Pooja Kadam: Latur Woman With 15 Percent Eyesight Clears UPSC Exam

Pooja Kadam, a native of Maharashtra's Latur district secured 577th rank in the Union Public Service Commission 2020 examination, whose results were declared on Friday. Kadam has 15 percent eyesight. This was only her second attempt at the UPSC exams.

As many as 761 people managed to clear the Civil Services Main examination for the year 2020. Shubham Kumar from Bihar's Katihar secured the first rank, while Bhopal's Jagrati Awasthi emerged second. IAS officer Tina Dabi's sister Ria too passed the exam, securing All India Rank 15.

Pooja Kadam hails from Taka village in Ausa tehsil in Maharashtra. Her father is a school teacher and she is the youngest among four sisters, as per a report by The Hindustan Times. The 30-year-old completed her graduation from Fergusson College in Pune following which she went on to do her post-graduation in Political Science from Indira Gandhi National Open University in Delhi.

545 men cleared the UPSC 2020 exam while the number of women stood at 216. The third rank holder this year is a woman too- Ankita Jain. All India Rank six was also secured by a woman- Meera K.

The UPSC exam is conducted every year in three stages- preliminary, mains and the last being an interview round.

The candidates selected in all three stages are given administrative positions in different parts of the country. After the results were declared Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all the aspirants who had managed to clear the exam. "Congratulations to those who successfully cleared the UPSC Civil Services examination. An exciting and satisfying career in public service awaits. Those who have cleared the exam will go on to have key administrative roles during an important period of our nation’s journey," he tweeted.

Addressing students who couldn't clear the exam this year, Modi further tweeted, "To those young friends who did not clear the UPSC examination, I would like to say- you are very talented individuals. There are more attempts awaiting. At the same time, India is full of diverse opportunities waiting to be explored. Best wishes in whatever you decide to do."

Image Credit: Amar Ujala

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