New Delhi: Ishita Kishore, a Delhi University graduate, and daughter of an Air Force officer, on Tuesday achieved the first rank in the UPSC civil services examination (CSE) 2022. The twenty-six-year-old cleared the prestigious examination in her third attempt.
Ishita Kishore worked with the multinational firm Ernst and Young and is the daughter of a late Air Force officer. She is the younger of two siblings and her elder brother is a lawyer, while her mother used to teach at a private school.
UPSC CSE 2022 topper Ishita Kishore had also been a national-level football player and played in Subroto Cup in 2012. She graduated in Economics (Hons) from Delhi University's Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC).
Kishore, who is from Uttar Pradesh, currently lives in Greater Noida and cleared the examination with Political Science and International Relations as her optional subjects.
Ishita Kishore said she used to study for at least eight to nine hours a day to prepare for the examination. Speaking to the news agency PTI, she said that achieving the first rank in the civil services examination was like a 'dream come true' for her and that she would work towards women empowerment after becoming an IAS officer.
"I am very happy for getting the first rank. It's a dream come true for me," Ishita Kishore told PTI.
She added that the success is the result of her 'hard work' and that one needs to be 'very sincere, consistent and dedicated' towards clearing civil services to achieve results.
"I have opted for the Indian Administrative Service. I have given my preference for Uttar Pradesh (her home state) as my cadre," she said.
Kishore said she would work for women's empowerment and the upliftment of neglected people after becoming part of the prestigious administrative service.
"It is an honour to work for my country. Civil service is a better way to serve the country," she said.
She also expressed gratitude towards her family for continuously encouraging her.
"I have a lot of gratitude for my family who stood with me when I could not clear the civil services examination in the first two attempts. They encouraged me a lot," she said.
Garima Lohia, who is also a graduate of the University of Delhi, secured the second rank as the UPSC CSE 2022 results were announced on Tuesday.
Lohia hails from Buxar in Bihar and cleared the examination in her second attempt.
The first four rank holders are all women. While Uma Harathi N secured the third rank, Smriti Mishra got the fourth rank.
Harathi N, a resident of Hyderabad, qualified the exam in her fifth attempt. She is a Bachelor of Technology degree holder from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad.
Mishra, a graduate of the University of Delhi, lives in Noida and cleared the examination in her third attempt with Zoology as her optional subject.
This is the second year in a row that women candidates got the top three ranks in the prestigious exam. Shruti Sharma, Ankita Agarwal, and Gamini Singla had secured the first, second, and third positions in the civil services examination 2021.
As many as 933 candidates -- 613 men and 320 women -- have qualified for the civil services examination 2022, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said.
The top 25 candidates comprise 14 women and 11 men, it added.
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.
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