Aspirants crack UPSC code, do U.P. proud
In a proud moment for the most populous state, three of the Top 10 AIRs have gone to UPites; there are others too on the high-profile list
LUCKNOW : Young high-flyers from Uttar Pradesh successfully cracked the UPSC examinations, with three UPites making it into the list of top 10 rank holders: Aditya Srivastava, AIR 1, Nausheen of Kushinagar district 9th , and Aishwaryam Prajapati, 10th.
U.P. girl Aishwaryam Prajapati stood 10th in the exam. This was her second attempt.
“I always wanted to become an IAS officer. My goal was very clear once I passed Class 10. After completing Class 12 from Rani Laxmi Bai Senior Secondary School, I pursued B Tech from NIT Uttarakhand. Thereafter, I took a job with L&T and worked for 18 months,” said an elated Aishwaryam, who hails from Maharajganj district.
“I was always confident of clearing the exam but never thought of getting number 10 rank in UPSC. I’m overjoyed, and it’s hard for me to believe that I got 10th rank in the UPSC exam,” she said.
“This journey requires a lot of hard work and patience. It’s not about the number of hours spent studying; it’s about the quality of study. Strategy is also significant, so one should keep their resources limited while studying. My notes, newspapers, and practising answer-writing helped me a lot besides the books.”
Her father, Ram Kamal Prasad, is an assistant professor at ICCMRT.
Nausheen hails from a middle-class Muslim family and has been an outstanding girl throughout her academic career.
Nausheen’s father is assistant
engineer at All India Radio, Gorakhpur, and is a resident of village Pipra Kanak of Tamkuhi Raj in Kushinagar district. She completed her intermediate education from Ratan Memorial Public school RAMPS from Gorakhpur and graduation studies from Delhi University.
Nausheen’s father, Abdul Qaiyoom, said she is the younger of his two daughters and a son and all of them are in government service.
Abdul Qaiyoom was kept busy, receiving congratulatory messages from All India Radio and Doordarshan staff across the country.
Kunal Rastogi (AIR 15) cracked the exam in his third attempt. In the first attempt, he faced the interview but could not progress further and in the second attempt could not even crack prelims. “It was God’s blessing that kept me going,” said Kanual, who graduated from BITS, Pilani. He turned 26.
He did Bachelors in civil engineering in 2021, and thereafter, started preparing for UPSC. He did Class 12 from City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar. He said that it has been a roller coaster journey for him. His father, Puneet Rastogi, is an additional director general (ADG) in the
Border Security Force (BSF).
Animesh Verma (AIR 38) too brought laurels for Lucknow. He cracked the exam in his second attempt. An IIT Delhi graduate, he did B Tech with electrical. “In my first attempt, I cracked the prelims. I again prepared for the toughest exam and cracked it in the second attempt,” he said.
His father, Sarvesh Kumar, is joint director, horticulture and food processing, U.P. and mother Rekha Verma is a homemaker. A resident of Viraj Khand, Gomti Nagar, Animesh passed Class 10 with 97.2% from Seth MR Jaipuria School and Class 12 in 2018 with 97.75%.
SDM Agra Anshul Hindal (AIR 48) cracked UPSC exam in the fourth attempt. An alumni of IIT Kanpur, he pursued B Tech in civil engineering. Last year, he was selected for IRS, securing 618 rank. He hails from Muzaffarnagar.
Son of former DRM of Northern Railways, Lucknow division, Suresh Kumar Sapra, also cleared UPSC by getting 394 rank. “My son, Dhruv Sapra, 28, did his schooling from J&K and Punjab, B.Tech in Computer science from IIIT Hyderabad and prepared for the exam, and currently in Lucknow” said the elated father, who himself, is an Indian Railways Service of Engineers (IRSE) officer.
Other youths who made UP proud are Aniket Shandilya (29) from Jhansi (12th rank) in his fifth attempt. He is B Tech graduate from AKTU. Medha Anand (29) from Meerut secured 13th rank in her fifth attempt. She did her B Tech from AKTU. Wardah Khan (24) of Noida secured 18th rank in her second attempt.