UPSC Civil Services Exams 2013: Jaipur`s Gaurav Agrawal first male topper after 4 years

Zee Media Bureau/Hemant Abhishek

New Delhi: The Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) on Thursday released the list of candidates to be appointed to the highly coveted civil services. For the first time in four years, a male candidate has topped the prestigious exam. Women had bagged the top slots in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Civil Services Examinations. Among the toppers in the merit list of Civil Services 2013, Gaurav Agrawal stood first. Jaipur`s Gaurav Agrawal stood first in the exam with Economics as his optional subject. He holds Bachelor of Technology (Computer Science) degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow. This was his second attempt. The second position was secured by Munish Sharma, while Rachit Raj and Akshay Tripatji stood third and fourth respectively. Munish has a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) degree from Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University. He got through the exam in second attempt. "I am very happy. My success is the result of hard work and blessings of my teachers and my mother," Munish said. Rachit has cracked the examination in his first attempt. Bharti Dixit stood fifth, thereby securing the highest rank among women candidates. She has done Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. This was her first attempt. The other five candidates who bagged the top ten ranking included Sakshi Sawhney, Chanchal Rana, Johny Tom Varghese, Divyanshu Jha, and Medha Roopam. As many as 1,112 candidates were recommended for appointment to the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and Groups A and B of the central services. There are 15 males and 10 females in top 25 positions. Among the top 25 candidates, 24 took the examination in English and one in Kannada medium. Nine of the top 25 candidates are from Engineering stream, three from Medical Science; four from Science and nine from Commerce, Humanities and other Social Sciences background. Five of them have made to the merit list in their first attempts, 11 in second attempts, seven in third attempts and two in their fourth attempts. The result also showcases the pan-India distribution of successful candidates. Among the top 25, there are candidates claiming domicile from as many as 11 states or union territories: Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, it said. Of these, 20 appeared for the examination from Delhi; two from Jaipur and one each from Lucknow, Bangalore and Chandigarh centres. Of the total successful candidates, 517 are of General category, 326 of Other Backward Class (OBC), 187 of Scheduled Castes (SC) and 92 of Scheduled Tribes (ST). There were 1,228 advertised vacancies vacancies-- 622 General, 326 OBC, 188 SC and 92 ST-- for Civil Services Examination 2013. The Civil Services (preliminary) Examination was held on May 26, 2013. A total of 7,76,565 candidates applied for this examination, out of which 3,23,949 candidates actually appeared and 14,959 candidates were declared qualified for appearance in the mains examination. The mains exam was held in December, 2013 and based on their performance, 3,003 candidates were shortlisted for the personality test which was conducted in April-June. The Civil Services Examination is conducted in three phases-- preliminary, mains and interview. Results will also be available on UPSC`s website. "However, marks are likely to be available on the website within 15 days from the date of declaration of results," the release said. The results can be accessed on the UPSC website.