The high of being a civil servant is second to none. In Hyderabad, coaching for civil services examinations has caught on in the city over the years. In fact, till 2000, the city was considered to be the destination for aspirants from entire south India.

Till the late 1990s, only a handful of coaching centers played a major role in attracting students from all southern states. At that time, Hyderabad Study Circle, RC Reddy Study Circle, Rau’s Study Circle, and Brain Tree, apart from AP Study Circle, were the prominent institutes and were the only ones.

Later, some institutes from Delhi tried to set up their base here but could not sustain themselves for long. Telugu people, who themselves were civil service aspirants once upon a time, made a slow beginning around this time.

And one institute that stands out is the Hyderabad Study Circle (HSC), which is a go-to center for civil services coaching in the ‘80s and ‘90s. It was started by civil servants who wanted to impart the knowledge they had. DGP M Mahendra Reddy and former city police commissioner MV Krishna Rao were among those who were actively involved in it. While HSC was affordable, AP Study Circle was government-run, supporting the scheduled castes and tribes.In fact, the AP study circle was a role model for several governments in the country, according to the director of Brain Tree, V Gopalakrishna. And HSC was the first institute to modernize its classrooms and use technology.

Meanwhile, the BC Study Circle was started with a focus on backward classes by Prof Burra Venketesham, who was the topper in the 1995 batch. He is now adopting various strategies as per the instructions of Telangana CM K Chandrasekhara Rao, who is modernizing the institute and taking it to districts.

Around 2000, there was a surge in private institutions, but now there are just six to seven of them. Others have opened doors for Group I, Group II, and other services. Osmania University VC D Ravinder to started a center at the varsity, while Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) has revived its center this year.