Failure on its own is one thing, but failing just short of success causes one great distress. A Ranchi native who aspired to join the UPSC made his first move toward realizing his dream of joining the prestigious Civil Services and serving his country in 2018. He had no idea that the journey ahead would be fraught with obstacles and disappointments that would severely test his commitment. Vidyanshu Shekhar Jha failed with just one or two marks in each of his three UPSC failures. He was devastated and, in a way, had lost all hope.
However, it was amidst the depths of disappointment that he discovered a newfound strength within himself. And finally, he achieved what he wanted. He cleared both the Civil Services Examination (CSE) and the Indian Forest Service (IFS). Reflecting on his trials and triumphs, he imparted invaluable lessons for aspirants to heed. Acknowledging his own mistakes, he cautioned against relying solely on coaching materials and neglecting the importance of solving the previous year’s question papers.
How Journey Unfolds
Vidyanshu Shekhar Jha started his civil service preparation in 2018 and made his first attempt at the UPSC in 2019. In this attempt, he missed the prelims cut-off by just 2 marks. In his second attempt in 2020, he again failed the prelims, this time by only 0.67 marks. In his third attempt in 2021, he narrowly missed the prelims cut-off by 1 mark.
After failing the prelims three times in a row, he was completely devastated and had lost hope for his fourth attempt. However, with the burden of expectations lifted, he approached his fourth attempt with a relaxed mindset and no expectations. In the UPSC 2022 exams, he cleared the cut-off for both the Civil Services Examination (CSE) and the Indian Forest Service (IFS) with 120 marks in the prelims. He also successfully passed the mains.
His name appeared on the reserve list for the CSE, securing the 49th rank, and he was assigned to the Delhi, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS). He is currently posted as an SDM in the revenue department in East Delhi. Unfortunately, he failed to make the final list for the IFS mains in 2022 by 8 marks.
In 2023, he focused solely on the IFS exam and succeeded, achieving an impressive All-India rank of 5.
A Message of Perseverance
Reflecting on his journey, Vidyanshu shared, “UPSC is an exam of very strong will. So never give up. The IFS cut-off is always higher than the CSE. When I couldn’t clear the CSE in my first three attempts, the IFS seemed like a distant goal. But today, I am an IFS officer. So just study hard and have patience.”
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