Neha Prakash, a girl from Patna did the city proud by securing AIR – 22 in the Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) in 2011.
Neha Prakash has become a role model for the Civil Services aspirants as she did not go for any coaching. She advises them, “Firstly, they should shed the notion that the Civil Services Examination is too tough to qualify rather than they should have full faith in their abilities.” She also says what matters is smart strategy and putting it into practice.
Marks Obtained by Neha Prakash
| Total Marks | Marks Obtained | |
| Total (Written) | 2000 | 1058 |
| Interview | 300 | 186 |
| Total | 2300 | 1244 (54.09%) |
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Family Background
Neha’s father Jai Prakash is employed in Union Ministry of agriculture and posted in Bihar, and mother Priti Prakash is a house maker. Neha Prakash got married to Vaibhav Srivastava IAS of West Bengal cadre, 2009 batch.
Educational Background
Neha completed her higher and secondary schooling from Notre Dame, Patna. She did Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Scince from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. She completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM-Lucknow. Before cracking UPSC Exam she was working at Deloitte Consulting.
She said, “Working with a multinational corporation, and making profits for a foreign corporation does not provide her an opportunity to work for the people of her country, which the Civil Services would do. So she decided to join it.”
Optional Paper
Neha Prakash opted for Sociology and Management as her optional paper. She picked up Sociology as it was her liking and Management was her own subject as she did MBA. Every candidate should have their own liking and capabilities to choose the optional subjects. Interest in a subject and one’s exposure is must to be the only guiding factors to fetch good marks.
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Attempts
This was Neha’s 1st attempt and she was fully confident about her preparation. She qualified it at the age of 29 years and expressed delight at her achievement.
Success Strategy
Time Management is one of the key factors of success and the best TM is to utilize every second rather than every minute. She attributed her success to her parents who were always by her side and their diehard attitude, supported her wholeheartedly in her efforts.
Tips for Young Aspirants
- Believe in yourself. Have confidence in everything you do.
- Extensive reading of newspapers is a must for every aspirant.
- Self study with full confidence can help you better than any coaching.
- Refine, Refresh and Revise the topic gained over a period of time.
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