Daijiworld Media Network- Mangaluru (VP)

Mangaluru, Jan 11: Mullai Muhilan, deputy commissioner (DC) of Mangaluru, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who belongs to the 2013 batch was driven by his childhood passion towards serving people. He pursued his dream of becoming an IAS officer to contribute to the country and was inspired from discussions that he had with his father during his early years. Muhilan realised the vital role that an IAS officer played and the need to bring about changes in the society.

Muhilan's journey to success in the UPSC examination 2013 can be attributed to his hard work and determination. Despite having problems in speaking native languages and facing setbacks he cleared the civil services exam in his first attempt with a lower score and thus became an IRS officer. In his second attempt too he did not get good marks. Later, by understanding the way questions are framed and the answers that the evaluators expect he successfully cleared IAS in his third attempt. He was ranked 46.

Muhilan, who is a native of Tamil Nadu, pursued engineering and after completing his BTech he moved to Delhi for IAS exam preparation. Says Muhilan, "I travelled to Delhi without knowing the language, it was difficult initially but the process of preparation for the IAS exam is bound to transform anybody. I believe that the IAS exam was a journey and passing it was merely a reward."

Muhilan started his career as an assistant commissioner in Jamkhandi in North Karnataka. "This place was challenging because of the different landscape of the region. There would be floods in one area and people experienced drought in some villages not too far away from the flooded region,” he says.

Later, he became the managing director of Smart City, Belagavi and followed up by being posted as managing director of Smart City Shivamogga. As the deputy commissioner of Uttara Kannada district, Muhilan says, "I joined during the tough and challenging Covid-19 period and helped in shoring up the hospital infrastructure of the district. My work involved meeting a lot of people which meant a lot of work and many of the times my work involved just listening to their problems which made me feel helpless at times. But in a democracy it's about competing groups."

Addressing a gathering of civil services aspirants, Muhilan emphasised that it is important to join as a civil servant only if one aspires for it and dreams about it. He felt that exams are pretty easy to crack but the only challenging part is the number of people appearing for such exams.

He said, "People in the past would complete their education and then join the civil services. But, now things are changing. People put in two to three years of work experience and then take up the examination. Stop consulting people for advice and start acting. The only way it will be easy to clear the examination is by reading the newspapers daily and making sure you are aware of the current affairs. Taking decisions in your prime age is essential. So it is essential to have a clear mindset. Compared to my previous job as an engineer, I am drawing a good salary although it is not possible to lead a lavish lifestyle. However, the journey and the exposure to administration has been much sweeter than the destination. It was a transformative experience the way our mindset changes and the efforts one puts into it."

He emphasised that it is enough if you score 50% in UPSC exams and that's the highest one can get. However, he says UPSC is only about competition. It is necessary to have a backup plan and try to clear the examination in one or two attempts, he says.