The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Juggling motherhood, career dreams, Haryana woman clears civil services
IN 2021, Pragati Rani from Haryana’s Kurukshetra appeared for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) prelims. Falling a few marks short, she did not make the cut. But the attempt ignited a spark.
Last week — after a “tough phase” of juggling motherhood, her career and professional aspirations — the 31-year-old mother to a three-year-old boy secured the 355th rank in the UPSC exam and hopes to become an IAS officer.
Spurred by her husband Dr Atul Verma, Rani, a radiologist by profession, started preparing for the civil services when her son Rajvardhan was just six months old.andwithatulawaytopursue his MD, the journey was not easy.
“I used to prepare for the civil services from my home itself. I did not get too much time to study. I did not want to neglect my child… sometimes he would go to his grandmother’s. That time I used to solve some questions or cover some topics,” she told The Indian Express.
“When he used to sleep around 9.30 pm, I used to read for nearly three or four hours daily. That was my most effective time in terms of focused study. I used to plan chapters or topics to be covered every day,” Rani added.
Between her first attempt and this year’s, Rani cleared the UPSC earlier in 2022-2023 as well, besides coming second in the Haryana civil services exam.
In the 2022-23 UPSC exam, she got the 740th rank and could have secured the DANICS (Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli) cadre.
She preferred to join the Haryana civil services and was posted as an Officer on Special Duty to the Ambala Divisional Commissioner in November 2023.
Still, she never let go of the IAS dream and kept preparing for it. “This time, things were tougher as my son was older and aware that his mother was studying in another room. He used to come to me to tell me, ‘Mumma, please play with me’,” she said.
Having secured the 355th rank in the UPSC exam this year, Rani, who belongs to the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, said she is counting on getting into the IAS.
Rani credits her family for her success. She said her father, Naresh Verma, a school teacher, taught her to be humble in life while her mother Sushil Verma, a nurse in the state health department, stressed the importance of studies.
“Mymotherwantedmetobecomeadoctorasshecouldnotbecome a medical practitioner. My motherhaddoneanursingcourse because my maternal grandparents used to think that women could only become nurses and onlymenwereentitledtobedoctors. My mother gave me the wings to think big,” she said.
Atul, whom she married five years ago, told her to pursue her civil services studies “so that I would not regret it later”, she said. And mother-in-law Kamlesh Verma, who retired as a school principal just 10 days before the birth of Rani’s son, helped “when I was busy with my studies”.
Rani’s father-in-law R C Verma, a former IAS officer, is a member of the Haryana State Police Complaint Authority.
On what advice she has for UPSC aspirants, Rani said: “This exam requires consistent studies for two years... But don’t take this exam as life… instead give time to life too.”