Incidentally, this was Haritha’s fourth and last attempt at the exams,
which she first appeared for in 2009. She says, “I did not qualify the
first time and reappeared in 2010 and secured 179th rank. In 2011, my
rank slipped to 294. I missed being selected for the IAS that time
because I was short of 18 marks and had no choice but to choose the IRS.
Nevertheless, I was bent upon trying one last time.”
Although Haritha desired to see herself in the top 100, she says, “I
never dreamt of topping the exams and it came as a pleasant surprise.
When a friend told me about it, I did not believe him and thought he was
just playing a prank. But when he brought a print-out of the UPSC
website, it finally did sink in.”
Fond of reading Malayalam books, especially by M T Vasudevan Nair and
Vaikom Basheer during her leisure hours, she is trained in Carnatic
music and classical dance and has performed in school and college
functions.
Having an engineering background, Haritha is presently undergoing IRS
training at the National Academy for Customs, Excise and Narcotics
(NACEN) in Faridabad, Haryana. She will begin her IAS stint in a few
months.
Already doing well as an Indian Revenue Service officer, what led you to once again try for the Indian Civil Services?
To become an IAS officer has been my childhood dream. As an IRS officer
I realised that we dealt with exporters, importers and businessmen and
the functions were to collect revenue, which is channelled into the
social sector programmes. But one never gets to interact with the
grassroots people and there is no say on how certain schemes should be
implemented on the ground level. Whereas as an IAS officer there can be a
direct connect with the common man. And to make a difference to the
lives of the people has been my motto.
Who has been your inspiration to think along these lines?
I often heard my father mention about the Kudumbashree Mission in
Kerala. It is a movement working towards eradicating poverty through
concerted efforts of the local communities. Targeted at empowering
women, it is one of the largest projects in the country that is aiming
to uplift the downtrodden sections of society.
Since you succeeded in the fourth attempt, looking back, where do you think you went wrong?
It is only after having succeeded that I realised making a mistake of
devoting too much time preparing for the preliminary exam rather than
the main one. Also, I would read and begin mugging every word in the
chapters, instead of practicing by writing. Another issue was that I
would run short of time and despite knowing the answer, was not able to
complete the paper, so this writing practice helped.
And what about the interview, which too went in your favour this time unlike the previous time?
During my earlier attempt, I faltered by focusing on using the right
language and stressed on my accent, which removed my focus from what I
actually wanted to say. Obviously, I could not convey my views properly.
But this time my focus remained intact. When they asked me about the
four issues plaguing India, I promptly mentioned — poverty,
unemployment, corruption and women’s security. My response to the query
on suggesting a single solution to tackle these issues was —
transparency with the use of Information Communication Technology. And
that clinched it.
Did you join some coaching classes to succeed this time?
No, I took coaching only in the first attempt. After that I prepared on my own.
What advice would you give to those sitting for the civil services exams?
The foremost thing is to never let failure defeat you and the focus to
succeed should remain intact. If you do not make it the first time, give
it another try. Learning from experience, I can also say that it is
important to give more time and emphasis to the main exam and practice
by writing out the answers, instead of just learning. Moreover, it is
important to choose subjects one is comfortable in.
Any guidelines for the interview?
Since this is a crucial part, one must prepare by participating in mock
discussion groups. The interviews are conducted to test a person’s
ideas and opinions. So, an IAS aspirant must be able to speak his mind
and express thoughts in a simple and convincing manner. All this comes
by practice and this practice needs to be followed by speaking in the
language one is comfortable giving the interview in.
One often sees bureaucrats with clean image being given
punishment postings and transfers from one place to another. How do you
intend tackling this issue?
Working in the political system, one needs to handle issues diplomatically.
Now that your IAS dream has come true, what are you looking forward to?
I will be submitting my technical resignation from IRS, once the
official acknowledgement orders arrive from the IAS. I would be relieved
from the service shortly and thereafter will start training for IAS
from September.
Bio sketch
• Haritha Kumar was born to mother Chitra and father R Vijayakumar in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• She studied at St Theresa’s Convent School and Government Girls High School in Neyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram.
• Obtained an engineering degree in Electronics and Communication from the Government Engineering College, Kerala.
• Presently working as an Indian Revenue Services officer.
• She studied at St Theresa’s Convent School and Government Girls High School in Neyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram.
• Obtained an engineering degree in Electronics and Communication from the Government Engineering College, Kerala.
• Presently working as an Indian Revenue Services officer.