Dream Realised, UPSC Topper Shares What He Plans To Do As An IAS Officer

Aditya Srivastava from Lucknow topped the Civil Services Exam 2023 conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The 26-year-old quit his corporate job and prepared for India's toughest exam for more than three years until he achieved his dream. Mr Srivastava was selected for Indian Police Service (IPS) in 2022 with 136th rank, but he persisted and emerged as top ranker in the UPSC list released earlier this week. Mr Srivastava spoke to NDTV about his remarkable journey and what he plans to do as an IAS officer.

"In the initial years, I would like to implement, to the best of my abilities, schemes that the government is making for the people. Later on, when I reach the stage where I can make policies, I would like to work on health and education, especially for children," said Aditya Srivastava.

The UPSC top rank holder is a graduate of IIT Kanpur, and holds a degree in electrical engineering. When the results were declared, congratulatory messages started pouring in, and his colleagues at IPS academy posted a video of the celebration on Instagram.

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But how did Mr Srivastava feel after he saw his name on top of the UPSC list? "It took a bit of a time to sink in, but when that happened I was ecstatic. I went to the classes so couldn't get much time to this feeling," he told NDTV.

Talking about the work he put in, Mr Srivastava said, "I resigned from my job in 2020 and started preparing for UPSC. It was in 2022 that I got into the Indian Police Service and after that I persisted because it was always a childhood dream. The kind of diversity that this job offers, that attracted me towards the IAS."

Preparing for UPSC requires a lot of dedication and hard work and students who couldn't succeed are left heartbroken. Mr Srivastava offered advice for such candidates: "Consistency is the key and self-motivation is something that one needs to inculcate in order to get through this examination. Apart from this, having a distinct strategy and sticking to it is also necessary."

After the results were declared, he posted a screenshot on X with his name encircled and wrote, "One day, after years of struggle, It will hit you in a very beautiful way!"

Mr Srivastava's professional journey began in 2019, when he joined Goldman Sachs, one of the leading investment banks. He was posted in Bengaluru. But his desire to serve the nation through civil services led Mr Srivastava to quit the job within 15 months and devote himself entirely to preparing for the UPSC exam.

Mr Srivastava's father is an Audit Officer (AO) in the Central Audit Department and mother is a homemaker.