Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push for women’s empowerment seems to have begun to show its commendable impact at least in the realm of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), where women’s representation has reached a record 41 percent in the 2024 batch. It was disclosed by Union Minister of Personnel Jitendra Singh during an interaction with IAS officer trainees of the 2024 batch at the Civil Services Officers’ Institute in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Singh said the nearly 41 percent representation of women officers reflects broader social changes underway in India. He added that several states that earlier had limited representation in civil services are now producing larger numbers of successful candidates.
Singh described this growing woman representation in the IAS as a reflection of the “democratisation of opportunity” in contemporary India. The personnel minister said the changing character of India’s civil services mirrors the larger transformation taking place across the country.
Tuesday’s interaction was part of the Assistant Secretary Programme, under which 184 IAS officers of the 2024 batch have been attached to 49 ministries and departments of the Centre for eight weeks between May 4 and June 25, 2026, to gain exposure to policymaking and administrative functioning.
While addressing the young officers under the Assistant Secretary Programme, Singh said the current generation of civil servants would occupy key leadership positions when India completes 100 years of Independence in 2047. “India@2047 will belong to you,” he told the trainees.
The minister urged the trainee bureaucrats to lead the country’s next phase of governance transformation with innovation, accountability and public service at the core.
Among senior officials present during the programme were Chhavi Bhardwaj, Joint Secretary (Training), Department of Personnel and Training; Shanmuga Priya Mishra, Joint Director at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration; and Kranthi Kumar Pati, Deputy Director at the academy.
Singh emphasized that the Assistant Secretary Programme, introduced under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance, has significantly changed the early administrative exposure available to IAS officers by creating a more confident and policy-oriented civil service.
Highlighting the diverse educational backgrounds of the trainees, noting that 78 officers in the current batch come from engineering streams, alongside candidates from medicine, law, management, and humanities, the minister said governance today increasingly requires technological understanding and interdisciplinary thinking as administration becomes more data-driven and digitally connected.
Singh said that the future administrators must combine technological competence with empathy and sensitivity while focusing on meaningful public outcomes.
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