Trumped pandemic blues to ace toughest test | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: Several students from the Telugu states excelled in the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) Civil Services examination 2021, the results of which were declared on Monday.

Altogether, about 10 candidates from the two states made it to the top 100. Their success is special as they not just studied during the pandemic, but also took the prelims and Mains tests, as well as gave their interview under the stressful shadow of Covid.
While C Yaswanthkumar Reddy and Pusapati Sahitya from Andhra Pradesh secured All-India Rank (AIR) of 15 and 24 ranks respectively, Hyderabadi girl V Sanjana Simha, who is an IRS officer, secured 37th rank and is said to be the topper from the state.
Yashwanthkumar secured 93rd rank in the 2020 civil services examination, and is currently undergoing IPS training in Hyderabad. As many as 20 candidates from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have found place in the 685 appointments announced by the UPSC.
“This time, I prepared by setting practical deadlines and targets. I practiced previous years’ question papers and referred to the topper’s scripts while preparing,” Sanjana told TOI. She said that she made her answers more visible by using keywords, diagrams, charts, graphics and statistics.
Institutes offering coaching for the UPSC examinations said that several students from the state stand a chance to be IAS officers.
“There are about 180 IAS posts. So, many from Telugu states will secure IAS posts,” said Srikanth Vinnakota from a Hyderabad-based coaching academy. He added, “All together we got 51 All India Ranks out of declared 685 ranks from across the country. This means one single Hyderabad-based academy could achieve a milestone of getting 8% of ranks, which is remarkable and a milestone by itself.”
Candidates from other institutes from the city were part of the qualified list released by the government of India. “While 70 students appeared for UPSC 2021 interview from both the Telugu states, about 40 candidates from our institute were in the final list,” said MS Shashank CEO and founder, of an IAS academy.
In 2020, with an AIR of 20, P Srija emerged as Telangana’stopper in the UPSC civil examination. Yaswanth Kumar, who secured AIR 15 this time, secured AIR 93 last year. While five candidates from Telangana and AP made it to the top 100, a total of 40 candidates qualified in the UPSC last year.
While Narayan Amit Malempati, who is son of M Jagdish Babu, IRS officer from the state secured AIR 70 rank, an assistant engineer of Telangana irrigation department, Bokka Chaitanya Reddy has secured the 161 rank. Dr Syed Mustafa Hashmi from Hyderabad secured 162 rank.
Meanwhile, two candidates from Warangal and one from Jayashankar Bhupalpally secured top ranks. Bokka Chaitanya Reddy, a resident of Hanamkonda city, who secured AIR of 161, said, “I’m happy to secure this rank with the support and encouragement of my parents — B Sanjeeva Reddy and Vinodha.”
Akunuri Naresh, son of a farmer, secured 117 rank. He said, “Credit goes to my parents. I have secured 782 rank in 2019. Unhappy with the rank then, I have put in all my efforts now to secure top rank.” Rajith Kumar Pravathi, who secured 574 rank, said that he choose civil services to serve the society. Rajith said that he was very happy to see his name in the list.
(Inputs by Shiva Kumar Pinna)