Minto Hostel at Patna University. Telegraph picture

Patna, Sept. 26: People from other states joke that UPSC are the first alphabets that children are taught in Bihar.

The state’s fixation with the civil services is nothing new. Bihar sends most candidates to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams. And the training to appear in the competition starts very early, mostly at home.

Now, the boarders of Minto Hostel, which houses students of Patna College, have taken an initiative to train each other on how to prepare for civil services exams.

The boarders have started organising quiz competitions, group discussions and interviews once a week in the hostel common room. This, they believe, would keep them updated and help them crack the difficult examination.

The initiative has received strong backing from some Patna College alumni who have already cleared the exams and are placed on higher administrative posts.

Yuvraj Kumar, one of the boarders, told The Telegraph that each week the contest focuses on different subjects.

“The hostel has around 100 seniors, mostly part II and part III students. The number of part I students is around 60. This initiative has been started by the seniors for the junior students. The aim is to prepare ourselves and all other boarders for the UPSC exams. These discussions and contests would be of a lot of help even if you do not clear the civils. No matter what profession or career you choose, the knowledge and experience would help you succeed,” he said.

Kumar added that the activities are organised once every week. “We started it two weeks back. The one-hour contest starts at 10.30 pm after dinner. Before this, we put up a no-tice about the subject the students should prepare for. It can be English, political science, economics or any other subject. A list of 50 questions is prepared apart from 10 questions on current affairs. All students participate but the prizes are only for the juniors,” he said.

Abhishek Kumar, another senior student, said that the questions are prepared in the module of the UPSC examination.

“Several of our seniors competed in the civil services examination and cleared it. They were all boarders of the Minto Hostel. When we contacted them, they were more than ready to help us out. One of our seniors, Ranjit Kumar successfully qualified for the IAS last year and is presently serving as an ADM at Junagarh in Gujarat. Then there is Amit Kumar, who cleared the examinations this year,” the student said.

The students said that they were aware of the fact that aspirants had not been able to clear the final hurdle, which was the interview. And they were preparing for that too.

Once the quiz is done, three students who have answered most of the questions are selected.

“These three are then given a topic for group discussion. The winner is given the title of “Mr Mintonian”. And they are given prizes like books, watches or mobile phones.

All the topics are suggested to them by seniors who have been successful in clearing the examinations.

“To help the juniors, a group of senior students form a board and conduct interviews,” said Santosh Lal, another senior student.

The junior students at the hostels said that the initiative has been a boon for them.

�The seniors should really be praised to start something like this. It gives us an insight about the IAS examinations, something which is our dream. It prepares us while we are graduating. It is a great help,� they said.