Women’s share in civil services rises from 24% to 35% in 5 years; engineers over 50%: Govt data

NEW DELHI: The proportion of women qualifying for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) has increased from 24 per cent in 2019 to 35 per cent in 2023, the government told Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Engineering graduates consistently accounted for more than 50 per cent of successful candidates, data presented by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh showed.

Responding to a question, the minister presented five-year data showing a steady rise in the number of female candidates in the final merit list — from 220 out of 922 candidates in 2019 to 397 out of 1,132 in 2023.

At the same time, engineering stream candidates continued to dominate the merit list, with 554 engineers recommended in 2023, far outnumbering those from humanities (368), science (137), and medical science (73).

The data shows that engineering graduates formed the largest cohort every year from 2019 to 2023. The government also reported an increase in the number of bachelor's degree holders selected, rising from 672 in 2019 to 848 in 2023.

According to the answer, "Details with regard to CSE-2024 is under compilation as Reserve List has been declared on October 28, 2025 and result of CSE 2025 is not yet declared."

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit candidates for for All India Services like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), and various other government services. It is a three-stage process that includes a preliminary exam, a main examination (written), and a personality test (interview).