Dental surgeon gets 515th rank

Gagandeep Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 10

It’s a dream come true for Kanishka, a dental surgeon by profession from Jalandhar, who has got the 515th rank in the Civil Services examination, conducted by the UPSC.

After completing her postgraduation in Public Health, Kanishka has been working in the National Rural Health Mission in Haryana. She had always dreamt of joining the Civil Services.

“I left my job in 2013 to prepare for the UPSC examination. I always wanted to work for the people of this country at the grassroots level. During my job in the National Rural Health Mission, I got an opportunity to work in rural parts of India, which inspired me to work further in these areas for the betterment of people,” she added.

Daughter of a retired bank officer and serving government teacher, Kanishka said it had come as the biggest news ever to her.

“After completing my BDS from the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, in 2010, I opted for postgraduation in Public Health that I completed from Rajasthan. Apart from the job in the Rural Health Mission, where I closely observed the working system of the Civil Services, my uncle, who is a PCS officer, motivated me to opt for the UPSC examination,” she added. “I took coaching from a Chandigarh coaching centre for a few days, but did not find it worth. Then I chose not to have coaching and opted for self study. I used to study around eight hours a day. It was very tough to crack the examination as I needed to study constantly. I could easily spare time to rejuvenate myself,” Kanishka added. She does not believe in surnames and wants to be addressed by her first name Kanishka only.