Soumya Sharma has secured ninth rank in CSE 2017. (Image: Twitter)

Inspiring stories of successful candidates are coming out after the announcement of Civil Services Examination result by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on April 27, 2018. One among them is Soumya Sharma, a resident of Delhi’s Nangloi area. Soumya has secured ninth rank in CSE 2017. A graduate from Delhi’s National Law University, Soumya is reportedly suffering from hearing disability. But this didn’t deter her from preparing for one of the most prestigious and difficult examinations in the country. She never attended any coaching class or took tuition on any subject yet managed to clear the test on her own.

At the time of UPSC Mains examination, Soumya was suffering from a viral fever of 103 degrees. But she didn’t lose hope and appeared in the examination. Without taking the reservation under physical disability category, she earned the rank in the general category.

Both her parents Ashok Sharma and Leena Sharma are doctors. Soumya completed her primary education from a school in Delhi’s Paschim Vihar. To focus on her preparations, Soumya stopped using Whatsapp and Facebook a year ago. But she used Google for preparation purposes.

Hindi Daily Dainik Bhaskar today reported that Soumya had keen interest in reading newspapers since childhood. She was inspired by the civil services examination after coming across few seniors. ‘Law’ was her favourite subject and she also completed graduation with this subject. ‘Law’ was also her choice in the Mains examination. She used to sleep 5 to 6 hours a day.”

A total of 990 candidates have been selected for the coveted civil services. A statement released by UPSC says, “The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2017 was conducted on June 18, 2017. 9,57,590 candidates applied for this examination, out of which 4,56,625 candidates actually appeared. 13,366 candidates qualified for an appearance in the written (Mains) examination held in October-November, 2017. Of them, 2,568 candidates qualified for the Personality Test conducted in February-April, 2018.”