Civil services toppers new icons for city youth

Gurvinder Singh

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 8

If the world boxing championship victory for Mandeep Kaur Sandhu has inspired many youngsters in Chakar village to put on boxing gloves, achieving high ranks by the city students in civil services examination has many a youngsters pursue their civil services dreams with a new vigour. High rankers have become new role models for many youngsters in the city.

Purva Garg, who has secured the 79th rank in the civil services exam, says: “I have been getting many queries from civil services aspirants. Some friends, cousins and many other people now aspire to become civil servants. I am being asked about the exam even on my Facebook account,” she says. “I had also sought guidance from my seniors while I was preparing for the exam. So, I am helping out the new aspirants,” he says.

First of all one should be very sure if he or she wants to join the civil services, as preparation can take a lot of time and test their patience, she says. “Self-discipline and a plan is very important while preparing for the exam. There are distractions but one should keep working hard and study regularly. For instance, I used to prepare for the exam in four time slots of three hours each,” she says. “Keeping abreast of current affairs is crucial as questions are asked about the recent developments as well. One should study current affairs in depth,” she says. “Nowadays, coaching is not a must as a lot of information about exam preparation is available online,” she says.

“During the interview round, one must be polite, should not lie and must admit if one doesn’t know an answer. One must be honest. Your overall personality is judged during the interview,” she says. To prepare for personal interview, peer evaluation is important and you must ask members of family, friends and peers to take your interview to start with.

Aditya Uppal, who has got the 19th rank, is the new youth icon. “He has secured a brilliant rank. Although I have not met him yet, the fact that someone from the city has secured such a rank is a huge inspiration for everyone who wants to join the civil services,” says Ivninder Singh, a civil services aspirant.

Giving tips to young aspirants, Aditya says: “Preparing for the civil services exam takes a lot of patience and perseverance. It can be disheartening if one doesn’t make it in the first attempt but one must not let up and keep working hard to get through in the exam.”

Amitpal Sharma, who secured the 139th rank, says he is also getting many queries from the civil services aspirants about how to plan study, which books to study, etc. 

“Preparation for the exam requires a lot of smart work. Focused and target-based self study is the key. Self-motivation is very important. One should also imbibe ethics and values that are also enshrined in the Indian Constitution and follow these values in daily life as it will stand an aspirant in good stead when he takes the ethics and values exam that was introduced recently,” he says.