NEW DELHI: Women clinched the top two positions in the prestigious Civil Services 2024 exams announced by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday.
Shakti Dubey, a biochemistry graduate from University of Allahabad, secured the first rank in the UPSC examination.
The second position was secured by Harshita Goyal, a Chartered Accountant and MS University of Baroda graduate.
Pune's Archit Parag Dongre, a Bachelor of Technology graduate in electrical and electronics engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Tamil Nadu, secured third rank in the highly competitive examinations.
While last year, Lucknow-based Aditya Srivastava, a trainee Indian Police Service officer, had topped the civil services examination, in the previous two years, women candidates had dominated.
Dubey, who is from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, cracked the UPSC on her very first attempt. She qualified for the examination with political science and international relations as her optional subject, while Goyal also qualified for the exam with political science and international relations as her optional subject.
Dongre had philosophy as his optional subject, according to the UPSC.
Shah Margi Chirag, who has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in computer engineering from Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, secured the fourth rank with sociology as her optional subject.
Aakash Garg, who has a Bachelor of Technology degree in computer science from the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, got the fifth rank with sociology as his optional subject.
The top 25 candidates comprise 11 women and 14 men.
A total of 9,92,599 candidates applied for the UPSC examination, out of which 5,83,213 candidates actually appeared in the test. A total of 14,627 candidates qualified for appearance in the written (main) examination, which was held in September 2024. Out of these, 2,845 candidates qualified for the personality test or interview, which were held between January 7 and April 17 this year.
Of them, 1,009 candidates -- 725 men and 284 women -- have been recommended by the UPSC for appointment to various services.
Out of the total successful candidates, 335 are from the general category, 109 from the economically weaker sections, 318 from other backward classes, 160 from scheduled castes and 87 from scheduled tribes, according to the commission.
The recommended candidates also include 45 persons with benchmark disability, comprising 12 orthopedically handicapped, eight visually challenged, 16 hearing impaired, and nine with multiple disabilities, it said.
The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- by the UPSC to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
The civil services (preliminary) examination 2024 was conducted on June 16 last year.
The government has reported 1,129 vacancies -- 180 in IAS, 55 in IFS, 147 in IPS, 605 posts in different central Group A services and 142 in Group B services -- to be filled through the civil services examination 2024.
The candidature of 241 recommended candidates has been kept provisional, the UPSC said, adding that the result of one candidate has been withheld.
Another 230 successful candidates have been put on a reserve list, the commission said.
The UPSC has a ‘Facilitation Counter’ near the examination hall on its campus in Delhi. Candidates can obtain information or clarification regarding their exams or recruitment on all working days between 10 am and 5 pm in person or over the phone by dialling 23385271/23381125/23098543, it said.
The result will also be available on the UPSC website - www.upsc.gov.in - and the marks will be available on the website within 15 days from the date of declaration of the result, the statement added.