Divyanshu Jha from Darbhanga, who studied in Patna and IIT-Kanpur, has secured 9th rank. This was his third attempt. Jha secured 648th rank in his second attempt last year.

“The civil services examination is very dicey and no one can be confident of one’s success till the final results are out. I prepared for the examination for two years and saw it as a learning experience instead of being concerned about the outcome,” Divyanshu, who did his schooling from Don Bosco Academy, Patna, told The Telegraph by phone from New Delhi.

Son of Bimlendu Shekhar Jha, an AGM working with Power Grid Corporation, and Seema Jha, he said, “Apart from hard work and persistence, values in life also matter a lot.”

For the first time in four years, a male candidate has topped the civil services exams conducted by UPSC.

Jaipur boy Gaurav Agrawal has secured the pole position with economics as his optional subject. This was the second attempt for Agrawal, who holds a BTech degree in computer science from IIT-Kanpur and a post-graduate diploma in management from IIM-Lucknow.

Delhi-based Munish Sharma and Rachit Raj have got second and third positions respectively.

Women had bagged the top slots in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 examinations. This year, three women are among the top 10 — Bharti Dixit, an MBBS pass-out from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi, has bagged the fifth place in her very first attempt. At number 6 is Sakshi Sawhney and Megha Roopam is at 10th spot, just behind Darbhanga’s Divyanshu.

It could not be immediately ascertained how many candidates from Bihar have made the cut this year since many choose to write the exams from centres outside the state.

Bhagalpur’s Neelotpal has secured 98th rank. He did his schooling and engineering from Bhagalpur and resigned from his job with Hindustan Petroleum to prepare for the examination.

Having secured a group ‘A’ job in his first attempt in 2012, Neelotpal was determined to get into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and has done so in his second attempt.

Neelotpal decided to give it all for the civil services because his late father Omkarnath Mishra, who worked with All India Radio, had wished so.

Also into the IAS from the state is Prerna Shahi, who has been ranked 109. It was her goal to become a bureaucrat in spite of serving as a trainee Indian Economic Service recruit in Mumbai. Prerna, who studied in Mount Carmel High School, Patna, and also at Notre Dame Academy in the city, is the daughter of Gajanand Shahi alias Munna Shahi, the JDU MLA from Barbigha.

Munna Shahi was elated over his daughter’s success. “She is presently training in the Indian Economic Service, but her dream was to become an IAS officer,” said the proud father.

Prerna, after clearing her class XII examination from Notre Dame in 2007, went to Hindu College in Delhi for her graduation. She thereafter joined the Delhi School of Economics and completed her postgraduation with 75.7 per cent marks in 2010.

Patna lad Saagar Srivastava, the son of IAS officer Manoj Srivastava, is placed 282 on the list. Saagar passed out from the London School of Economics (LSE), with a first class in economics. He is at present working with Royal Bank of Scotland in Dubai.

If Prerna and Saagar dreamt of becoming civil servants, Preeti Sinha’s achievement can become a source of inspiration for millions of married working women. Preeti has cleared the exam, securing 828th rank, juggling family pressures with professional commitments.

Hailing from Nalanda, Preeti is now settled in New Delhi, along with her husband Rajiv Nayan, a heart specialist.

Talking to The Telegraph, Preeti said: “I got married when I was in my first year engineering at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology (New Delhi), but becoming a technocrat was my aim and I started preparations for the civil services examination.”

After becoming an engineer, Preeti worked with TCS as a software engineer. But she always desired to become a bureaucrat and cleared the Bihar Public Service Commission exams last year. She is now on training for the Bihar Finance Service in Phulwari Sharif.

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Courtesy: The Telegraph