Meet Pujya Priyadarshini: Three times UPSC failure who became IAS in fourth attempt

Pujya Priyadarshini wanted to quit taking UPSC exams after continuous failures, but the support of her family made her give it another shot. The story of Pujya Priyadarshini is doing justice to ‘every success story is also a story of a great failure’. Pujya, who became an IAS officer, had failed thrice after which she had decided to end this journey. 

However, with the support of her family, she made another effort. This time, she became an IAS officer by securing All India Rank 11 in the 2018 UPSC exam.

Post Graduate from New York

After completing her B.Com from Delhi,  Pujya completed her post-graduation in Public Administration from Columbia University in New York. After this, she worked for a company for about 2 years. Meanwhile, she continued preparing for UPSC.

Her inspiring UPSC success story

In 2013, Pujya Priyadarshini took the UPSC Civil Services exam for the first time, but she failed. She then took a gap of 3 years to prepare better and made a second attempt in 2016. This time, she reached the interview round but failed again. Instead of getting disappointed, she made up her mind to try again. She got disappointed, after coming so close to succeeding and yet failing the pre-exam in 2017. She then decided to stop trying for UPSC. 

Her family supported her and motivated her to give it another shot, during this difficult time. This time, she tasted success.

Her advice to other candidates

Pujya Priyadarshini advises candidates who are preparing for the UPSC exam to work hard and be patient.  And even if you fail, there is no need to panic. Rectify your mistakes and try again. If you prepare for UPSC by putting in the required hard work and dedication, you will definitely succeed.