Meet IAS officer who was paralysed for 1 year after accident, had 14 surgeries; cracked UPSC without coaching with AIR…

One such inspiring success story is of IAS Preeti Beniwal who beat all obstacles to achieve their goals. 

Belonging to Dupedi, Haryana, Preeti studied at a private school in the nearby village of Fafdana. She successfully completed her class 10th with good marks. Her father was employed at the Panipat Thermal Plant while her mother, Babita, worked at an Anganwadi nearby. She then went ot Matlauda for her 12th grade and graduated from Israna College with honours in both B.Tech and M.Tech.

After finishing her MTech, Preeti worked as a clerk by Grameen Bank in 2013 at Bahadurgarh from 2013 to 2016.

Later, she worked as the FCI's Assistant General II position in Karnal from 2016 to January 2021. Then, she was selected for Assistant Section Officer at the Ministry of External Affairs in January 2021. She then began working for the Delhi Ministry of External Affairs.

Preeti was scheduled to give an exam in Ghaziabad for departmental promotion at FCI in December 2016, however, she met with a train accident at the Ghaziabad train station. She unexpectedly fell before the train, which then ran over her in this tragic accident. She thereafter had to undergo 14 surgeries and was bedridden for over a year. 

Consequently, her marriage fell apart as her husband and her in-laws failed to accept her after the accident. However, she was dedicated to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming an IAS officer so she decided to prepare for the UPSC exam. She finally cracked it after two failed attempts without coaching with a rank of 754 in 2020.

Her inspiring message to the youth is: “Life is more important than any exam. Children often talk about committing suicide after failing an exam. I wonder how any exam can have so much power over someone’s life. I would just like to say that it’s just an exam. No one is less than anyone or more than anyone. Give your best, be cool, and don’t be afraid of anything.”