BHUBANESWAR: Priyanshu Pal has topped the Odisha Civil Services (OCS) Examination-2023, the results of which were announced by the Odisha Public Service Commission on Friday.
A resident of Angul, 28-year-old Priyanshu studied mining engineering at the College of Engineering in Keonjhar and worked at Vedanta and Deloitte while deciding to appear for the OCS. This was his fourth attempt at the prestigious examination where he chose home science as his optional paper.
“In the three previous attempts, I was both working and preparing for the examinations. After three failed attempts, I decided to give up my job as a deputy manager at Deloitte and focus entirely on preparing for OCS and IAS,” said Priyanshu, who had his schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya at Gopalpur (military station). He feels his consistency, perseverance and hard work helped him score the top rank.
While he wishes to continue preparing for IAS, Priyanshu aims at working in the industrial and rural development sectors after joining the state civil services.
Unlike previous years when girls used to bag the top ranks, the only girl to secure a rank in top-10 candidates this time is Ananya Mishra. She has bagged the second rank in the exams. In the Odisha Judicial Service-2022, Ananya had bagged the third rank but decided to give it up to prepare for OCS and IAS. This was her second attempt at the OCS. Daughter of a retired OAS officer, Ananya had failed to succeed in the last attempt by just two marks in the interview round.
“This became my biggest push towards achieving success,” said Ananya, who is also preparing for IAS. Although she had done well in the OCS-2023, Ananya had not hoped for a second rank. “It was a pleasant surprise,” she said.
The top 10 tanks include Sovan Pattanaik in third, Mirza Faiz Ahmed Quadri fourth, Chinmaya Sahu fifth, Antim Swain sixth, Shailesh Kumar Bhoi seventh, Mohommad Nazif Hatif eighth, Chinmaya Kumar Padhi ninth and Milan Mohapatra 10th.
Close to 36,216 candidates had appeared for the OCS Prelims for 399 posts on December 15 last year. Of them 4,799 had qualified who appeared for the Mains this year.
Based on personality test and documents verification, names of 398 have been recommended in order of merit for appointment to the various posts under the Odisha Civil Services.
Among them, 144 are women, 27 persons with disabilities and 60 SC and 72 ST candidates. Seven candidates were rejected for providing false information in their documents.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated all the rank holders. “Administrative service is a matter of pride and plays an important role in the development trajectory of the state. I hope that you will work transparently, impartially and be people-oriented at the grassroots level for the development of the state,” he wrote on X.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also conveyed his best wishes to the candidates including the topper Priyanshu Pal.