Meet these 5 UPSC CSE rankers who beat poverty
What's the story
Conducted annually by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Civil Services Examination (CSE), or the IAS exam, is one of the most coveted and challenging competitive exams.
Many often can't afford formal UPSC CSE coaching, given it is usually an expensive affair.
However, here are the inspiring success stories of five aspirants who cracked the IAS exam, fighting their way out of poverty.
#1
How Shikha Surendran beat poverty
Shikha Surendran, hailing from a small village in Kerala's Ernakulam, was brought up in meager means.
Her attention was diverted to the civil services in Class-6 by her father, who told her education was "the only way out of poverty."
When preparation in Delhi didn't suit her, she returned to her village and only prepared using online resources to crack CSE-2017 with AIR 16.
#2
Gopala Krishna Ronanki, poor farmer's son, cracked CSE-2016
Gopala Krishna Ronanki, the son of a poor farmer from Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district, cracked the UPSC CSE 2016.
Because of his family's extremely poor financial background, Ronanki could not study at prestigious educational institutes and also could not afford coaching classes for the IAS exam.
Even without proper coaching, he secured AIR 3 in the Civil Services Examination 2016.
#3
Grocer's daughter Sweta Agarwal beat odds to secure AIR 19
Sweta Agarwal, the daughter of a grocer in Bhadreswar in Hooghly district of West Bengal, overcame all odds to crack the 2015 UPSC CSE.
Agarwal, who had even struggled to gain basic education facilities, battled poverty to realize her dream.
Notably, she had cracked the UPSC exam twice before; however, she wanted to become an IAS officer. In the CSE-2015, she secured AIR 19.
#4
Sivaguru Prabakaran slept on platforms, overcame poverty
The story of M Sivaguru Prabakaran, who secured AIR 101 in CSE-2017, is truly inspiring.
Hailing from Melaottankadu village in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur, Prabakaran initially sacrificed his engineering dream as his family couldn't afford it.
However, he then worked as a sawmill operator, did farming, slept on railway platforms, and funded his education He later did MTech from IIT-Madras in 2014 before cracking CSE-2017.
#5
Inspiring story of IAS officer who grew up in orphanage
The story of IAS officer Mohammad Ali Shihab from a remote village in Kerala's Malappuram is incredible.
Born in a poor family, he used to sell betel leaves and bamboo baskets with his father. However, Shihab was sent to an orphanage after his father died
He worked as a peon, a clerk, and a government school teacher before cracking the CSE-2011 with AIR 226.