Meet Indian genius, IIT grad who left Rs 1 crore salary job to become an IAS officer, topped UPSC exam with AIR..., now posted at...

The Union Public Service Commission conducts one of India's most prominent and competitive examinations, the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE). It is conducted every year to recruit candidates for high-level posts such as IFS, IPS, and IAS. Prelims, Mains, and Interviews are the three stages of the exam, which assess a candidate's knowledge, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities.  It is regarded as an entry point to the prestigious Indian civil service. Today we will talk about Kanishak Kataria, IIT graduate who left a high-paying job to pursue his dream of becoming an IAS officer and cracked the UPSC exam on his very first attempt.

Kanishak Kataria, a native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, completed his computer science degree from IIT Bombay. As per various media reports, Kanishak scored 44th rank in IIT JEE. His career took off immediately, and he was given a big contract by Samsung in South Korea. Although Kanishak held a desirable post, his true goal was to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.  

Kanishak Kataria decided to go to Kota to continue his UPSC exam preparation on his own after spending several months at a coaching center in Delhi.

Kanishak made the decision to follow in his father's footsteps and follow his genuine passion for public service after being inspired by Sanwar Mal Verma, an IAS officer and the Director of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department in Rajasthan.

Kanishak quit his work in 2017 and went back to Jaipur with a goal to crack the Civil Services Examination.  Kanishak Kataria took the UPSC exam with great dedication and concentrated study, and got All India Rank (AIR) 1 on his first attempt.

Regarding his UPSC Civil Services Mains Result, he chose mathematics as his optional subject and passed the exam with flying colors.

In the written exam, Kanishak Kataria got 942 marks. His score on the personality test was 179. He received 1121 out of 2025 scores overall.

In June 2024, IAS Kanishak Kataria was posted as Joint Secretary in the Department of Personnel (DOP), Government of Rajasthan. Sharing a post on X(formerly Twitter), he said, “Joined as Joint Secretary to Government, Department of Personnel (A-1) after a wonderful and enriching experience as CEO Zila Parishad, Alwar. All the more excited to have taken over charge from a friend, college batchmate, service senior and UPSC mentor – Akshay Godara, IAS.”