Jodhpur village boy secures AIR 20 on 3rd UPSC attempt

Jaipur: It was a moment of great achievement for Jodhpur boy Trilok Singh, who secured All India Rank 20 in UPSC's Civil Services Exam 2024, results for which were released Tuesday. Singh said he had cleared the exam on his third attempt.
Hailing from Bhakri, a small village near Osian in Jodhpur district, Singh, who pursued an MA in Political Science from Jai Narain Vyas University, said that he started his preparations in 2021 and gave his first attempt in 2022. In the past three years, Singh appeared for at least 15 different competitive exams to continuously test his preparation level and work upon himself based on the results.
"My first aim was to join the defence forces but I failed the medical evaluation. Then I shifted my focus to preparing for Civil Services as I was clear that I wanted to serve my nation through any path possible. My father was in the armed forces and I learnt discipline from him, which helped me a lot during my preparation journey," said Singh.
Utkarsh Yadav secured AIR 32 in the Civil Services Exam this year in his third attempt, inspired by his brother, Devendra Kumar, currently district magistrate of Dausa. "After completing my engineering from IIT Roorkee, I was working in a private company but I saw my brother work in rural areas, especially during the pandemic, which inspired me. Since I started preparing, I realised that failure is a part of this process and staying consistent, disciplined and learning from previous mistakes is what helped me secure this rank," said Yadav.
From Jaipur, Manu Garg, who lost his eyesight due to retinitis pigmentosa (a genetic eye disorder) when he was in Class 8, secured AIR 91. Raised by a single mother, Garg said he owes this feat to his mother, who during his school years read out every word from NCERT books to help him study.
"After I lost my eyesight, I started exploring career options and I found Civil Services to be interesting as I could bring a change in society. After I finalised my goal in Class 8, I moulded myself to achieve my dream and pursued humanities. Technological help like screen readers, talkback, apps and software helped me prepare for this dream exam of mine," he said.
Garg completed a bachelor's degree in political science and history from Hindu College and a master's in international relations from JNU. He is currently pursuing his PhD from JNU.
Aditya Acharya from Mansarovar in Jaipur securing AIR 96, Nikhil Sharma from Bayana AIR 104, and Hariom Pandia from Bikaner AIR 160.