THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thiruvananthapuram girl Jeeva Maria Joy who secured 147th rank in the 2015 civil services examination on Tuesday said she was relieved and joyous after cracking what is considered to be the country's toughest tests, in the second try. "I had missed out on an interview call by a whisker last time around. So, the news came as a huge sigh of relief," said Jeeva, a resident of Mundackal House at Vanchiyoor here. "It has been a strenuous three years for me and my family and I had kept my expectations on the check," she said.
Jeeva said she was undone by the optional subject last time around, but this time with 'public administration' as the optional, she has hit the bull's eye. "I had prepared better for my optional this year and had kept myself updated even more by reading the daily newspapers which helped me this time," she said.
Daughter of Joy Cherian, a retired school teacher, and Molykutty Luckose, deputy director of the Directorate of Handloom and Textiles, Jeeva did her BTech in civil engineering at the College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET) before doing her MBA in Mumbai. Her sibling Aishwariya is a fourth year MBBS student. Apart from Jeeva, it was girls who led the way among the rank holders from the district. Bhavya I V of Vishnupriya in Konchira, Vembayam secured 296th rank while Sreya A S from Poojappura came out in the 299th rank. Bhavya had Malayalam as the optional subject while Sreya had picked sociology and Gayathri M of Pushpak, Ulloor Gardens claiming the 642nd rank picking economics as the optional, girls in the state continue the trend of taking the top honours in the civil services examination.
'Draw a line between civil services and politics'
Noted civil servant C V Ananda Bose on Tuesday said that civil service should stand firmly by political decisions but at the same time influence the welfare and development of the nation by pointing out the cons and legalities of such decisions. He was speaking at a talk organised by the P N Panicker Foundation here on the subject 'Civil Service and Political Leadership'.
"If the civil servants show complete adherence to the political leadership, chances are that the governance may end up less transparent. The differences between civil servants and politicians can negatively affect the progress of the country," Bose said. Foundation vice chairman N Balagopal, P V Sulaiman Ravuthar, Rajan Babu, Johnson Roch and K Govindankutty were among those who were present during the function.
Apart from Jeeva, it was girls who led the way among the rank holders from the district. Bhavya I V of Vishnupriya in Konchira, Vembayam secured 296th rank while Sreya A S from Poojappura came out in the 299th rank. Bhavya had Malayalam as the optional subject while Sreya had picked sociology