New Delhi: "Hard work, compassionate and right attitude is the key to success and that is what kept me going", said Madhya Pradesh girl Nidhi Bansal who secured 23rd rank in UPSC 2019.
29-year-old Nidhi Bansal has secured the 23rd rank in the recently declared UPSC examination 2019. An epitome of strong determination, willpower, Bansal had successfully cleared the UPSC examination earlier twice and she has been posted as an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer in the year 2016. She secured 226th rank in the year 2017. Bansal is currently undergoing training in Jharkhand Police Academy, Hazaribagh.
Ever since then, there was no looking back for Nidhi as her quest to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer grew stronger. In the year 2011, she completed B.Tech in Computer engineering from Chennai and joined a job in Bengaluru but within one year she left a job to achieve something bigger. It is worth noting that She has cleared the UPSC civil services exam 2019 three times out of her five attempts.
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Bansal said that she was working as a software engineer in the year 2013 but could not feel the connection as at the back of mind there was always a desire to be a civil servant.
"It was a dream for me to become an IAS officer and serve the people. I knew IPS would provide me with one of the best platforms to serve the public but IAS would give me relatively more opportunity so that kept me motivated. I was even aware of my weaknesses in the exam and worked hard to rectify it. At times my health got compromise but hard work paid off". Said, Nidhi Bansal to ETV Bharat.
She believes that dedication and commitment are the key factors in life that helps one achieve their goals despite all odds in life.
"For civil service aspirants, it is necessary to focus on authentic study source and revision is the main mantra and quality source, test series, time management is a must ". She adds.
There is no dearth of talent in the youth of Northeast, 11 candidates from Northeast region have brought laurels by clearing the UPSC examinations and among them, Assam's Aranyak Saikia secured 59th rank in the toughest examination of the country with Economics as his main subject. Aranyak, a 2017 batch IPS officer, is already serving in Karnataka cadre. He is the son of former Assam DGP Kuladhar Saikia. This is for the third time that Aranyak has cleared the examination.
Saikia believes that UPSC examinations have an element of addiction as the thirst for knowledge keeps snowballing and motivates to improve and attempt again and again.
"I have seen people working hard and accomplishing it big, so if they can do, why not I?. This kept me get going and I have planned, the third attempt to be the last one", Aranyak told ETV Bharat.
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Saikia says, "It has been an enriching experience so far with up's and downs, it required perseverance, hard work that kept me moving forward. In the year 2017, I attempted for the first time without coaching classes and cracked the civil service securing 148 ranks, I got enrolled in IPS. But in the year 2018, the rank got worsened to 287th".
Further, he said that there could be an element of luck apart from hard work. "I spent 3-4 hours daily on studies but it keeps changing. Yet, there is no hard or fast rule but consistency is required", he shared.
Aranyak's family has been the strongest pillar of support and his father has been his guiding star. However, their support was more of emotional support. The 26-year old Assam lad aims to serve the people in whatever capacity he can and brainstorm towards improving the delivery of services. He also plans to pursue a PhD in Economics- the area that interests him the most.
Moving further, meet Sarjana Yadav from Bihar, daughter of Ashok Kumar Yadav, IES (Retd) who has secured 126th rank in the Civil Services Examination -2019. She is slated for joining IAS given her position. Hailing from Hajipur, Bihar but residing in Delhi NCR, Sarjana is perhaps the first girl from Yadav community in Bihar since independence.
An Engineering graduate from DTU, 26 years old Sarjana always had dreamt of being a civil servant ever since her childhood. Her family background also added to her achievements.
"After working for three years in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), I quit my job in 2018 and dedicatedly devote myself for UPSC examinations", Sarjana said.
She believes that to achieve something one has to take a risk; Life is nothing without risk. Sarjana endeavours to act as the mediator between the government and people, address the issue of the people and help the government to devise policies which are fruitful for people.
"I have always believed in an honest and disciplined self-study since school days. I only enrolled in online test series with Sociology as my main subject", she adds.
It, however, deserves a special mention that Sarjana is the granddaughter of eminent social worker Late Sri Ram Sagar Rai and Panna Devi.
Through the 2019 edition of the exam, a total of 829 candidates have been selected for various Civil Services.
