DU leads the way — Miranda House, St Stephen’s alumni in top 5 of UPSC
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced the results of the Civil Services Examination 2023 with two Delhi University (DU) alumni among the top five ranks.
Donuru Ananya Reddy of Telangana’s Mahabubnagar, who studied at Miranda House, secured the third rank, while Ruhani (goes by one name), a Gurugram resident who attended St Stephen’s, ranked fifth. Besides them, in Delhi-ncr, Noida resident Wardah Khan, a graduate of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, secured the 18th rank.
Meanwhile, Aditya Srivastava of Uttar Pradesh, Animesh Pradhan of Odisha, and PK Sidharth Ramkumar of Kerala secured the first, second, and fourth ranks respectively.
The Civil Services Examination, which recruits officers into the country’s premier government positions, such as the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Foreign Services (IFS), and Indian Police Services (IPS), saw a total of 1,016,850 candidates apply, with 592,141 appearing for the preliminary test, and 1,016 eventually being selected.
For Donuru Ananya Reddy, 22, from the remote village of Ponnekal in Telangana’s Mahabubnagar district, this was her first attempt. A graduate in geography
from Miranda House, Reddy prepared for the examination from home, only seeking expert coaching for anthropology in Hyderabad.
“Right from my schooling days, my ambition was to become a civil servant and serve the society,” she said, expressing her joy at being the first person in her family to enter the Civil Services.
Ruhani, 28, cracked the exam for the third time — she first cracked the Indian Economics Service (IES) in 2020, and was in service for three years before sitting for the test again in 2023, during which she was selected for IPS and posted to Uttar Pradesh. She, however, continued to persevere and appeared this year for what was her sixth and last attempt — and ranked fifth.
A BA (Economics) student from St Stephen’s, Ruhani completed her Master’s in Economics from the Indira Gandhi National Open University in 2019. “I started preparing
in college... I never had fixed hours for studying,” said Ruhani.
Break-up of the ranks
This year’s examination saw a reduction in the number of women candidates among the top ranks, with only two in the top five, compared to last year, when women made up the top four ranks. The share of women making it to the top 25 ranks also reduced from 14 to 10 this year.
The educational qualifications of the top 25 successful candidates range from engineering, humanities, science, commerce, business administration, architecture, and law, with many hailing from premier institutions such as IITS, IIMS, NITS, University of Delhi, and national law universities.
Of the 1,016 candidates selected in all, 347 are from general category, 303 from other backward classes (OBC) categories, 115 from economically weaker section
(EWS) category, 165 from scheduled castes (SC) and 86 from scheduled tribes (ST) categories, respectively.
There are 180 vacancies for IAS officers, 37 for IFS, 200 for IPS, 613 in group A services and 113 in group B. Group A includes the bulk of the bureaucracy’s services — a list that runs into 16 in all — while Group B has six, of which four are Union territory-specific administrative and police services.
Meet the topper
Srivastava, 26, an electrical engineer from Iit-kanpur, topped the examination on his third attempt. Brought up in Lucknow, Srivastava previously secured the 236th rank in the UPSC 2022 examination and is currently undergoing training as an IPS officer in Hyderabad. “It’s a proud moment for the family,” said his father, Ajay Kumar Srivastava.
For second rank holder Pradhan, this was his first attempt at the civil services examinations. The 22-year-old told HT that the arduous preparation was in the midst of caring for his mother, who had cancer and died in January. “My mother was battling cancer till her last moment for me. She wanted to see me crack UPSC, but today, when I made it, she is not here,” he said.
Pradhan is a B Tech graduate in Computer Science from NIT Rourkela, remained focused on his goal. “If I can achieve success in an adverse situation, anyone can achieve it,” he said, emphasizing the importance of hard work and dedication.
Two from Noida in top 20
Two Noida residents were among the top 20 rankholders in Civil Services Examination.
Swarmed by relatives, wellwishers and mediapersons, Wardah Khan, 24. was beaming with pride and joy after she learnt that she secured the 18th rank.
A Bcom (Honours) student from Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, Khan worked in the corporate sector between 2020 and 2021, before quitting her job and starting to prepare for the civil services.
Meanwhile, Akash Verma, 29, a resident of Sector 93, secured the 20th rank. Currently in Leh as part as the training at the National Academy of Defence Financial Management Institute, Verma said this was his fourth attempt.