2011 Civil Services Exam: Meet the Toppers

2011 Civil Services Exam: Meet the Toppers 

Call it the triumph of girl power if you will. The top two ranks in the 2011 civil services examination have been secured by women. And they have diverse backgrounds. While the first one is a law graduate from a middle-class family, the second is the daughter of an IAS officer who is also married to one.

The topper's list also has engineers and doctors who shared the common passion for cracking what is arguably the toughest entrance exam in the country.

1st S. Divyadarshini

The Chennai law graduate, who took the exam after enrolling in the high court, aced it in her second attempt. "The feeling is yet to sink in.... I want to work for society and fight corruption," the daughter of a tax consultant said from her modest apartment in Chennai's Nungambakkam.

The middle-class girl, who completed her law honours degree from Chennai's reputed School of Excellence in Law, under Dr Ambedkar Law University, said her family was overjoyed at her success. She had joined the State Bank of India as an assistant after completing her LLB.

2nd Swetha Mohanty

This techie from Hyderabad has followed in her father's footsteps. Swetha, who is a BTech in Compute Sciences and Information Technology from Gokaraj Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology under Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, is the daughter of P.K. Mohanty, a 1979-batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Swetha bagged the rank in her third attempt.

She had qualified for the IRS earlier, and is now posted in Siliguri as an assistant commissioner in the Customs and central excise department. Her husband is also an IAS officer. He belongs to the West Bengal cadre. Her father is currently the joint secretary and mission director of the JNNURM, on deputation to the central government.

3rd R.V. Varun Kumar

This Bachelor in Dental Surgery also took his civil services exams from Chennai. Originally from Tiruchirapalli, the son of a doctor was candid enough to admit that he hadn't excelled i studies. But he believed the strong foundation the Campion School had provided in his home-town, stood him in good stead for the exams. He sought to travel on a path different from his father. Instead of starting his private practice, he aspired to be an IAS officer.

Incidentally, Varun Kumar attended a free coaching centre for IAS aspirants that is run by AIADMK leader Saidai S. Duraisamy, who contested against the DMK's M.K. Stalin from Kolathur assembly constituency in the recent elections.

 

4th Abhiram G. Shankar

This engineering graduate from Attingal in Kerala always wanted to be an IAS officer. Therefore, immediately after his bachelor's in Computer Science from Kollam in Kerala, he enrolled in a coaching centre for IAS aspirants in Chennai. And he aced the examination in his very first attempt. For that, he thanked his father, a bank official, and mother, a housewife. He also had a lot of praise for his neighbourhood Central School, back home, which he believes is responsible for making him the person he is today.

 

21st Aditya Dahiya

This medical graduate seems set to effortlessly step out from the hospital ward to the bureaucrat's office. Securing the 21st rank in the 2011 civil services examination, this doctor from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has topped the civil services list in Delhi. And he did it in his first attempt. But topping entrance exams is nothing new for this 23-year-old. Aditya had topped the All India Pre-Medical Test, conducted by the CBSE, in 2005.

This serious and sincere person from Sonepat credits his success to his parents, teachers and God. Incidentally, his parents Ajit and Vimla are also doctors. The junior resident doctor in neuro-radiology at AIIMS said: "My hard work has paid off. There are no shortcuts to success. One has to be determined. I had an inclination towards civil services so I decided to go for it." But he insisted that his patients were always his first priority in hospital. "I have never let my patients suffer because of my passion," he said.

Switching over from medicine to administration gives Aditya stimulation though he has not yet started thinking of flaws in the system he wants to rectify. "First I need to understand how the system works. There are flaws in all systems but there is always a way to correct them. The only thing that is needed is to explore it," he said.