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Dr.Ruveda Salam IPS – First Women from Kashmir to Qualify UPSC Exam

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Dr.Ruveda Salam IPS

A Kashmiri who made history and really sets a great example not just for the youngsters of the valley but also for the nation. One such person is IPS officer Dr.Ruveda Salam who ranked 23rd in the Civil Services Examination. She became the first woman from the Kashmir Valley to qualify in the Union Public Service Commission examination in 2013. She cleared the Kashmir State Administrative Service Exam in 2009 before attempting UPSC Exam. But instead of pursuing a post graduation in medicine, she began pursuing Administrative Services.

Dr.Ruveda Salam, Jammu & Kashmir’s first woman IPS officer, joins the growing list of women IAS, IPS officers in India such as Kerala’s Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Merin Joseph IPS and Telangana IAS officer Smita Sabharwal.

“Being a young ACP is a challenging role. It carries a lot of responsibility. I am in a state where people respect the police. When girls see me in uniform they look at me with admiration!,” Dr.Ruveda Salam says.

Read Also: Mohammad Sana Akhtar, CSE 2014 (IPS)

Family Background of Dr.Ruveda SalamDr.Ruveda Salam

Dr.Ruveda Salam comes from Farkin, a remote village in Kupwara district, Jammu & Kashmir, Salam is currently an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Chennai. Her father is a former deputy director general of Doordarshan and her mother was also educated.

When Dr.Ruveda Salam was growing up in Kashmir, her father often used to say that she should become an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer. It was her father who inspired her to clear UPSC. That’s when she first thought of becoming one. It inspired her and she decided to go ahead and aim for it and that’s what made her more determined.

Dr.Ruveda Salam could fend off pressure from orthodox relatives to get married. “I am not going to blame my religion for this, but yes, Muslim girls are supposed to marry early,” Dr.Ruveda Salam says. She thanks her mother for being a buffer and fending off suggestions of early marriage as they always supported her convictions.

Dr.Ruveda Salam feels very proud of reaching such a level. Her parents too are proud about it. There is this sense of turmoil in the valley and the situation does not allow you to pursue such dreams. So being the first woman to get a rank in the UPSC from the Kashmir valley does give her a sense of pride.

Educational Background

Dr.Ruveda Salam completed her MBBS from the Government Medical College in Srinagar and joined the State Civil Services. Her parents said, “if you want to fly higher we are not going to act as a barrier”. She had already made up her mind while doing  MBBS that she would shift over to the Civil Services. Instead of doing a post graduation in medicine, she had started reading papers and preparing for the UPSC.

There was craze in Dr.Ruveda Salam’s town going around that you have to be either a doctor or an engineer. In the Kashmir valley being a doctor or an engineer was considered to be a blessing in 2003-2004. Parents forced their children to take up medicine or engineering. Her parents didn’t force her.

Dr.Ruveda Salam asked them for their advice and they asked me to follow my conviction. They asked me to first complete my MBBS and then go for it, so that in the event of not qualifying for the civil services she’d at least have a good profession to fall back on.

Read Also: Read Success Story of IPS Sarah Rizvi

Attempts

Dr.Ruveda Salam has cleared the UPSC exam for a second time and has secured a higher rank which enables her to join the coveted IAS.

Preparation Strategy

Dr.Ruveda Salam have not done any coaching. She had qualified the State Civil Services Exam without coaching, when she was on a job on probation for some time. It was not possible for her to move to Delhi or any other metropolitan city to undertake coaching. Dr.Ruveda Salam prepared for one whole year before Preliminary Exam as she got the right material. She also ordered certain books from Delhi and also took help of Internet. She was able to get the information she needed (for the UPSC exam preparation) on Facebook.

Besides that, Dr.Ruveda Salam also took guidance of some senior IAS officers in the state. She carried her study books to office and whenever time permitted she would take them out and study.

Success Mantras for UPSC Aspirants

  • Believe in your capabilities. That gives you the conviction and the perseverance required to achieve your aims.
  • Discipline is very important because you have to overcome many distractions.
  • Sticking to your plan and working towards your goal is very important if you want to achieve something in life.
  • If you are a professional or into the civil services or a farmer or doctor or lawyer or journalist, you should make efforts to contribute something the nation’s development at your own level and in whatever way you can.
  • Only through small contributions can a big change be experienced at the national level.

Don’t Miss: Dr. Shah Faesal IAS Topper from Kashmir – A Role Model for Youth

Dr. Shah Faesal IAS Topper from Kashmir – A Role Model for Youth

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Syskool
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shah faesal ias topper

Dr. Shah Faesal, a MBBS Doctor, the first Kashmiri who had topped the Union Public Service Commission’s Civil Services Examination and the first candidate from Kashmir in several years to be selected to the Indian Administrative Service through open merit. Faesal has become very popular among Indian youth, a new role model and an icon for Kashmiri youth.

Faesal says, “Real glamour should be associated with people who have done something for the country. They deserve all the attention. But in India we are more fascinated by the brightness of the picture than by the brightness of the character.”

Family Background

Shah Faesal was born in a remote village Sogam, of Lolab Valley in Kupwara district of North Kashmir. His father Ghulam Rasool Shah, a government school teacher who was killed by militants and his mother Mubeena Shah who is also a government school teacher.

His home town is well known for the scenic beauty, Lolab Valley is famous for having been the birthplace of the great Islamic theologian.

Must Read: UPSC Topper Interview – Alok Ranjan Jha, Rank 1 Civil Services

Marks Obtained

 Total Marks  Marks Obtained
Total (Written)  2000  1136
 Interview  300  225
 Total  2300  1361  (59.17%)

Education

Dr. Shah Faesal completed his graduation from Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science, Srinagar. He was a Doctor by profession before clearing Civil Services Examination.

People call Faesal a career chameleon, as he kept looking for new challenges, and believe in himself, if there would have been a more difficult exam in India he would have appeared for that as well. But, when he started preparing for IAS, there was the motive of serving the country in his mind.

Optional Paper

Shah Faesal first went for Public Administration and Geography but later on he changed and opted for Public Admistration and Urdu Language as his optional paper.

He chooses Urdu as his optional paper because the intention was to dispel the myth about Urdu being a downtrodden and a neglected language. He wanted to prove that Urdu too can fetch you laurels.

Faesal Said, “if you are well prepared, success can be achieved with any subject combination”.

Must Read: 20 UPSC Preliminary Questions (Prelim 2015) with Detailed Explanation

Attempt

Faesal Shah cleared this prestigious exam in his very first attempt at the age of 27 year and topped the UPSC Examination in the year 2009.

Faesal says, Gandhiji had said the best way to determine the success of your actions is to think about the impact of that action on the poorest man in the country. If you will make plans and rules keeping that in mind, you will never go wrong.

Suggestions for Aspirants by Shah Faesal

  • Civil Services is not the end of the World.
  • Do not read for the examination read for the knowledge. And when you gain knowledge , any paper becomes easy to handle.
  • Be confident with the treasure of knowledge you are having within yourself.
  • Read as much as possible and complete the syllabus prescribed.
  • Read regularly newspaper and be updated with the current affairs and the happenings.
  • Expect the best but, be ready for the worst.

Important: 10 UPSC PT Questions for Every IAS Exam Aspirant

Watchman’s Son Prahlad Narayan Meena Clears UPSC Exam

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Syskool
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Prahlad Narayan Meena

Prahlad Narayan Meena fulfilled the dream of his father and mother which they saw when Prahlad Narayan Meena was very young. He cracked the Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission in the year 2011 by securing All India Rank 615. His father was a watchman who had the responsibility to keep watch over an IAS/IPS Officers every day.

Must Read: Inspirational Story of Tailor’s Son – Nirish Rajput IAS

Family Background

Prahlad Narayan Meena comes from a village Rampura. Prahlad’s father Kanaram was a watchman in the locality Gandhi Nagar on Tonk Road in Jaipur city. For various IAS Officers his father served there as a watchman for twenty years. He used to get influenced by the behaviour of these officers while doing his duty. Kanaram felt that he would make his son Prahlad Narayan Meena an IAS or IPS Officer one day by seeing these officers how they used to talk or behave with their own children. But fate had different plans. Kanaram died in 1995. His mother is a house maker and she kept the flame burning of the dream his father had seen for Prahlad Narayan Meena.

Also Read: Security Guard’s Son Kuldeep Dwivedi Clears UPSC Exam

Educational Background of Prahlad Narayan Meena

When Prahlad Narayan Meena was merely in 7th standard his father died. At such a young age, death of his father not only made him mature, but also made him return to his village Rampura. Her mother always used to keep reminding Prahlad of where he had to reach. Prahlad Narayan Meena had to get a job to earn some money by looking at the economic scenario of the house, which had an adverse influence on his studies. Consequently, he became very weak at studies. So much so that no one had any expectations from him when he filled the forms for the 8th standard.

At the Secretariat in Jaipur his relative used to work over there. For further studies he brought Prahlad Narayan Meena back to Jaipur. He took admission in a private school, because of his rural background his classmates used to make fun of Prahlad Narayan Meena. He was also lagging behind in his studies and he did not know much about the city, but slowly he started getting his share of attention. He knew in future he could pull his family out of their economic miseries if he will study hard. He started refining himself slowly but steadily and in the end Prahlad Narayan Meena topped that school in his 12th standard.

You May Also Love to Read: MLA’s Son Dr. Vivek Kumar Cracks UPSC Exam, 2016

Prahlad Narayan Meena first did a B.A. and then a B.Ed. owing to their poor economic condition. He got a job as a Trained Graduate Teacher in English in Delhi in 2008 and this helped him with his economic condition as well.

Prahlad Narayan Meena sent his mother to various pilgrimage destinations which she always wanted to see. Other villagers seized his land because he was not in his village for so long. This made him very angry, but neither did he have the power nor the money to fight them. Thus, the desire to become an IAS or IPS Officer grew even stronger in him.

Prahlad Narayan Meena started preparing for the Civil Services after his graduation and when he had to travel because of his job or any other reasons he always kept studying at that time. In August 2011 he passed the UPSC Prelims and in May 2012 he also crossed the final barrier. He got an All India Rank of 615.

Don’t Miss: Ansar Shaikh- Autodriver’s son who Cracked UPSC 2015

Toppers Story – Ananya Das IAS

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Syskool
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ananya das ias

ananya das

Ananya Das from Odisha clinched All India Rank 16th and emerged as the State topper in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Exam. This was her dream which came true only because of her hard work.

Ananya Das says, ” she was little sure to get this position in IAS Mains Examination and she wish to work for welfare of people specially girls and poor children besides her administrative duties”.

Marks Obtained

 Total Marks  Marks Obtained
Total (Written)  1750 815
 Interview 275  179
 Total  2025  994 (49.09%)

Family Background

Ananya Das is an elder daughter of an RBI officer posted in Jaipur.

Educational Background

Ananya Das did her dual degree course in B.Tech in Computer Science and M.Sc in Economics from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.

Must Read: Abhijeet Kaplish IAS Topper from Chandigarh – A Role Model for Youth

Past Experieces

Ananya Das worked with the Database Team of Oracle Server Technologies as a Software Engineer in Oracle India Pvt. Ltd for 8 months in Bengaluru. She was an Executive Intern in Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for 3 months in Jaipur. She worked on a paper on Financial Contagion and Regulatory Responses. This was later published in The Indian Banker.

Attempts

Ananya Das cracked Civil Services Exam in her very first attempt after quitting job of a software company.

Optional Paper

Ananya Das made a choice of Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) as an optional paper which was based solely on interest. Coming to Political Science preparation, she says she was an engineer by training and she have no background in political science. There may be many more sources to study from but she tried to restrict herself to a limited number due to paucity of time. She believes that it is most important part to practice answer writing for optional paper separately.

Read Also: Neha Kumari IAS – Rank 26 in Civil Services Exam 2014

Preparation Strategy by Ananya Das

Ananya Das started reading basic stuff in 2012 end. She took coaching for Political Science at Vajiram. Some of the basic preparation strategy which Ananya Das followed are:

Please the Examiner

This one person holds the key to your success. It is not only fair but also logical for you to make your life as easy as possible. Remember that they are not doing you a favour by checking your answer-sheet. Its your job to generate their curiosity and then grasp their attention. Try and make your answer sheet the most pleasing one in the stack.

Keep points ready

Answer writing has two parts – first and the more critical one is the recollection and organization that takes place in our heads and the second part is pure execution of the same. The whole exercise of retention and retrieval of points in your mind are very very important. While writing one point, you should plan about your next ones. The faster you think, the faster you write.

Stick to your time schedule

Sticking to the time schedule is very important so that you can do justice to every question. Remember that attempting all questions well will fetch you much more marks than writing a thesis on 3-4 questions. Keep it in mind that your watch is your friend

Innovate and Interlink

Especially in a subject like Political Science where there are so many connections, linking events can fetch you more marks. Give examples to reinforce your points which will add weight to your answer, using key terms which you may have picked up from newspapers can help. Train your mind to form a web of information

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Needless to say, all of the above aspects can only be covered through study, planned revision and practice in answer writing.  Do a little more when you think it is enough.

Tips for Young Aspirants

  • Self notes are useful if you think your material is not organised and needs to be consolidated. Its time taking but is often helpful.
  • Buy past years question papers of political science and try to write holistic, balanced answers.
  • Try to observe the pattern and focus areas, especially in the recent years.
  • With time, you should be able to plan an answer roughly before you put it on paper.

Don’t Miss: Aboli Naravane IAS Tops in Maharashtra

Niharika Bhatt – Left a US Govt Job and Became an IPS

By
Syskool
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91
Niharika Bhatt, IPS

Niharika Bhatt, IPS2015 batch IPS, Niharika Bhatt, has secured All India 146 rank, prior to this she has taken a tough decision of leaving her Job in US Government  and fight for becoming a Civil Servant in India and she made though it well. She hails from Lucknow where she received most of her education.

Education

She graduated from Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow in Electronics and instrumentation. She is also having an engineering degree from Michigan University, US which she earned after shifting to US.

Prior to joining the service she was researcher in Washington in Food and Drug Administration of the US government

Mains Score:

  Interview marks     198/275
   Total marks   746/ 1750
    Total   944/ 2025

Niharika Bhatt shares her story of becoming IPS

I was in a situation in 2013. I was discussing the possibility of applying to PhD programs, continuing with my research job or give a cent percent attempt to UPSC.

This is what I did. I downloaded ncert books – class 6th to 12th – history, geography, polity pdfs.
Also I searched and discussed about optionals and sociology appealed to me. To test waters and make sure that I enjoy the subject I ordered Haralambos on amazon.

As fate would have it, October 2013 had US government shut down for 2 weeks that gave two weeks off from work and solid time to read this stuff.

So I went through this material. Just relaxed reading. No underlining, nothing.

If after “skimming” through basic chapters of optional, and ncert (at least Geo and polity) you can see yourself enjoying and studying for the next 1 year with the aim to clear this exam in one attempt. Then I would say go for it.!!!

If you want to discuss more, please drop me a PM and I will be happy to clear your doubts.

Also, be very clear in your head about why you want to pursue upsc. During prep, thoughts of “why the hell did I leave a comfortable life and get into this” will come to mind, it is human nature. Clarity of goal and thought is essential to maintain the momentum of studies.

May the force be with you!

 

Here is a full Interview

Tell us about your background relating to education and work experience?

I completed my schooling from Seth MR Jaipuria School Lucknow, after which I completed my engineering in electronics and instrumentation from Lucknow’s Institute of Engineering and Technology. To pursue M.Tech, I chose University of Michigan, USA. I then took up the job of a researcher in department of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US government. Here, I worked for one-and-a-half year on how nano particles haven impacted human health.

While studying for engineering or in your school days, did you ever think of appearing for UPSC exams?

No, I never thought about it.

You were in USA working with a reputed organization like the FDA. What made you to leave that high-end profession and prepare for UPSC?

During my tenure with the US government service, I travelled to China. It was then I realised that the biggest impact I can make on the society is by being a part of the government machinery. And then it struck me, “Why US and not my own country?” In recent years, we as a nation have come up stronger in all the fields. We require people who have that determination to make a change and this will only happen when people like us will start contributing towards it. I always had a dream to serve my country.

You cracked the UPSC exam in your maiden attempt, while preparing did you had any plan to make it in the first go or it just happened?

First go was always the plan. I thought if I did not make it in the first attempt, I will either go back to the US or will plan for a research or a Ph.D in India.

Tell me about your study plan, i.e., schedule of your preparations etc., and what lead you to choose sociology in mains?

After coming back to India, I relocated to Rajendra Nagar in New Delhi which is also a UPSC preparation hub. I did not attend any coaching. I used to put in 10-12 hours of self-studies daily and made efficient use of internet to understand current issues. I made a list of basic books and revised them ‘n’ number of times. I was not in touch with any of my friends or family members except my parents who had my phone number. I only joined the mock tests to evaluate my personal preparation, which helped me immensely.

While deciding about the subject for mains, I looked up at the syllabus for all of the subjects which were of my interest and found sociology very interesting and it came to me very intuitively.

You being a global student, do you think others should follow your footsteps?

I feel US is a good place for higher education. After completing the course and getting some work experience, people should come back to serve the country.

What was the role of internet in your preparation?

I think Internet played a very important role. My day used to start by opening my laptop. I used to read about current affairs online. All government objectives were briefly explained on government websites which helped me in making my notes. I also used to make notes online and used to revise whenever needed. Google helped a lot as there were many topics which were easily available on a single click.

Whom (Who?) do you think of as your role model, apart from your parents?

I am inspired by T. N. Seshan & Vinod Rai. They have gained respect being public servants during their work tenure and have also brought about many reforms in their respective work areas. I even admire S.Y.Quraishi who was the Chief Election Commissioner. I used to follow him on twitter too.

When you decided to come back, what was your parent’s reaction?

My parents were amazingly supportive about my decision to come back and prepare for UPSC. My father told me if that’s what you want to do, you should go for it. (Niharika is the daughter of a doctor father and mother is a home-maker)

Do you think State governments should compete on the basis of development and what do you think we as a state lack currently?

Yes, development should be the key agenda for any government in power. I think Development and Law & Order are the two important aspects we as a state should mainly focus on, as, because of lack of infrastructure, industries do not want to settle their base in our state and that becomes a reason for the talent to move to either other states or abroad.

Tell me any three problems which India as a country is facing where bureaucracy can help solve it?

As per my view Education, Women safety (Law of Order) and Proper monitoring of Fund Flow are three main aspects where bureaucracy can help.

Education – Entire system should be properly monitored, lack of infrastructure like school buildings, necessary items needed should be given priority. Because of simple problems, attendance in schools drops down, which becomes the area for concern.

Women Safety – Which is part of Law & Order, should be the topmost priority for the administrative system. Digitization of police force should be incorporated to make them more advanced and help fight with challenges on a shorter notice.

Monitoring flow of funds- Strict monitoring of funds should be maintained and digital monitoring of funds should be done, ensuring that input and output remains the same which will also help us keeping an eye on corruption.
We at Lucknow Observer recognize Niharika Bhatt as an Inspirational Leader for our society. We wish her all the best for her future and appreciate the fact that she had the courage to follow her dreams!

The interview was given to Surabhi Mishra of Green Globe for Lucknow Observer.

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