Two aspirants from Aurangabad clear UPSC post-independence

Two civil services aspirants from Phulambri town of Aurangabad district cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination after 70 years of the Indian independence.

The aspirants Mohammed Nooh Siddiqi and Sheikh Salman Patel ranked 326 and 339 respectively in the recently concluded civil services examinations.

Patel, who is a son of a farmer, broke down to tears after he came to know about the result.

"We meet our expenses by doing farming on two acres of land that we have. I still cannot believe that I have cleared the Civil Services Exam. I will serve people to the best of my abilities," Patel said.

Patel's mother also expressed happiness on his son's result and praised him for his hard work despite all the odds.

On a related note, 9, 57,590 candidates applied for the preliminary examination, out of which 4,56,625 candidates appeared. 13,366 candidates qualified for the Written (Main) Examination held in October - November 2017. Of them, 2568 candidates qualified for the Personality Test conducted in February - April 2018.

The UPSC then recommended a total of 990 candidates, including 750 men and 240 women for appointment to various services, including IAS, Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS).