Meet IAS officer, daughter of milk vendor, who cracked UPSC in second attempt, secured AIR...

Many aspirants find UPSC to be a difficult nut to crack, but for some, life is a difficult task in and of itself. But they succeed in all of them with remarkable success because of their unwavering hard work, dedication, and perseverance. One such remarkable success story is that of IAS Anuradha Pal, who overcame many obstacles in her life to ace the UPSC civil service exam. 

Anuradha is from a lowly family in a Haridwar village. They had a lot of financial struggles when she was growing up. Her father used to sell milk to support the family.  She attended Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Haridwar to further her education. After that, Anuradha relocated to Delhi to finish her college coursework. Her academic pursuits included a Bachelor of Technology at GB Pant University.

She then joined Tech Mahindra as a result of the unfavourable circumstances at home. She left the company after a while, realising that UPSC was her true calling. She then started working as a lecturer at a college in Roorkee while concurrently preparing for the UPSC. In addition, she paid students' tuition to cover her coaching costs. In 2012, she passed on her first try. Her AIR at the time was 451, though, so she enrolled in Delhi's Nirvana IAS Academy to bolster her preparations. She used her time wisely, even though she was working, to accomplish more manageable goals.  

With an AIR of 62 on her second try, she eventually passed the UPSC in 2015. She is the District Magistrate of Bageshwar, Uttarakhand, at the moment.