education

Updated: Apr 06, 2019 12:00 IST

Basking in the new-found glory after Congress president Rahul Gandhi chose Wayanad as his second constituency, the north Kerala district notched up another distinction when Sreedhanya Suresh (25) became the first tribal woman from the state to crack the civil services examination.

Hailing from Kurichya community, she secured 410 rank in the 2018 civil service examination. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others congratulated Sreedhanya. “Sreedhanya fought the social backwardness and passed the civil services examination with flying colours. Her achievement will inspire other students in future,” he tweeted. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala also congratulated the young achiever.

Wayanad being Rahul Gandhi’s Kerala constituency, the Congress president took to Twitter to congratulate Shreedhanya Suresh.

Ms Sreedhanya Suresh from Wayanad, is the first tribal girl from Kerala to be selected for the civil service.



Sreedhanya’s hard work & dedication have helped make her dream come true.



I congratulate Sreedhanya and her family and wish her great successs in her chosen career. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 6, 2019

A zoology student her optional subject for mains was Malayalam literature. She was born and brought up in a Kurichya hamlet near Kalpetta.

Sreedhanya’s father is a daily wage farm labourer and mother is also a worker under MGNRAEGS.

“ I am from the most backward district of the state. Even though there is a large tribal population in the district there are no IAS/IPS officers from here. I hope this will be an inspiration and motivation to the future generations,” she said. She cracked the examination in her third attempt. She completed her graduation from St Joseph Devagiri and post-graduation from Calicut University. Since her ranks is 410 she is unlikely to get IAS or IPS and she will choose revenue or railway services, her friends said.

Other Keralites who got top ranks in the examination are Sreelakshmai (rank 29), Ranjana Mary Verghese (rank ranks 49) and Arjun Mohan (rank 66). Out of 759 cleared the examination 577 are male and 182 females. Twenty five from the state emerged victorious this time.