Hyderabad: Nukala Uma Harathi, who secured all India third rank in the UPSC 2022 civil services examination, results of which were declared on Tuesday, credits her success to her father, a police officer. Harathi's father, N Venkateshwarlu is currently serving as the Superintendent of Police of Narayanpet district in Telangana.
Harathi, a B.Tech graduate in Civil Engineering from IIT, Hyderabad, cleared the exam on her fifth attempt, with Anthropology as her optional subject. When reporters' asked who motivated her to prepare for the civil services, she replied, "My father, completely, 100 per cent."
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Harathi said education and women empowerment are the two areas of interest. "I believe they are low-hanging fruits for social development and if I get to work on them I would give my best." Asked what would she suggest to the civil service aspirants who look forward to cracking the exam in the future, she said: "I would suggest they understand the exam and prepare accordingly."
"Focus on the syllabus and previous years' questions and nothing else. It can be a long journey though there are people who have cleared on the first attempt as well. So aspirants should try and keep their emotional health intact. Develop a sense of balance both in preparation (for the exams) and in life. Pursue your hobbies so that you can manage your stress levels," she said.
She described her family and friends as the support system that enabled her to crack the highly-competitive exam. The girl said she only hoped to secure a good rank but did not expect to come third in the test. Stressing that family support was crucial during the strenuous preparation for the exam, Harathi said, "Either male or female, family support is crucial to achieve the goal. This exam process requires emotional support, family support. Information and content, books are available online, but emotional support, family support is not available. That is important."
To a query about those who feel disappointed and resort to extreme steps like suicide when confronted with failures, she said youngsters should not feel demotivated. Citing her own example, she said she has seen many a failure during her preparation in the last five years. In a message to parents of civil services aspirants, she said they should allow their children pursue their dreams without doubting their abilities. Education and women empowerment are Uma Harathi's areas of interest.
Harathi's father, who was in awe of his daughter's achievement said she has brought laurels to Narayanpet district. Venkateswarulu said her achievement was not accidental, but the result of the planned efforts put in by his daughter which was supported by him, his wife and son since the last 10 years.
He advised students to focus on their studies and not waste their time on unwanted things. As many as 933 candidates -- 613 men and 320 women -- have qualified for the civil services examination 2022, the results of which were announced on Tuesday by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The top 25 candidates comprise 14 women and 11 men, it said. The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- by the UPSC to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
The first four rank holders are all women as Garima Lohia, Uma Harathi N and Smriti Mishra secured the second, third and fourth ranks in the examination. (Agency inputs)
Also read: 'Happy to serve my country': Meet Ishita Kishore, sports enthusiast, who topped UPSC 2022 exams
