New Delhi: Congratulations poured in and cakes were cut, but Aditya Srivastava, who Tuesday topped the Civil Services Examination, did not want to miss his swimming class scheduled for 3.15pm.
Srivastava could not clear the preliminary round of the examination in 2021, but secured a position in the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 2022 with the 236th rank. Two others in the top five rankholders of CSE 2023 — the results were declared Tuesday afternoon — are undergoing IPS training at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad.
This is the first time in 11 years that an IPS officer has ranked first in the civil services exam, the results of which were announced by the Union Public Service Commission.
Srivastava celebrated the occasion with his batchmates at the Hyderabad academy, with them carrying him on their shoulders around the campus. “Man of the moment,” wrote a fellow officer, sharing a photo on his Instagram account.
Srivastava told ThePrint he was overwhelmed by the result. “The IPS training is very tough and the schedule is very tight… You don’t get enough time to prepare,” he said.
Srivastava said he managed to study three to four hours as the police training took up nearly 14 hours of the day. “I knew I performed better than the last time in the Mains and in the interview but had no idea I would get the top rank,” Srivasatava said over the phone. “All of this is very subjective,” he added.
Currently completing his IPS training, Srivastava does not know what the formalities of joining the Indian Administrative Service would look like. “IPS is a great service, but IAS offers you diversity on the job which helps improve personality,” he said. Srivastva, who is from Lucknow, wants to work in the Uttar Pradesh cadre as it is his “first choice”.
He graduated from the City Montessori School in Lucknow with 95% marks in Class 12 board examinations. He is an Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur alumnus, where he pursued a dual B.Tech and M. Tech degree. His optional subject was electrical engineering. His father, Ajay Srivastava, is an assistant audit officer at the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The UPSC Civil Service Prelims Examination 2023 was held in May last year. Candidates who cleared the prelims round were eligible to appear for the Mains examination, which was conducted on 15, 16, 17, 23, and 24 September. The CSE Mains result was announced in December last year. The interviews were held from 2 January to 9 April. A total of 2,843 candidates were interviewed for 1,105 vacancies.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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