Allahabad’s Saumya secures fourth rank in civil services exam
ALLAHABAD: A trained classical dancer and gold medalist from the prestigious Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Allahabad girl Saumya Pandey secured fourth rank in Civil Services Examinations, results of which were declared on Wednesday.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Saumya said she strived to become a civil servant to serve the society on a larger scale.
She said as an electrical engineer, which she completed in 2015, it would have not been possible.
Saumya, a trained Kathak dancer from Prayag Sangeet Samiti is also a skilled basketball player and had captained her school team on several occasions. Daughter of Dr Sadhana Pandey, a gynaecologist and Ravi Kumar Pandey, owner of a computer institute, Saumya was CBSE district topper in Class 10 from Army School in 2009 by securing 98% marks while she repeated her same performance in Class 12 from the same school and was again district topper in 2011 with 97.8% marks.
At MNNIT, Saumya completed her Electrical Engineering with a gold medal in 2015. Only child of her parents, Saumya had opted for Geography as an optional subject. It may be mentioned Allahabad returned to the merit list in Civil Services examinations after a gap of six years. In 2009, Iva Sahai, daughter of an Allahabad University professor had secured 3rd rank in civil services.
LUCKNOW: For 26-year-old Ila Tripathi, rank 51 in the civil services examination 2016 is like a dream come true. For the Lucknow girl who has been to London School of Economics as part of a student exchange programme, it is time to party.
“I couldn’t have asked for a more auspicious rank than this (51). I’m thankful to my parents who supported me all throughout,” said Ila who did Class 12 from CMS, Aliganj. Her father, who was in Indian Forest Services, passed away in 2011.
COUPLE CLEAR EXAM TOGETHER
For newly-weds Dr Yogesh Kumar Sagar, 29 and Dr Avlokita Ashok, 27, life has only been about studies and academic discussions. With no outing after their honeymoon, they had only been preparing for the civil services examination.
Fortunately, the results of UPSC examination brought cheer for the couple. Yogesh secured 223 rank and wife Avlokita got 915th rank in the examination, the results of which were declared on Wednesday.
Both are medical doctors and had an arranged marriage in April 2016. A native of Bareilly, Dr Yogesh completed his MBBS from KGMU in 2012 and Avlokita, a native of Lucknow, did her MBBS from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi.
“For me, it was the third attempt. I qualified during the second attempt in 2014 and secured 877th rank. I am undergoing training of Indian Revenue Services. For my wife, this was the first attempt and I am glad she made it,” said Yogesh.
After doing his schooling from Government Inter College in Bareilly, Yogesh qualified for MBBS. Soon after, he decided to appear for civil services. “I began my preparation in Lucknow. But, with no adequate preparation material and guidance, I decided to shift to Delhi where I continued my preparation. I worked at a hospital in Delhi to earn my pocket money,” he said.
Avlokita did her Class 12 from Rani Laxmi Bai School in Lucknow and soon qualified for MBBS. She is daughter of a police official.
“We never went out for movies, shopping or outing all through the year. Both of us would only study all through the day and take breaks only for meals and sleep. Whenever we wanted any recreation, we watched some movie or listened to songs on laptop staying at home,” said Avlokita.
Avlokita took anthropology as the subject for mains and Yogesh took medical science as the subject for IAS mains examination.
KUMAR SATYAM, RANK 339
For senior bureaucrat NS Ravi’s son, it was a fourth attempt. Last year Satyam cracked the same exam but his rank was not very high. “At present, I’m undergoing training at National Academy of Direct Taxes in Nagpur,” he said.
Satyam did engineering from IIIT Allahabad but never appeared for campus placement. “Since the beginning, I had my eyes set on the civil services exam and prepared hard for it,” he said. His father NS Ravi said it is a proud moment for the family and big celebration awaits when he returns home from the training.
KRITI PANDEY, RANK 426
Daughter of Aligarh SSP, Kriti Pandey secured 426th rank in the examination. A passout of Loreto Convent and CMS, she pursue a five-year integrated course from IIT-BHU. “This was my second attempt and next year, I will give another try,” said Kriti.
PRABODH YADAV, RANK 630
Prabodh, 25 did mechanical engineering from IIT Ropar and had qualified the examination last year too. “My father works as a private secretary in the Secretariat,” he said.