VISAKHAPATNAM : Sixty-six candidates from the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were selected in the 2015 Civil Services examination, the results of which were announced by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday.
The topper from the two Telugu states is Chekuri Kirti from Visakhapatnam. She secured the 14th rank. Kirthi is a graduate of IIT Madras (2008-2012). This was her third attempt at the Civil Services. In her first attempt, she got the 440th rank and qualified for the Indian Revenue Service. In fact, after her training, she was posted as assistant commissioner in the Service Tax Commission in Hyderabad on Monday, just a day before the 2015 results were announced.
"It was at IIT-Madras that I got influenced by my batchmates and faculty who always spoke glowingly about the Civil Services,” said the Vizag girl. “Before that I didn’t know anything about IAS." Talking to the Express, Kirthi said the Civil Services is an opportunity to serve the people.
Kirthi did her early schooling in Visakhapatnam and shifted to Hyderabad for her class X. She started preparing for the IAS in 2013. "I was inspired by a speech given by an IAS officer in my third year at IIT-M, I got to know how challenging the job was. I just wanted to face the challenge no matter what the result was," she said.
Though her parents wanted her to go abroad for further studies in engineering, Kirthi convinced them to support her decision to sit for the IAS. "My father (Narendra Chekuri) and mother (Padma) always supported me. When I started preparing for the Civils, it was almost like they too were giving the exam. We avoided all family events and entertainment," she said.
Kirthi said that after her first attempt, she contacted the top rankers in the exam to learn how to fare better. “I did feel the pressure in the last six months before the exam as I was also undergoing training for IRS," she said.
Valluri Kranthi (65)
Like Andhra Pradesh topper Chekuri Kirthi, 65th ranker Valluri Kranthi too is an IIT alumnus (Delhi), an IRS officer (she is an assistant commissioner of commercial taxes at Nagpur) and a third-time trier in the Civils. Hailing from a family of doctors (parents V Venkata Ranga Reddy and V Lakshmi are doctors as is her elder sister), Kurnool native Kranthi chose to take a different path. She opted for engineering and studied mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi.Immediately after completing her degree, she sat for the Civil Services exam in 2013 and bagged the 562nd rank. For it she took coaching. In her second attempt in 2014, she didn’t take coaching and bagged the 230rd rank.