A 20-km road laid from his native hamlet to the nearest municipality in Nalgonda district paved way for Nagender Bhukya to aim for Indian Administrative Service. He doggedly pursued his goal without settling for IRS selection last year, and four years and three attempts later, it all paid off.
He is one among the 67 candidates from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who qualified in the All India UPSC exams held in 2015.
“Our hamlet, Jagguthanda in Nallacheruvu mandal, had wealthy farmers, but not basic amenities. The travel from my hamlet to Kodad would take an hour and a half,” Mr. Bhukya recalled.
His father, a well-off farmer, sent him off to a residential school in Kodad at the age of four. Mr. Bhukya eventually studied B.Tech (EEE) from JNTU-Hyderabad, and worked for Accenture for four years.
The road laid to his hamlet in 2009, and fast paced development it brought, opened his eyes to the possibilities of government initiatives, when he resigned and plunged into preparations. In his first attempt, he could clear only prelims, and the second time, he got 1122{+n}{+d}rank and was selected for IRS.
“My preparation lasted only for six to seven hours a day,” the 29-year-old father of two kids said.
The topper from the Telugu speaking States at 14{+t}{+h}rank, Kirthi Chekuri, hails from Visakhapatnam, and is a graduate from IIT Madras. She was not available for her comment.
An IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, 28-year-old Ramakrishna Chitturi notched the third top rank in the two States. After two previous attempts, which saw him clear IPS and IRS, the MBA graduate got 84{+t}{+h}rank in his latest attempt.
“I enjoyed it as a process,” said Mr. Chitturi when asked about his strategy while preparing for the exam. “Over the years, I acquired knowledge. I took leave and prepared for the exam since I always wanted to be an IAS officer.” Mr. Chitturi, who was born in Vijayawada, is the son of a railway employee.
P.V.G. Satish, the 191st ranker, was an engineering graduate and worked as a journalist for an English daily before cracking the Civils.
“I had great exposure working as a journalist and it changed my perception,” said the 27-year-old from Hyderabad. “It is a misconception that one has to study for 14 to 16 hours to get into Civils. It is just about how focused we are,” he said.
A total of 38,925 candidates reportedly appeared for the preliminary exams from both the States.
A total of 38,925 candidates appeared for the preliminary exams from TS, AP
