The inspiring story of IAS officer Preeti Hooda, a DTC bus driver's daughter who cracked UPSC exam

There is no denying the fact that clearing the UPSC examination is a very tough task and it takes a lot of preparation and determination to crack the ‘the mother of all exams.’

However, there are many people who have succeeded in clearing the UPSC despite all odds and one such example is of Preeti Hooda who became an IAS officer despite facing a lot of financial problems. Preeti Hooda's father was a bus driver but she never allowed her financial condition become an obstacle in achieving her dream.

Preeti was good at studies since her childhood and she scored 77% in her class 10th examination. Preeti obtained 87% in Class 12 exam. Preeti's family wanted her to stop studies and and get married because of the bad financial condition. Preeti, however, continued her studies and took admission in Laxmi Bai College in Delhi and graduated in Hindi subject. Preeti also pursued Ph.D. in Hindi from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Preeti hails from Bahadurgarh in Haryana and her father drove the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses for a living. 

Preeti planned brilliantly for her UPSC preparation and selected Hindi as her medium. She also chose Hindi as her optional subject. Preeti failed to clear UPSC exam in her first attempt. Preeti did not give up and sat in exam for the second time and she managed to clear the UPSC exam in 2017 with an All India Rank of 288.