Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh): Seerat Fatima, a primary school teacher and daughter of an accountant in a government office, is among the 990 lucky candidates from all over India who have cracked the 2017 UPSC Civil Services exams result of which was announced on Friday.
Seerat’s is again an inspiring story, who despite struggling and facing difficulties at every stage of her journey to entering into India’s top bureaucratic circle, never let the trouble and hardship to overcome her father’s dream.
Seerat’s father Abdul Gani Siddiqui is working as accountant in a government office. Hurt by the way the officers treat their subordinates, Siddiqui decided to make Seerat Fatima, his eldest daughter, an IAS officer when she was just 04. “All power resides only with officers, I used to think. This is why I wanted Seerat to become an IAS officer”, Siddiqui said to local media a day after the 2017 UPSC results were declared.
It was however not an easy decision. Siddiqui’s meager salary was insufficient to run even his house. Yet, he made it sure that Seerat Fatima studied at St. Mary's Convent School in Ghoorpur – some 15 kms from Allahabad.
After completing Inter, Seerat Fatima completed B.Sc. and B.Ed. from Allahabad Central University, and then joined a local primary school as teacher. “I started working as a teacher because it was becoming difficult day by day to sustain on my father’s salary”, she says.
It then became a routine for her - wake up early in the morning and walk 08 kms to the school, and return at 04:00 in the afternoon. After a brief rest, prepare till late in the night for the Civil Services examination.
In between, there came a time when she was totally discouraged and had almost decided to give up. “It was during this distressing period I watched Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Manjhi –The MountainMan. The film rejuvenated me and the result is in front of you all”, she says.
Seerat Fatima cracked the 2017 UPSC Civil Services exam in her 4th attempt. She got 810th rank in the list of 990 and she now plans to reappear in the exam to improve her rank. During her journey to cracking one of India’s most difficult exams, Seerat, after her UPSC Mains results were out about 03 months ago, got married. Her husband is a review officer in Allahabad High Court.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App
Select Langauge To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic