Farmer’s son is UPSC topper in Tamil Nadu

The results for UPSC exam conducted in 2016 were released on Wednesday and 1099 candidates were selected across India. Though candidates from Tamil Nadu did not feature in top 20 spots, around 15 candidates found place in the top 100 ranks. 

As far as Tamil Nadu was concerned M Prathap from Virudungar district had secured 21st rank in the overall ranking and stood first in the state. He hails from Watrap, a small village in Virudhunagar district. His father, Murugavanam, is a farmer. 

He started preparing for civil services exam when he was studying third year and then after completing the engineering he had joined in Vajiram and Ravi institute for civil services in New Delhi and then returned to Chennai to prepare for personal interview at Shankar IAS academy and Manidhaneyam IAS academy. 

Speaking to DTNEXT, he said that though he hailed from a farming family he was more inclined towards administration. He was part of NSS in college and had visited villages where he had witnessed the problems first hand. Then, he decided that he should become an administrator to solve the problems of the people. As he had secured good rank, he would strive hard to work for the common people said Prathap.

Similarly, another candidate from the southern district of Kanyakumari had cracked civil services examination. Marshall A.Silva from Chinnathurai fishing village in Kanniyakumari district, had secured 820th rank in the final results. His father Albert worked as a vessel mechanic but made sure Silva got good education. Silva had completed Engineering and had worked in a software company. He had then resigned his job and had started preparing for civil services exam. After four attempts, he had succeeded in the exam. 

Silva said that owing to persistent efforts he could clear the civil services exam. He had thanked his family for backing him up continuously and said that he would continue his preparation until he cleared the IAS.