FROM #236 TO #1, THE STORY OF IAS TOPPERS’ GIANT LEAP

When Aditya Srivastava and his loved ones erupted in joy after he dramatically improved his previous ranking of 236 to emerge as the 2024 topper for the Union Public Service Commision (UPSC) exam on April 16, he wasn’t the only one to make an unbelievable vault in the civil services exam rankings, reminiscent of the legendary Sergey Bubka. Many other successful candidates across the country achieved this feat, learning from their past mistakes and making amends.

“Throughout my preparations, my basic focus was on identifying mistakes I committed that lowered my score and rectifying it in order to up my score,” said 26-year-old Srivastava, a graduate from IIT-Kanpur and Lucknow native.

He highlighted the importance of learning from peers. “I approached friends who had scored higher in these subjects, picked up things that I missed during preparations,” he said.

Similarly, Ayan Jain, who leaped from an impressive rank of 87 to an outstanding 16, attributed his success to a meticulous analysis of previous years’ question papers. “The only change in my approach was that this year I gave the exam with more focus,” said the IIT-Delhi graduate from Bhopal.

Other notable achievers include 35-year-old Sameer Khode from Nagpur, who ascended from rank 551 to 42. “I worked more on bringing in my personal opinion and experiences in the optional subject [political science]. I also made use of data sets wherever possible, instead of just quoting theories. I think these changes in my approach have helped me to a great extent,” said Khode, an IIM-Lucknow alumnus.

Ashish Patil, a 26-year-old from Kolhapur, climbed from rank 563 to 147. He underscored the importance of fine-tuning study methods and bolstering confidence.

Be self-reliant

Offering advice to aspiring candidates, Bhavesh Khayalia from Hisar in Haryana, who surged from rank 280 to 46, underscored the value of self-reliance in preparations. “You should not fall prey to the academy but be honest with yourself while preparing,” he advised.

Meerut’s Medha Anand, currently posted in the Prayagraj division of North Central Railways, jumped from rank 311 to 13, never letting go of her dream of becoming an IAS officer. She said her mother kept her motivated to keep trying.

IRS officer Pawan Kumar Goel from Dehradun went from rank 131 to 28. “We didn’t know he was preparing again for the exams. We are delighted,” said grandmother Rama Goel.

Yogesh Dilhor from Panchkula, Haryana, who vaulted from rank 633 to 55, shared his journey marred by challenges but propelled by family support. “Even with less effort due to my illness, I secured a good rank this time, which I believe is due to the foundation I had built over the years,” he said.

Harsh Choudhary from Rajasthan, who soared from 528 to 254, highlighted the importance of rigorous mock tests and rectifying mistakes.

G Sahi Darsini from Hyderabad secured rank 112 after failing to clear the prelims in her first two attempts. She used mostly online resources, including free YouTube channels, to prepare.

She attributed her success to taking more risks in her approach. “I used to answer only 70-75 questions. But, this time, I evaluated the questions better and answered about 90 questions,” she said.

PK Sidharth Ramkumar from Ernakulam in Kerala improved his rank from 121 to fourth. “He took a lot of online mock interviews, attended coaching classes. He used to refer to NCERT’s syllabus. Peer groups helped him a lot,” his brother Adarsh said.

Never give up

Shivam Kumar from Samastipur district of Bihar transitioned from two disappointing failures and ranked 309 in his third attempt to secure a high ranking of 19 in the 2023 exam. “Working as an income tax officer in Nagpur, I carried on with my studies,” said the 25-year-old whose dream was to become an IAS officer.

For Aurangabad’s Prem Kumar, the journey from rank 677 to 130 underscored the sacrifices and hard work invested in achieving his dream after leaving his medical profession behind.

Ayushi Pradhan from Bhubaneswar, who climbed from rank 334 to 36 in her third attempt, emphasised a shift in focus towards presentation and precision in answers. “I used to do meditation and yoga to avoid distractions,” she said.

For the three toppers from Gujarat, it was their third attempt. Vishnu Sasikumar, Anjali Thakur and Atul Tyagi secured ranks 31, 43 and 62, respectively.

“There is no secret ingredient. With each attempt, the aspirant gets a better perspective of the pattern of questions and better equipped for the interviews. In my case, I focused on the basic books, but devised answers on my own for the mains,” said Tyagi, who improved from rank 145.

Eshani Anand, whose father is a Tamil Nadu-cadre IAS officer and mother a doctor at Madras Medical College, was unsatisfied with her 2022 ranking of 291, despite securing an IRS job. A fan of Rubik’s cube, philosophy books, including the Gita, and badminton, this multi-talented engineer decided to take the exam again and improved her rank to 79.

“I analysed my mistakes, tried to correct them, did a lot of writing practice and took more mock tests. I also read magazines and journals for the general studies paper,” she explained.

With inputs from Isha Jain, Ramendra Singh, Kumar Mukesh, Ishita Jairath, TC Sreemol, Faryal Rumi, Krishna Chaudhary and Tanmayee Tyagi.