy. 

“There are so many false notions about this examination,” says Israel Jebasingh, director of the academy, adding, “I was an average student and passed my college degree with arrears but managed to crack the exam twice. The trick is to make the base strong. So, we follow a school-like system where we go back to the NCERT textbooks to learn the concepts. Keeping up-to-date with current affairs is important, so we work on that. This apart, we conduct tests on a weekly basis and as the examination day comes closer, tests are conducted daily.’ The academy gives one-year training and this year 153 students from their academy will take the exam. 

The coaching institutes too are seeing an increase in outstation students. Monica S, admin of Ganesh IAS academy, says, “In recent years, we are seeing an increase in number of students coming from north India. Most of the students do their graduation here and stay back for the IAS training. We give a year-long training and pay extra attention on politics and external affairs.”