(Success Story) Remote island girl Priya Shetty, IAS Topper 2014 (AIR-931)

Byakodu village in Shivamogga district is an island in the backwaters of the Sharavati, which can be accessed only through a barge. It lacks basic amenities to this day. Priya Shetty, daughter of the soil, has proved that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is not the preserve of the urban-educated.

Priya, who studied in a Kannada-medium school, ranked 931 in the results of the civil services exam announced recently. Interestingly, Kannada literature was one of the electives in her Mains exam.

Her father, Ganapaiah Shetty, a farmer, and mother, Gunavathi, a homemaker, say a barge provided by the Department of Inland Transportation and Ports is the only means of transportation for the entire Karur and Barangi hoblis. This region turned into an island owing to the backwaters after a reservoir was built on the river at Linganamakki.

Life is difficult at the best of times; pregnant women and the sick find it tough to reach hospitals in nearby urban centres. Many young people from these villages have discontinued education owing to poor connectivity.

Growing up amid people who faced hardships owing to lack of basic amenities, Priya opted for a career that could bring a transformation into the lives of her people. She believed the civil services was the best means to achieve that.

After studying till class 4 in her village in the government primary school, she pursued higher primary education at the Morarji Desai Residential School at Gajanur village. After her PU, she chose to enrol for B.Sc. “I thought proficiency in basic sciences would help in clearing the civil services exam,” she said.

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Courtesy: The Hindu