Success Stories: These IAS, IPS Officers Failed In School But Cracked UPSC Exam – News18

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Examination (CSE) is one of the most difficult competitive examinations in India. Every year, thousands of aspirants appear for the exam after preparing for several years. But only a few of them are able to clear it and become government officials. As the syllabus of the CSE is quite vast and diversified, preparation requires a lot of time. Usually, it is believed that people who have been good at their academics from the beginning are able to perform better at the CSE.

In the past, there have been many IAS and IPS who have been from prestigious institutions like IITs, IIMs and more. But some of them have shown that hard work and determination can actually help achieve dreams. So, let’s look at some IAS and IPS officers who failed while studying in school but cleared the UPSC CSE.

Anju Sharma

Anju Sharma became an IAS officer in 1991 and was a part of the Gujarat Cadre. She had always been a sincere student and performed well but due to nervousness and stress, she failed the Chemistry Class 10 pre-board Exam. In Class 12, she got a distinction in all her subjects but failed in economics. Despite these results, she did not give up and became an IAS officer in 1991, at the age of 22, after passing her B.Sc. and MBA with a gold medal.

Manoj Sharma

IPS Manoj Sharma’s journey has been quite inspiring for all the aspirants. In Class 9 and Class 10, he got third division. In his Class 12 board exams, he flunked in all the subjects except Hindi. As he came from a poor family, Manoj Sharma drove tempos, used to work in a library in Delhi, and even slept on the footpath to complete his studies. He finally became an IPS officer on his third attempt with 121st rank.

Rukmani Riar

Rukmani Riar’s family used to be worried about her as she failed in Class 6. After the setback, she decided to focus on her studies. She received a gold medal for completing her Master’s from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. While working, she started preparing for UPSC and cleared the exam in 2011 with AIR 2. Her husband, Siddharth Sihag, is also an IAS officer.