Wardah Khan of Noida, who left a corporate job, is among the UPSC top 20

Wardah Khan, a native of Noida, left her corporate job to study for the civil services and placed 18th in the UPSC test in 2023. She chose the IFS above other options in order to improve India’s reputation abroad.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) released the test results on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old UPSC test qualifier claims that she chose the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) above other options and that her goal is to represent her nation with pride on international stages.

Like many aspirants, our first goal upon embarking on our trip is to see our name included among the results. However, making the top 20 was unthinkable; I never would have thought I could. Right now, I get a sleepy sensation. Everyone in my family is beaming with pride and is very thrilled,” Khan said to PTI.

“I have opted for the Indian Foreign Service as my first preference, so I would like to further the image of India across global platforms and multilateral institutions and help our Indian diaspora abroad,” she stated.

Khan, a native of Vivek Vihar in Sector 82 of Noida, attended Delhi University’s Khalsa College to get her Bachelor of Commerce with Honors. She lives with her mother and is the sole kid of her parents. Nine years had gone since her father’s death.

Khan said that her interest in geopolitics stemmed from her undergraduate days, when she was interested in history and politics. This is how she came to be oriented towards UPSC.

Even though she had participated in debates and MUNs (mock United Nations) throughout her time in college, she had not yet considered a career in public services.

Khan realized she wanted to work as a public servant during her time there.

“I spent eight months working for a large company. I wasn’t quite satisfied with it. She said, “I wanted to work for my country, improve people’s lives, and give back to society.”

“I realised the kind of syllabus and opportunities that this career (civil services) offers aligns with my interest and I decided to pursue it and quit my job,” she said.

Khan said that in addition to studying at home, she received a year of online tutoring from a for-profit organization.

As she shared her advice with those preparing for the UPSC test, Khan mentioned a few postulates that each applicant had to be aware of.

“You must, first and foremost, thoroughly study the fundamentals, such as NCERT and Polity by Laxmikant. These are the foundational texts that need careful reading,” the speaker said.

Prior to the cycle starts, you must have created appropriate syllabus headers for your mains and produced notes for your optional. These are a few of the considerations that need to be made,” Khan said.

A total of 1,016 candidates— 664 men and 352 women— passed the test and were recommended for admission to different positions by the UPSC.

The winner of the civil services test is a trainee officer in the Indian Police Service named Aditya Srivastava.

PK Sidharth Ramkumar, Ruhani, Donuru Ananya Reddy, and Animesh Pradhan have earned the second, third, fourth, and fifth rankings, respectively.