Preparing for examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a ‘waste of time,’ according to economist Sanjeev Sanyal, who also said that aspirants must not appear for UPSC exams unless they genuinely want to be an administrator.

“I think way too many young kids who have so much energy, are wasting their time trying to crack UPSC. Every country needs a bureaucracy, so taking such an exam is perfectly fine. But I think lakhs of people spend their best years, when a tiny number of a few thousand people actually are going to get in…it makes no sense. If the same energy is put into doing something else, we would be winning more Olympic gold medals, get better movies, better doctors, more scientists, and so on,” Sanyal told Siddharth Ahluwalia on the latter’s ‘The Neon Show’ podcast.

The economist, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), continued: “I always discourage people, unless they really want to be an administrator, from sitting for a UPSC exam. Life in the bureaucracy is not meant for everybody. You will be happy, only if you really want to do it.”

Sanyal, 53, also touched upon ‘poverty of aspiration,’ and cited Bihar and West Bengal to support his argument.

“In an environment where pseudo-intellectuals and union leaders are role models (West Bengal), or small-time local goon politicians (Bihar), the only way out is to basically become a civil servant. However, that too, is a poverty of aspiration. You must dream to be an Elon Musk or a Mukesh Ambani. Why do you dream to be a joint secretary?” he asked.

Bad leaders in a society are a reflection of what that society aspires for, Sanyal remarked.