NEW DELHI: Kanishak Kataria, a Dalit and a graduate from IIT Bombay, has topped the Civil Services Examination 2018, a feat that is testimony to the progress clocked by the socially disadvantaged, and which could upend the popular notions of “merit”. This is the second instance in four years of a Dalit topping in one of the most intensely competitive examinations, with Tina Dabi achieving the feat in 2015.

The results were announced by the UPSC on Friday. Akshat Jain, an engineering graduate from IIT Guwahati, got the second rank while Junaid Ahmad of Jamia Millia Islamia’s Residential Coaching Academy came third. Srushti Jayant Deshmukh was the topper among women with an overall fifth rank. The top 25 candidates comprise 15 men and 10 women. It was the first attempt for both Kataria (26), a B Tech in computer science and engineering, and 23-year-old Srushti a chemical engineer from Rajiv Gandhi Proudhyogiki Vishwavidyalaya. In all, 759 candidates — 577 men and 182 women — have been recommended for appointment to various all-India services like IAS and IPS.

Kanishak Kataria, who has topped the Civil Service Exam 2018, told TOI that while he was confident of making it to the top 100, the number 1 rank came as a “pleasant surprise”. “It was my first attempt. I was not sure how they would evaluate, though I knew I had done well. I prepared by studying for 8-10 hours a day initially and in the last two months prior to the exam, I increased this to 14-15 hours. It was my childhood dream to join the civil services,” said Kataria, whose father too is a bureaucrat.

Kataria has worked earlier in the private sector and was employed with Samsung in South Korea and also Bengaluru. “I wanted to see both the worlds — as a private sector employee before I made a final decision on trying for the civil services. I resigned in 2017 and started preparing for IAS by taking coaching in Delhi and consulting my friends selected earlier for the civil service,” he said. Kataria hopes to put his qualifications to good use by helping with digitisation in the government.

Srushti said she was excited about making it to the top 5, but slightly disappointed that women candidates had failed to make it to the top 4. “I didn’t go to Delhi for coaching and mostly relied on online resources to prepare from Bhopal itself. She added she was the first in her family to qualify for the civil services and wanted to serve the public. Akshat’s father is an IPS officer while his mother is an Indian Revenue Service officer and both motivated him to join the civil services.

“I had not expected to be on the top. I am processing my result for now. I have not thought anything but if given a chance I would want to work in the field of education,” Jain told TOI. The recommended candidates also include 36 persons with benchmark disability (11 orthopedically handicapped; 12 visually challenged, 11 hearing impaired and two multiple disability).



In Video: IIT-B graduate tops UPSC, 10 women in top 25