It's a dream come true, always wanted to be an IAS officer: UPSC topper Nandini KR

Nandini K R, an officer of the Indian Revenue Service, has topped the prestigious civil services examination, the result of which was declared today by the UPSC.

This is the third year in a row that a woman candidate has topped the test. Nandini, 26, who has got first rank in civil services exam 2016, is at present undergoing training at the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics in Faridabad. Anmol Sher Singh Bedi is the topper among male candidates securing overall second rank. He is an engineering graduate in computer science from BITS, Pilani.

The top 25 candidates comprise 18 men and 7 women. Nandini, who hails from Karnataka, said being an IAS officer was always her dream. "It is like a dream come true. I always wanted to be an IAS officer," she told PTI.
This was her fourth attempt. She had cracked the 2014 civil services exam and was alloted the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise). Nandini belongs to the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.

Holding a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree from the M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, her optional subject was Kannada literature. Tina Dabi and Ira Singhal, both residents of Delhi, had topped the civil services examination 2015 and 2014, respectively.

A total of 1,099 candidates (846 men and 253 women), including 500 in General category, 347 belonging to Other Backward Class, 163 from Scheduled Caste and 89 from Scheduled Tribe, have been recommended for appointment to various central government services, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said. They include 44 physically handicapped candidates (22 orthopedically handicapped; seven visually challenged and 15 hearing impaired).

There are 220 other candidates in the waiting list. A total of 1,209 vacancies were notified by the government, which were to be filled through the civil services examination 2016.
The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages-- preliminary, main and interview-- to select candidates for the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

The civil services preliminary examination, 2016 was conducted on August 7, 2016. As many as 11,35,943 candidates had applied for this examination, out of which 4,59,659 candidates actually appeared. A total of 15,452 candidates qualified for the mains examination held in December, 2016. Of these, 2,961 candidates qualified for the personality test or interview conducted in March-May.

Educational qualification-wise, the top 25 candidates comprise candidates belonging to engineering; sciences; economics and forestry background graduating from premier institutions of the country such as IITs, NIT, BITS Pilani, Delhi University, Anna University etc.

Optional subjects of the top 25 candidates in the examination ranged from Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Anthropology, Economics, Electronic Engineering, Geography, History, Mathematics, Political Science and International Relations, Public Administration, Psychology and Kannada and Telugu Literature.