Civil services topper wants to fight graft, change system

CHENNAI/HYDERABAD: V Shanmuggam loves his daughter and hates corruption. It couldn't have got better for the Chennai-based customs consultant as his daughter S Divyadharshini topped the civil services exam with a vow to fight graft.

"It takes more than a wish to become a civil servant. She is an intelligent person with a lot of perseverance. She'll make a good administrator,'' said Deepika J, who studied with her in the School of Excellence in Law under The Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University.

"When I was in college, I noticed a lot that I didn't like many things about the system of governance," Divyadharshini said. "So I decided to get into the system to change it."

Successful in her second attempt at the exam, the 24-year-old said her first attempt when she was in her college final year in 2009 was a shot in the dark. "I put in a lot of hard work in it, but I didn't know how to go about the whole process," Divydarshini said. This time she took a year off to concentrate on the exams, put in 10% extra effort and made the cut.

It's not all about studies for the young woman, whose day begins at 6am. She spends four to five hours, five days a week preparing for the exam. Father Shanmuggam said he was surprised over her ranking. "Most of the time I found her watching cricket. I didn't expect her to make it to the very top," he said. It is a first-of-a-kind experience for Divyadharshini, who got 1% less than distinction in Class 10 in Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School, Egmore and 86% in Class 12. In college, she was among the top five.

Of all the qualities that shine through in this IAS topper is the character to never give in. "She doesn't compromise on anything," said college friend Surendar K. "She would stand by her convictions, however hard you argue. We like that in an IAS officer."

Hyderabad girl Sweta Mohanty bagged the second rank in the UPSC civil service exam in her third attempt. She said she hoped to follow her IAS father PK Mohanty's footsteps.

Mohanty (27), BTech from a private engineering college in Hyderabad, had first cleared UPSC in 2007 and made it to the Indian Customs and Central Excise Service. Currently posted in Siliguri as assistant commissioner, central excise, Mohanty continued with her IAS coaching hoping to secure a better rank. While marriage, the birth of a child, a full-time job and three-year break before taking the exam again may have worked against any other candidate, for Mohanty all these added up to a success story.

A mother of a one-and-a-half year old baby girl, Mohanty got married in 2008 to Rajat Saini, an IAS officer who is currently posted as additional district magistrate in Siliguri. "If my husband and my mother were not supportive enough I could not have got such a good rank. They helped a lot in taking care of the baby even as I did my routine studies," said Mohanty.

source: TOI