Meet Pranjal Patil, country's first visually challenged woman IAS officer, who cracked UPSC without coaching
IAS Success Stories: Belonging to Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra, Pranjal was born with weak eyesight and lost her vision completely by the age of 6.
Cracking one of the toughest exams of the country - the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) or more commonly called the Civil Services exam - takes years of hard work and diligence. Apart from these, perseverance and patience coupled with doses of positivity and a never-say-die attitude result in success.
Today, we are bringing to you the story of Pranjal Patil, who rose above all her difficulties and became the first visually impaired woman IAS officer in India. Her success story is full of inspiration and talks about the extreme level of adversity that she overcame to achieve this feat.
Pranjal appeared for the UPSC exams twice - once in 2016 and once in 2017. Her rank in 2016 was 744, but in her second attempt, she secured AIR 124.
Belonging to Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra, Pranjal was born with weak eyesight and lost her vision completely by the age of 6.
She did her schooling t Mumbai’s Kamala Mehta Dadar School for the blind and pursued graduation from St. Xavier’s College in Political Science.
She did a post-graduation in international relations from Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and then went for M.Phil and PhD.
Notably, Pranjal never took coaching for IAS preparations. She used a special software that dictated the books out loud to her. Even though one of her senses was not available, she used the advantage of her earring ability.
After securing the 124th rank in the 2017 Civil Services Exams, she was posted as Assistant Collector in Ernakulam, Kerala, in 2018. Pranjal Patil is currently posted in Kerala and is currently the Sub-Collector of Thiruvananthapuram.
She was refused a job in the Indian Railway Accounts Service on the grounds that she was visually challenged.