In her first attempt only, IAS Neha Kumari, a former manager of Tata Steel Company grabbed the rank 26 in UPSC 2014. Born in Jamshedpur, Neha’s mother Usha Devi is homemaker and father Mr. Dubey works with Tata Motors.
Neha is thankful to her family and crediting them for her success saying “I owe my success to my parents, school faculties and my friends, who always supported me and encouraged me to go for civil services qualifying examination,”.
Educational Background:
Neha did her schooling at Vidya Bharati Chinmaya Vidyalaya.
She pursued her graduation as B.E from BIT Mesra.
On asking what changed her mind as she had a prestigious job, Neha says that she always wanted to be an IAS officer.
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Marks obtained by IAS Neha Kumari:
| Essay | 158 |
| General studies I | 116 |
| General studies II | 82 |
| General studies III | 68 |
| General studies IV | 132 |
| Optional paper I | 140 |
| Optional paper II | 131 |
| Written total | 827 |
| Interview | 157 |
| Total | 984 |
Study strategy:
IAS Neha Kumari, after quitting the job, had joined an IAS preparatory institute in Bangalore in early 2014. She shares her experience as, ‘for basics we must know the various tribes of various regions, their special traditions, diseases prevalent in them, their socio-economic status, problems of tribes in general with latest concrete data. Any new policy affecting or for tribes must be thoroughly prepared.’
For mock tests, she had joined, Vaid’s test series. She analysed the feedback of her answers and worked on it. Daily, at least, one hour practice of writing answers is necessary as per her study strategy. She followed this as a routine for one year and it proves to be fruitful for her. According to her while answering, the candidate must look for presentation skills, answer structure, speed and time management, finally to maximise their marks.
She took guidance from her mentor Vinay sir by whom she learned the techniques and adopted his tips. At their institute, she was given random topics to prepare for the UPSC mains angle on a daily basis to be completed on the same day with reading and mugging it up. She says it requires hundred percentage concentration and patience which few candidates could not show in their performance. This strategy helped her for her study.
Optional subject:
Neha Kumari has taken anthropology as an optional subject. She feels that she could have done better in anthropology. She found Sir N.K.Vaid’s test series for Anthropology very helpful.
After her mains exam, though it was a relaxation phase, she was constantly in touch with the newspaper editorials. Vinay sir instructed her to work and prepare on my DAF for personality test preparation.
Interview experience:
At asking about Interview experience, Neha says the personality test does not only check the depth of knowledge but more of what you principles you stand for. I tried to fine tune my opinion on various issues.
Role model of IAS Neha Kumari:
Kiran Bedi inspires her a lot.
Message to aspirants:
‘Never say die’ attitude is must to achieve success in highly competitive exams such as the UPSC,” said Neha. Mere academic excellence is not going to help but along with that cool mind, extreme patience, perseverance these qualities are required
