Every year, thousands of aspirants compete for UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE); however, few can clear all three rounds: Prelims, Mains and Personality tests. Many aspirants fall short of the list due to the limited vacancies available in the civil services. Some may clear the first two written examinations and get unlisted after the interview. For this, the Pratibha Setu, launched by PM Modi, is an initiative that empowers unselected candidates, serving as a bridge connecting them to potential employers. In this article, you will get a complete guide on Pratibha Setu and how it will benefit the UPSC aspirants who don’t make it to the final round.
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What is Pratibha Setu?
The ‘Pratibha’ in Pratibha Setu stands for Professional Resource and Talent Integration – Bridge for Hiring Aspirants. It is a well-designed, secure online repository managed by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). The platform plays a crucial role in offering a second employment opportunity by sharing and storing the profiles of the high-calibre candidates who have cleared all stages of the UPSC examination—Prelims, Mains, and the interview, but did not make it to the final merit list.
- The portal was first introduced as the Public Disclosure Scheme (PDS) on August 20, 2018, for a limited number of exams, mainly medical service exams.
- It was extended and relaunched on June 19, 2025. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an official announcement on August 31, 2025, which was aired in the 125th episode of ‘Man Ki Baat’.
- It is a structured and secure platform for verified employers of public and private institutions.
Features of Pratibha Setu:
The features of the digital portal of Pratibh Setu are as follows:
- Store Data of Aspirants: The portal has a backend that contains more than 10,000 aspirants from UPSC exams, including Civil Services, Engineering Services, CDS, IFS, CMS, and other national-level exams. Those candidates who voluntarily opt in are included, ensuring privacy and consent.
- Registration and Employer Access: Pratibha Setu is a platform where all verified employers, including central ministries, public institutions, the autonomous sector, private sector enterprises, etc., are registered using credentials such as CIN for private companies.
- User-friendly Dashboard: The portal’s interface is interactive and has been enhanced with user-friendly features for easy accessibility. The dashboard provides tools for notifications, candidate wishlisting, discipline-based research, shortlisting candidates, rejection and streamlined reporting for the recruitment procedure.
- Data Security and Transparency: For quick talent acquisition, the platform provides soft biodata of the candidate, such as academic qualifications, marks obtained in UPSC exams, subjects taken, and contact information. The system incorporates ethical data handling protocols to ensure users’ security and transparency.
- Career Opportunities: The Pratibha Setu portal provides an alternative career pathway for aspirants who missed the opportunity to get shortlisted. The platform will harness their talents for an alternative profession, providing employment. It is helpful for private or public recruiters searching for suitable talent.
- Easy Functionality: The candidates can easily update their profiles for employers. This portal enables them to open up diverse professional opportunities. On the other hand, employers view the profiles of potential candidates, search filters and contact information to get in touch with the candidate. It is like a second gateway for talented personnel.
Key Details of Pratibha Setu-
Eligible Exams List:
The Pratibha Setu online portal is available for some UPSC examinations that have cleared the three important rounds but were not selected due to limited seats. Below is the list of eligible UPSC exams that fall under the Pratibha Setu programme:
- Civil Services Examinations (CSE)
- Central Armed Police Forces Examination (CAPF)
- Indian Forest Service Examinations (IFoS)
- Engineering Services Examination (ESE)
- Indian Economic Service (IES)
- Indian Statistical Service (ISS)
- Combined Geo-Scientist Examination
- Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS)
- Combined Medical Services (CMS)
Exams that are Not Eligible:
However, some departmental exams are excluded from this initiative. In Pratibha Setu, only National-Level competitive exams are included. These exams that are not included are as follows:
- NDA (National Defence Academy)
- NA (Naval Academy)
- CBI, DSP, LDCE, CISF AC (EXE), SO/Steno (GE-B/GD-I) and other limited departmental exams
Process for Accessing the Platform-
Steps for Employer Registration:
- Visit the official site of Pratibha Setu. Click here: UPSC PRATIBHA Setu | UPSC
- Click on ‘Register your Organisation’.
- If you are a private enterprise, you must submit your CIN (Corporate Identification Number), along with an authorisation letter and departmental ID from the government organisation.
- Also, ensure that documents are organised according to the norms of the ministries, PSUs, and autonomous bodies.
- The next step is to verify your email through OTP confirmation. Please provide your email address; however, if you are a private organisation, ensure that your email address matches the records held by the MCA.
- You will be logged in to the Pratibha Setu portal. You can access the dashboard and its features, such as candidate filter search, exam stream, subject, location, qualification, shortlisting candidates, wishlist and download candidates’ soft biodata.
Benefits for Employer:
- The portal ensures genuine and registered employers.
- Free of cost registration.
- Easy steps to follow and a simple registration process.
- It ensures privacy, data security, and restricts access to candidate biodata to registered firms only.
- The process is structured to maintain high standards, ensuring ethical use of candidates’ data.
- It enables employers to reach out to personnel who have high calibre in specific fields.
Process of Candidates to Opt into Pratibha Setu:
The process of ‘Candidates Opt In’ to the Pratibha Setu platform is voluntary, after clearing all three stages of the eligible UPSC examinations, while their names are not in the final selection list. UPSC has specially designed the platform for these types of candidates, providing a second opportunity for employment in registered organisations. The process for how ‘Candidates Opt In’ will be given:
- After the declaration of the UPSC merit list, if the potential candidate does not get a position in the final merit list, Pratibha Setu offers an alternative professional opportunity.
- The candidates get an invitation to join the platform.
- They must opt for the Pratibha Setu initiative and register on the official portal.
- Create a profile and personal details, such as educational background, exam results, and contact information.
- For candidates, ‘Opt-In’ is voluntary, consent-based, and leverages control over data that is visible to employers.
- Candidates must confirm their approval to be included in the Candidate database, accessible to verified government and private employees.
Benefits for Candidates:
- It provides a second employment opportunity for candidates who have marginally missed the UPSC final list.
- It creates a bridge between talented personnel and registered public and private recruiters.
- Pratibha Setu is a user-friendly platform providing an interactive dashboard to showcase candidates’ capabilities and academic performance.
- Participation on this platform is voluntary, and you can control the data that recruiters see.
- It compensates for the years of UPSC preparations by providing an alternative career path. It reduces the distress caused by rewarding hard work through this portal.
- It opens doors for roles in policy research, CSR, governance, consultancy, the private sector, etc.
- It provides a direct connection by providing contact information to verified employers.
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Significance of Pratibha Setu and Future Goals-
The significance of UPSC Pratibha Setu in providing alternative career paths is:
- Empowering aspirants by providing them hope for meaningful employment.
- Preserving the intellectual resources by bringing career opportunities and linking them to suitable talents.
- Facilitating rewarding alternative career growth while recruiters get access to UPSC talents.
- Provides a transparent system for the recruitment process with candidates’ consent at its core.
- It strengthens the employment ecosystem by promoting multi-sectoral absorption of merit-based candidates, assisting the government and private sectors.
Future Objectives of Pratibha Setu are given as follows:
- Offering alternative career paths, except civil services, and ensuring that the efforts of talented aspirants are not wasted.
- Bridging the gap by offering a platform for a streamlined recruitment process to a pool of highly-qualified candidates.
- Promoting public and private sector integration by providing opportunities from ministries, self-governing bodies and private companies.
- By deploying skilled human resources in various sectors for national capacity building. With this initiative, there will be growth in the development of the administrative and technical workforce in India.
Conclusion-
In this blog, we conclude with the significance of Pratibha Setu, which leverages the talent of aspirants who came close to the final UPSC selection but were not chosen. This transparent and secure platform was created by UPSC to recognise the calibre of such aspirants and provide them with alternative career prospects. Employers seeking skilled and talented personnel can benefit from the platform. It lays out a meaningful roadmap for the better utilisation of India’s talent across diverse sectors, opening alternative career avenues and providing well-deserved recognition. Thus, Pratibha Setu stands as an online initiative driving inclusive employment and talent integration in India.