Twenty-four-year-old Prakash Raj Purohit managed to crack the Civil Services examination after two attempts. On his second attempt in 2009, he achieved the second rank in the examination.
“I was expecting a rank within the top three,” admitted Mr. Prakash, a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi.
He is currently teaching at a coaching institute for IIT aspirants. Mr. Prakash also obtained an overall rank 4 in the 2003 IIT-JEE examination.
Job satisfaction
Speaking about the move from engineering to a career in Civil Services, he said: “The latter offers greater job satisfaction, more diversity and a chance for public service.”
Consistent hard work made him confident about his prospects. “I studied for eight-twelve hours daily for the past two-and-a-half years. My parents were a constant source of support.”
Twenty-five-year-old Dr. Garima Mittal who secured the eighth rank said strategising and time management were key to cracking the Civil Services examination.
Admitting that a great deal of hard work and preparation over a long period of time was needed, she added: “I did take time off to spend time with my friends and to watch movies.”
Iva Sahay, an M.A. student from Jawharlal Nehru University here, secured the third rank.
Based on the results of the written part of Civil Services (Main) Examination-2009 held by the Union Public Service Commission in October-November and the interviews for Personality Test held in March-April, 2010, a total of 875 candidates have been selected for appointment to the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and Central Services
These include 399 general category candidates, 273 from the Other Backward Classes and 127 and 76 candidates each from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes categories.
