As many as 933 candidates passed the civil services examination, results of which were announced on Tuesday by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). While those who qualified are rejoicing, commiserations are pouring in on social media for those who couldn't crack the tough examination and asked them not to be disheartened and to instead turn over a new leaf.
Ishita Kishore secured the ‘All India Rank – 1’ in UPSC results 2022 while three other girls - Garima Lohia, Uma Harathi N and Smriti Mishra were among the top 4 in the mains.
“I am very happy to get the first rank. It’s a dream come true for me,” 26-year-old Ishita Kishore told news agency ANI.
On the other side, sympathies poured over social media for the people who couldn’t clear the exam. Every year approximately 1 million people appear for the UPSC mains, out of which less than 0.1% manage to clear it.
Naman Shrivastava, CEO of the Global Governance Initiative, on Twitter wrote, “Out of 1 million who appear for UPSC only around 80 become IAS officers. If Sundar Pichai had cleared UPSC – he would be working as a collector in Greater Noida today.”
Shrivastava also said that UPSC is a game of luck after a point and it is a travesty that many Indians are wasting the most productive years of their lives by appearing/reappearing for such exams mindlessly.
The UPSC topper this year, Ishita Kishore, cleared the exam in her third attempt. She left her corporate job at Ernst and Young as a risk analyst to prepare for the UPSC Civil Services examination.
Engineering graduate Uma Harathi also failed 4 times before successfully clearing the exam and securing a rank. Swati Sharma, who secured the fourth rank, also failed twice before clearing the exam.
One Twitter user wrote that success percentage of UPSC is 0.2%, means failure rate is 99.8% and it’s not worth taking a toll on one's life where the law of averages are almost always stacked against one.
Another Twitter user taunted the UPSC system by saying, “Others have a love triangle, UPSC aspirants have love circles, where we come back to same point after every failure.”
According to a National Crime Records Bureau, 2020 data, around 2,500 people die by suicide due to failure in examinations every year. Maharashtra recorded the highest number of suicides among all states in India.
Shrivastava concluded his lengthy tweet by suggesting people to not let an exam dictate the trajectory of their life in 20’s. "The 20s are the most productive years of your lives, and the opportunity cost of revising the UPSC syllabus every year is infinite," he wrote.
A total number of 933 candidates- 613 men and 320 women were recommended by the commission for appointment to various services, as per the official release by the department.
Out of these, 345 candidates are unreserved, 99 from EWS, 263 from OBC, 154 from SC and 72 candidates from ST category. Altogether 180 candidates have been shortlisted for selection to the post been prepared.