Sanjeev Sanyal, a prominent economist and member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, has sparked a heated debate with his recent remarks on the relevance of the UPSC exam and traditional universities in the age of artificial intelligence. Sanyal's bold statement that UPSC preparation is a 'waste of time' has ignited a national conversation, challenging India's long-standing obsession with elite competitive exams and conventional university degrees.
In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, Sanyal argues that India's education system and career aspirations are dangerously out of sync with the realities of an AI-driven future. He criticizes the single-minded pursuit of UPSC for job security, highlighting the extremely low success rate and the high opportunity cost of spending years preparing for a single exam. Sanyal's criticism is particularly aimed at what he describes as the rise of 'professional UPSC aspirants' who repeatedly attempt the exam without success, tying up years of productive potential.
Sanyal's concerns extend beyond UPSC to India's conventional university model. He argues that lecture-based classrooms and rigid academic structures are increasingly disconnected from the realities of modern work. According to Sanyal, skills now evolve far faster than university curricula, while artificial intelligence systems are already more effective at delivering up-to-date knowledge. He emphasizes that the problem is not education itself but how learning and skilling are currently organized, with universities operating on static models that struggle to keep pace with rapidly changing tools and technologies.
To address these challenges, Sanyal advocates for a structural shift towards apprenticeships and early work experience. He suggests that students should enter the workforce sooner and combine work with flexible, online learning, rather than remaining trapped in prolonged academic cycles. Sanyal draws from his own college experience, noting that much of his time as a student was unproductive, reinforcing his belief that a system allowing individuals to work early, study modularly, and take exams when ready would be more efficient and realistic.
Despite his criticism of the current system, Sanyal clarifies that his remarks are not an argument against universities themselves. Instead, he emphasizes that doing things the way they are currently being done is a waste of time and resources. Sanyal's latest comments build on warnings he first raised in March 2024 and reiterated during a podcast in August 2025, challenging the near-mythical status of the UPSC exam as a defining life ambition.
This renewed debate raises important questions about India's education system and its ability to equip its youth for the fast-evolving world of work. Are traditional pathways still relevant in an era of rapid technological change, or are they trapping young people in dreams shaped by a more stable and predictable past?
