After Four Failed Attempts, This Rajasthan Man Tasted UPSC Success With AIR 8 – News18

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced the final results of the Civil Services Exam (CSE) 2023 on April 16. Many students have won laurels in this prestigious exam including Ashish Kumar Singhal, who secured AIR 8 in his fifth attempt. It was an uphill task for the IIT Kharagpur pass-out topper and silver medalist Ashish to crack the UPSC exam. Ashish couldn’t clear the Mains exam in the four attempts and even failed to clear the prelims exam in the fourth attempt. Not only the UPSC, Ashish’s failures continued twice in the prelims stage of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) exam as well. This space articulates his story and how he secured the 8th rank on the 5th attempt. Ashish hails from the Nadbai tehsil of the Bharatpur district, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Ashish had completed his education till class 12th in Jaipur. After that, he was admitted to IIT Kharagpur after clearing JEE. He remained the topper of his batch. After securing his degrees in Bachelor of Technology and a Master of Technology in Industrial Management (2012-2017), Ashish started working at an IT firm in Gurugram. Ashish, however, quit his job in 2018 after he didn’t enjoy working in the corporate sector and started preparing for the civil services exam from home in Jaipur. He had prepared for some time in Delhi but then returned. In an interview with News 18 Rajasthan, Ashish said that he couldn’t contribute anything socially while working in a corporate setup.

Ashish attempted the UPSC exam for the first time in 2019 and managed to clear the prelims but failed in the mains. Undeterred, he again tried for the exam in 2020 but couldn’t even clear the prelims exam and failed. After failing again in the mains exam in 2021, some of his friends and family members asked him to stop making efforts for UPSC and join the corporate job. His parents were the only pillar of support for him during this tough journey. In 2022, he again tried attempting the exam but failed at the prelims stage.

Repeated failures have made this Rajasthan candidate depressed but he decided to give his last shot to the exam in 2023. Fortunately, this time he made it through the most prestigious exam in India. His father Ramesh Chand Aggarwal retired as a government teacher in 2022 and his mother Sudha Aggarwal is a housewife.