UPSC Civil Services exam is one of the toughest competitive exams in the world. The candidates who appear in this exam should be physically and mentally fit. Also, they need to study exhaustively because of the vast syllabus of this exam. CSE is an annual exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission to select candidates for the civil services of India including IAS, IPS, IFS and other allied services.
This exam is certainly not for the faint-hearted and needs conviction and a positive attitude to score a high rank. Rukmani Riar is one such IAS officer, who became a UPSC Topper in her first attempt despite being an average student in her school days. Let's learn more about her journey from failing in school to becoming a UPSC Topper!
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Early Life:
Rukmani Riar was born in a well-to-do family. Her father, Baljinder Singh Riar was the Deputy District Attorney of Hoshiarpur. Her mother, Takdeer Kaur was a homemaker. Rukmani received her primary education from Gurdaspur in Punjab. She was not the brightest student at her age. She studied in Sacred Heart School, Dalhousie from class 5th to class 12th. This was when she failed her class 6th exams due to the pressures of being in a boarding school. Rukmani was crestfallen and despondent after this failure. She was so embarrassed that she did not face her parents for 6-7 months.
This incident was a turning point for Rukmani. She gathered all her courage and started studying enthusiastically. She found, that since she was complaining throughout the past year, she could not achieve her goals. So, Rukmani changed her attitude and stopped complaining which eventually helped her pass her 12th standard with flying colours.
UPSC Preparation & Success:
Rukmani Riar graduated from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, where she pursued Bachelors's in Social Sciences. Later, she pursued a Master's degree in Social Sciences from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She was a gold medalist there. In one of her speeches at TISS, she recalled how the institute motivated her to become a Civil Servant.
Once, while working on her college project, she had to visit the slums of Mumbai. There, she was asked by many slum dwellers if she was working for the Government of India. Rukmani realised that people expect the Government to uplift them. That’s when she decided to become a Civil Servant and dedicate her life to society.
She also interned with the Planning Commission of India, Annapurna Mahila Mandal in Mumbai, and various NGOs like Ashodaya in Mysore. After that, she worked as an assistant to Harsh Mander (a social activist) at the Center for Equity Studies in New Delhi.
Rukmani started her UPSC preparation by going through the basics. She followed NCERT books as suggested to all those who prepare for the civil services exam.
Her preparation strategy involved reading newspapers for current affairs and she followed the one book per subject policy. She attempted mock tests on a regular basis in her final days of preparation to brush up on her subjects. She also read editorial sections of the newspapers to strengthen her essay writing skills as well as her personality.
Her hard work and persistence bore fruit when she succeeded in securing AIR 2 in UPSC CSE 2011 in her first attempt. She attributes her desire to contribute towards nation-building as her constant motivation throughout the process of preparation for the CSE.
Rukmani Riar is currently posted as the District Collector of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan. While taking charge there, she pledged to make Sri Ganganagar COVID-free by effectively monitoring the population and generating awareness for vaccination among the public.
Every aspirant of UPSC CSE can learn from the life of IAS Rukmani Riar who proved that one failure cannot determine your destiny. If you have the courage of conviction and put in the required efforts, you can certainly succeed and score a high rank in the UPSC CSE.
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