Candidates from the State managed to bag top ranks in the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2013, the final results of which were declared on Thursday. Dharwad-based Gurudatta Hegde (26), who wrote the exam in Kannada, bagged the 25th rank.
Mr. Hegde is originally from Sirsi. His father is a labour contractor, while his mother is a schoolteacher. The CSE 2013 was his third attempt, having previously qualified for the interview stage. The engineering graduate from R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, went to New Delhi for nine months after college for coaching and prepared for the exam for another three years on his own.
“I was always drawn towards administration and was inspired by the good work of IAS officers in Dharwad. I worked in NGOs as well. The sectors I am interested in working in are rural governance, e-governance and women’s empowerment,” he said.
His advice for aspiring candidates? Keep up the hard work and “be smart” while preparing by knowing what is necessary. He added that his preparations were with a group of four other people.
Laxman Nimbargi (26), an engineering graduate from Hubli, who was ranked 104th, was part of this group. Having prepared for five years, this was his third attempt and first interview call.
“I worked as a lecturer in an engineering college for six months and as a volunteer for an NGO. As I come from a small village in Bijapur, I have seen the problems and issues in villages and want to contribute to their development. I am interested in working in areas such as youth empowerment and education,” he said, and added that he found the competition difficult as he completed his primary education in Kannada-medium.
Twenty-six-year-old software engineer B.M. Lakshmi Prasad bagged the 151st rank on his second attempt. “I had a five-day work schedule (he has five years of experience) and prepared for the exams during the weekends. There are lot of problems, but no one takes the initiative to solve them. I hope to make a difference,” he said.
