JKPSC topper lost home to militants, but didn’t give up
JAMMU: CrackingtheJammuand KashmirPublicServiceCommission(JKPSC)wasadreamAnjum BashirKhanKhattakharboured since school but topping the exams was the icing on the cake.
The proud 27-year-old cleared theKashmirAdministrativeService (KAS) exams in his first attempt open merit list. For the youngofficer-to-be,itmeansalot, especially after having faced the wrath of the insurgency.
“In1990s,Surankotehadbeen in the grip of peak insurgency, and in 1998, my ancestral house was torched by terrorists at Mohra Bachai (in Poonch district’s Surankote),” he recalled.
It was when Khattak was in class8or9thathestartedharbouringdreamsofcrackingtheKAS exams. After completing engineering in computer sciences from Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) in Rajouriin2012,hestartedpreparing for civil services on his own.
“I never went to any coaching centre.Ididallthepreparationby myself. My focus was on presentation,” said Khattak, attributing the success to his parents. His father,MohammedBashirKhan, is a retired lecturer and his mother,GhulamFatima,isagovernment teacher.
Coming from an academic backgroundhelpedKhattakstay focused. While at BGSBU, he developed an interest in current affairs and politics and public administration.
The secret of success, he said, was not in spending hours only on books. “One must be consistent and should study topics. I never studied after 11pm.”