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How UP’s Pratibha Verma secured AIR- 3 in UPSC civil services 2019
“Last year I got 489th rank. I quickly realised the mistakes I made there. I worked hard on my weakness. Started writing well rounded answers. And also the past experiences helped,” UPSC civil services 2019 women topper Pratibha Verma said.
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Pratibha Verma from Uttar Pradesh has secured All India third rank in the civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and topped among women. The result was announced on Tuesday.
Still unable to believe what she has achieved, she said, “This is amazing and has left me speechless. I just could not believe it when I checked the UPSC result this afternoon.”.
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Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Pradeep Singh, a resident of Haryana, tops the list of 829 candidates who have qualified for the prestigious civil services.
Pratibha Verma too is a serving IRS officer. She took leave to prepare for the examination.”
She said she wanted to become an IAS officer since her childhood.
Also Read: Meet UPSC civil services exam 2019 topper Pradeep Singh from Haryana
A native of Sultanpur, Pratibha said she was super excited. “In the past, women have topped the exam. Tina Dabi stood first in 2016. Happy with what I have achieved. I was confident that I would do well. But never imagined that I would secure AIR 3rd rank. This was very unexpected,” she said.
The calls started pouring in as the news spread, she said. A colleague in IRS was the first one to inform her about the result. “And then I checked it on the website,” said Verma, who had physics as her optional subject.
She graduated from Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-Delhi) in 2014 and worked with a private firm for two years to gain some work experience.
Also Read: UPSC Civil Services final result 2019: IAS first preference for UPSC topper
“I always wanted to become a civil servant. I started preparing for UPSC (exam),” she said.
“Last year, I got the 489th rank. I quickly realised the mistakes I made there. I worked hard on my weakness and started writing well-rounded answers. The past experience helped,” she said.
On the civil service, she said a number of women had done exceptionally well as bureaucrats.
“Their work inspired me to join the service as there was a direct connect with people,” she said.
Also Read: UPSC Civil Services Exam 2019 Result: Pradeep Singh tops exam, check toppers list
“I was inspired by the way IAS officers act as the first responder at the time of any crisis. They are always on the frontline at the time of a difficult situation. That is why I decided to prepare again for the exam (after getting selected in the IRS),” she said.
“I would like to work for women empowerment and children-related issues, especially in my home state Uttar Pradesh,” she added.
Verma gave credit to her parents for playing an important role in motivating her for the civil services.
Her father Subansh Verma retired a few months ago as an English teacher in a government intermediate college. Her mother Usha Verma is a head teacher with a government school in Sultanpur.
“My elder sister Priyanka is a doctor. And I have two brothers. One of them is working with a private company. The younger brother is studying,” she said.
Verma said no big celebrations were planned because of Covid-19.
“Only video calls with parents, siblings and close family members and friends,” she said..
