SHILLONG, May 30: Ankur Das, a resident of Jail Road here, brought great cheer to Meghalaya by clearing the civil services examination, 2021, the results of which were declared on Monday.
He secured 52nd rank.
Das, who cleared the exam in his fifth attempt, was overjoyed. He expressed the desire to serve in the Northeast, especially Meghalaya, as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He said it was his dream since school days to become an IAS officer.
“After my graduation in 2017, I devoted myself fulltime to the preparation. My first attempt was in 2017 itself and I could not succeed for four years. Finally, I got through the mains this year and appeared for the interview to be eventually selected,” the 27-year-old said.
He did his schooling from St. Edmund’s, higher secondary from Army Public School, Shillong and graduation in biotechnology from Amity University.
Das said preparing for the exam from Shillong was not a big challenge in this age of information technology where everything is available online.
“I am lucky that my family encouraged me and supported me. A major part of the credit goes to my parents,” he said.
He felt the candidates from Meghalaya are not behind others given their flair in English. But, he added, the state needs more coaching centres in conjunction with colleges and the colleges should collaborate with renowned coaching centres in New Delhi.
“There should be a culture of awareness, more preparations and more exams and interviews since the UPSC conducts many other exams. There is also a need for encouragement from the government and the academia,” Das said.
Asked about the mantra of his success, he said there is no substitute for hard work. He also stressed that one has to work smart.
“The exam is getting harder with each passing year and you have to work smarter although there is no substitute for hard work,” Das said and stressed also on focus on revision, reading good newspapers and watching good documentaries.
“If you are seriously preparing, standard books are the same but you need to work on developing your personality as a whole,” he said.
He did not take any fulltime coaching. Although he had joined test series during previous attempts, he was on his own this time around, going through only mock interviews. He also said that he studied for 4-5 hours a day but when the exam was nearing, he had stretched it to 8-10 hours a day.
His parents HK Das and Indrani Das were elated.
“It is a dream come true for any parent. Our son worked hard in the past two years. It is a great achievement, considering his ranking,” the proud father said.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma took to Twitter to congratulate Ankur. “Congratulations to Ankur Das of #Meghalaya for securing the 52nd rank in the #UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2021.”
Local MLA of North Shillong, Adelbert Nongrum visited the Das residence to congratulate Ankur on his achievement.
Nongrum also lauded his parents for their continuous support to their son to achieve the milestone.
Nongrum also hoped that Ankur’s achievement would motivate youths of the state to work hard to crack the Civil Services examination.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo also congratulated Ankur on his achievement. “Heartiest congratulations to Ankur Das from Shillong who has cleared the UPSC examination this year with an All India rank of 52. A tremendous achievement! Best wishes to him,” she wrote on Twitter.
The All India Services Pre-Examination Training Centre Shillong (previously known as Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute) also congratulated Ankur for securing the 52nd rank in the UPSC examination.
