Bengaluru resident H.S. Bhavana, currently an Indian Railways Traffic Service (IRTS) officer in Solapur, Maharashtra, has bagged an All India Rank (AIR) 55 in Civil Service Examination - 2022 and has emerged as a State topper.
Ms. Bhavana, a resident of Banashankari and an engineering graduate achieved this in her sixth attempt at cracking the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams. She got an AIR of 314 in 2018 and got placed as an IRTS officer and is currently working as an Assistant Operating Manager at Central Railway’s Solapur division.
‘“Other than consistency, patience and hard work, there are no strategies for success. Various course materials, guidance by many CSE toppers and getting training from various institutions does little help. Believe in yourself and never give up,” Ms. Bhavana told The Hindu.
“I completed my schooling in Bishop Cotton Girls High School and got an engineering degree from Sri Venkateswara Engineering College, Yelahanka, Bengaluru. In the fourth attempt, I succeeded in cracking the CSE in 2018 and became an IRTS officer. In 2019 again I took the CSE and I faced viva, but did not succeed. In 2020 and 2021, I did not attempt any exams. But, in 2022 again I faced the CSE exams for the sixth time and got a good 55th rank. I hope that I get an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) post and I will opt for Karnataka,” she said.
“I took up the ‘Anthropology’ subject in the main exam. I didn’t get any training for either prelims, main exam or interview. I studied while working. We were friends and batch mates, conducting group studies and we used to solve the previous question papers. It was very helpful to me to get this rank,” Ms. Bhavana explained.
Second rank holder was trained in Bengaluru
Meanwhile, many of those who hailed from other states but got trained for CSE in various institutions in Bengaluru have secured good scores this year.
Garima Lohia (AIR-2), was a part of Preliminary Exclusive Programme, an online programme from IAS BABA and she got interview guidance from Universal Coaching Center, Bengaluru. Kanika Goaya (AIR-9) was part of Interview Mentorship Program from IAS BABA and Abhinav Siwach (AIR-12) was IAS BABA’s gurukul program, which caters to all stages of the exam (Prelims, Mains and Interview).
Around 60 candidates from the State were selected for UPSC services this year. There are 16 rank holders from IAS BABA institute, 23 ranks from Insights IAS, 11 ranks from Dr. Rajkumar Academy for Civil Services and around 10 ranks from Universal Coaching Centre were eligible for the CSE this year.
Another Bengaluru resident Dr. Melvyn Varghese has got an AIR 155 this year. A medical graduate from Mysore Medical College, Mr. Melvyn secured a rank of AIR of 118 last year and he is already an IPS officer of Delhi cadre.
He will not be taking a seat this time and is likely to make an attempt again next year for IAS. “I started preparing for CSE six to seven years ago. As a doctor, I saw a lot of people dying from developmental issues. You see issues like poverty and malnutrition and feel civil servants can help in a lot of ways to fix this. I did a lot of online research on what the exam demands, and I firmly believe in consistency,” he said.
