Keralites corner glory in Civil Services exams

For the first time since 1991, a Keralite has topped the Civil Services Examinations while the second and fourth positions have also been bagged by people from the state. A Delhi resident has taken the third position.

Haritha V. Kumar secured the first rank in the joint examinations. V. Sriram came second while a doctor, Alby John Varghese, came fourth in the all-India ranking.

This was Haritha Kumar's fourth and last attempt to crack what is considred as one of the toughest exams in the country.

Speaking to media persons from Faridabad near Delhi, where she is undergoing training as an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Haritha thanked her teachers and her family for her performance.

"I did not pass in my first attempt. In the second attempt, I got 179th rank and got selected for the Indian Police Service, but I opted for Indian Revenue Service. In my third attempt, I got a rank of 290. This time I got what I aimed for as I was very keen to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official," said Haritha Kumar, an engineer by profession.

For the examination, she chose economics and Malayalam literature as her optional subject.

"It will take me another three weeks to return to my home in Thiruvananthapuram as I am undergoing a training programme," she said.

Stuti Charan, who studied in Delhi, has bagged third position.

For Charan, who holds a diploma in Personnel and Marketing Management from the Indian Institute of Planning and Management, it was her third attempt.

Fourth ranked Varghese is a medical officer in the Kerala government service in Ernakulam district.

"This was my first attempt and I started preparing in January last year. I took medicine and Malayalam literature as my optional subjects. This is one examination where mugging will do no good. Instead, one has to work really hard. My childhood ambition to become a civil service official has been accomplished," said Varghese.

Raju Narayana Swamy, a Kerala bureaucrat in Kerala who secured first rank in the same examination in 1991, said that he was pleased that the myth that Keralites cannot perform well in the Civil Services Examinations has been broken.

"The performance of Keralites this time has been exemplary. It is a fitting reply to people who say that Keralites can't do well in this examination," said Swamy.

Interestingly, it is the women candidates who have also topped in the category of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

A total 998 candidates have been selected for appointments.