SPS Oberoi, a former army officer and UPSC mentor, has claimed that a student of his who cleared the civil services examination in 2023 received a ₹125 crore dowry offer.

In a podcast with ANI's Smita Prakash, Oberoi, faculty at Ekam IAS Academy, said the obsession with civil servants has gone beyond government jobs and is now closely tied to social prestige, elite marriages and family status.

Recalling a conversation about UPSC toppers and matchmaking within the bureaucracy, Oberoi said, “One of my students, in the 2023 results, got a dowry offer of ₹125 crore. I was like, ‘Are you nuts? Why such craze? Why work at all after that?’”

The remarks came when asked about matchmaking happening at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. 

“It’s all about social status - ‘My son-in-law is an IPS officer.’ You get my point?” he noted.

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Referring to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Oberoi said, “She used to say, ‘The bureaucracy in our country is an elitist bureaucracy. We need a committed bureaucracy.’ But her definition of commitment was commitment to the political master. That is wrong. We need commitment to constitutional values.”

Oberoi also spoke about behaviour and hierarchy within the system and recalled seeing a video involving an IPS officer and a constable.

“I saw a reel a couple of months ago. An IPS officer gets out of a car, a constable standing there gives him a tight salute, and he did not even look at him,” he said.

“In the armed forces, we are taught that every salute must be returned with a salute,” he added.

“What is the use of a rank or an education that takes away your humanity?” Oberoi said.

About UPSC

The UPSC Civil Services Examination is one of the country’s most competitive exams and is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment into services such as the IAS, IPS, IFS and other Group A and Group B central services.

The examination is conducted in three stages — Preliminary, Mains and Interview. Candidates who clear all three stages are selected for India’s top administrative and police services.

According to official government data, 9,37,876 candidates applied for the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025, while 5,76,793 candidates appeared for the preliminary exam. Out of them, 14,161 candidates qualified for the Mains examination and 958 candidates were finally recommended for appointment.

Published on: May 26, 2026 7:43 PM IST