Thiruvananthapuram:
For the first time since 1991, a Keralite has topped the Civil
Services Examinations while the second and fourth positions have
also been bagged by people from the state. A Delhi resident has
taken the third position.
Haritha V. Kumar secured the first rank in the joint examinations.
V. Sriram came second while a doctor, Alby John Varghese, came
fourth in the all-India ranking.
This was Haritha Kumar's fourth and last attempt to crack what is
considered as one of the toughest exams in the country.
Speaking to media persons from Faridabad near Delhi, where she is
undergoing training as an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer,
Haritha thanked her teachers and her family for her performance.
"I did not pass in my first attempt. In the second attempt, I got
179th rank and got selected for the Indian Police Service, but I
opted for Indian Revenue Service. In my third attempt, I got a
rank of 290. This time I got what I aimed for as I was very keen
to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official," said
Haritha Kumar, an engineer by profession.
For the examination, she chose economics and Malayalam literature
as her optional subject.
"It will take me another three weeks to return to my home in
Thiruvananthapuram as I am undergoing a training programme," she
said.
Stuti Charan, who studied in Delhi, has bagged third position.
For Charan, who holds a diploma in Personnel and Marketing
Management from the Indian Institute of Planning and Management,
it was her third attempt.
Fourth ranked Varghese is a medical officer in the Kerala
government service in Ernakulam district.
"This was my first attempt and I started preparing in January last
year. I took medicine and Malayalam literature as my optional
subjects. This is one examination where mugging will do no good.
Instead, one has to work really hard. My childhood ambition to
become a civil service official has been accomplished," said
Varghese.
Raju Narayana Swamy, a Kerala bureaucrat in Kerala who secured
first rank in the same examination in 1991, said that he was
pleased that the myth that Keralites cannot perform well in the
Civil Services Examinations has been broken.
"The performance of Keralites this time has been exemplary. It is
a fitting reply to people who say that Keralites can't do well in
this examination," said Swamy.
Interestingly, it is the women candidates who have also topped in
the category of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
A total 998 candidates have been selected for appointments.
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