Animesh Pradhan, who cracked the UPSC Civil Services exam 2023 with AIR 2 and did not crumble despite losing both his parents in a span of 6 years, said if he can achieve success in adverse situation, then anyone can achieve it.
Pradhan, who works with Indian Oil Corporation after doing his B Tech in Computer Science from NIT Rourkela, lost his mother Aruna to cancer in January this year while his father Prabhakar Pradhan, principal of a local college in the colliery town of Talcher of Angul district passed away in 2017.
“My mother was battling cancer till her last moment for me. My preparations for civil services were quite challenging for me, as my mother was going through cancer treatment. Though she wanted me to see crack UPSC, she is not there when I finally made it. My father and my sister too played a huge role in my success,” said Pradhan, who works as an information systems officer of Indian Oil.
Pradhan said though it was his first attempt at the UPSC civil services examinations, he did not join any coaching class full-time. “I had joined test series and mentorship programmes of many coaching institutes. I believe there is no substitute for hard work, though luck is said to be a factor to some extent. If I can achieve success in an adverse situation, anyone can achieve it,” said Pradhan, who took sociology as his optional subject for the examination.
Pradhan, 22, has been a bright academically. He scored 98.8% in Class XII and was also the head boy of the school for the academic year 2016-17.
Ayushi Pradhan of Odisha, who was ranked 36th expressed her happiness for being able to significantly improve her All India Rank from 231 in the 2022 exams. This was her third attempt.
“I started my preparations for the civil services examinations in 2021. After choosing my subjects, I took online coaching while staying at home. I thank God and my parents for my success and the ranks in the civil services exam,” said Pradhan.
Rashmi Rradhan from Odisha who cracked the UPSC Civil Service Examinations-2023 and secured 319th rank said that there is no substitute for hard work. “It was my fourth attempt at the civil services exams. I am already serving with the Indian Railways. In my fourth attempt, I made some changes in preparations like improving my answer-writing skills in the Mains and faced more mock tests,” she said, adding that it is not mandatory for aspirants to move to Delhi for coaching.
“Currently, there are enough resources like online coaching, guidance and mock tests. Candidates should take online guidance while preparing for the civil services,” she said.
As per preliminary reports, at least 26 candidates from Odisha have cracked the Civil Services Examinations this time.
Prajnanandan Giri, one more candidate from Odisha, cleared the exam for the year 2023. He secured 24th rank in the exam.
Three others from Odisha were placed in the top 100 are Jayashree Pradhan at 52nd rank and Abhimanyu Malik at 60th rank. Others who made it to the list are They were Amritanshu Nayak (AIR 110), Jaswant Malik (AIR 115), Padmanav Mishra (AIR 176), Shubhra Panda (AIR 204), Tania Mishra (AIR 269), Ananya Rana (AIR 280), Tanisha Mishra (AIR 303), Rashmi Pradhan (AIR 319), Biswajit Panda (AIR 343), Priyanka Priyadarshini (AIR 387), Santosh Kumar Patra (AIR 409), Sourav Das (AIR 466), Rakesh Kumar Sahoo (AIR 575), Siddhant Besra (AIR 800), Rashmi Paikra (AIR 881).
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