Women's Share in Civil Services Up from 24% to 35% in 5 Years; Engineers Over 50%, Says Govt Data

PTI, NEW DELHI, DEC 10: 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 the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Engineering graduates consistently accounted for more than 50 per cent of successful candidates, according to data presented by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh. 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 show 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 are under compilation as the Reserve List was declared on October 28, 2025, and the result of CSE 2025 is not yet declared."

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit candidates for All India Services such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and various other government services.