Mumbai:
Prema Jayakumar, the nation's Chartered Accountancy (CA) exam topper, will wait to complete her articleship before taking up any job offers that come her way. A day after MiD DAY published a story on her accomplishment ('Auto driver's daughter is national topper in CA exams, January 22), the phone at their Malad residence did not stop ringing yesterday. Several well-wishers, including the topper from the previous exam, telephoned to acknowledge her feat. She also received a call from a company who wanted to offer her a job.
"I received several calls and they all applauded me. I spent the entire day receiving calls from my well-wishers. I even got a call from a company who said they wanted to hire me. But since my articleship is ongoing, I will complete that and then join some other firm," said Prema. Prema, whose father began driving an auto rickshaw in the city after arriving from his native place in Tamil Nadu, scored 607 out of 800 securing 75.88 per cent in her first attempt at the CA exams held in November last year.
The all-India second rank holder is Indana Ashok Kumar, resident of Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh, who scored 602, securing 75.25 per cent, while the third rank holder is Gnanasampath M from Coimbatore who scored 593, securing 74.13 per cent.
At the November 2012 exams, 48,320 students appeared for the group-I papers, of which 13,193 passed, registering an overall pass percentage of 27.30 per cent. For the group-II exam, 51,906 candidates appeared and out of that 11,341 passed with an overall pass percentage of 21.85 per cent. 29,339 students sat for both group exams, from which 3,804 candidates passed registering a total pass percentage of 12.97 per cent.