The story of a visually impaired IAS officer

Simhachalam cleared civil service examinations and secured IAS against all odds. Owing his success to technology, Simhachalam credited screen reading software for helping him read and navigate easily through books and newspapers.

Hyderabad: Simhachalam, Paulo Coelho-inspired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Andhra Pradesh braved against challenging conditions to clear one of the toughest and challenging examinations in the world.

Visually impaired since birth, Simhachalam was born into a poor family with little financial resources in Gudapalli village of East Godavari district.

However, he dreamt big and set the target of cracking the civil service examination taunted as 'mother of all exams.'

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Simhachalam said that family support throughout his journey made a big difference as he took three attempts to achieve the required rank to be an IAS officer. Besides, his professor in college believed in his abilities and extended unconditional support.

During his first attempt, Simhachalam manage to secure a post in the Indian Trade Service. However, his secretly nurtured dream of IAS still remained as the main target.

In his second attempt, he joined the Indian Revenue Service and worked for over a year before making his third bid for the top post.

In 2018, Simhachalam secured the required rank and became an officer in the Indian Administrative Service. He credits his friends and family for the support during the testing times.

Owing his success to technology, Simhachalam credited screen reading software for helping him read and navigate easily through books and newspapers.

Inspired by the works of Paulo Coelho, Simhachalam quotes the infamous line from the 'Alchemist' to describe his journey.

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it," says Simhachalam soaking in the celebrations and joys of his loved ones.

Read: States across India have shortage of bureaucrats