Tricity women ace UPSC with grit & home-grown focus
Chandigarh: While Delhi remains the nerve centre of UPSC coaching, four young women from the Tricity quietly upended that belief—cracking India's toughest exam without shifting base. Their success in the 2024
Civil Services Examination
, results of which were announced on Tuesday, marks not just a triumph of intellect but also of choosing familiar surroundings over the capital's high-pressure coaching culture.
Studying in their familiar settings of Zirakpur, Mohali, Panchkula, and Panjab University hostel, they relied on online resources, digital test series, strength of family and community support. Choosing to study from home or close by, they defied the pressure to spend money on expensive coaching and underlined the relevance of personal preparation.
Aastha Singh | AIR 61
All of 21, Aastha Singh from Peer Muchalla, Zirakpur, secured AIR 61 in her very first attempt. An economics graduate from SRCC, Delhi (Class of 2023), Aastha had already cleared the Haryana civil services exam last year, securing Rank 31 and joining as assistant excise and taxation officer in July, 2024. She chose economics as her optional and prepared for the test alongside her job, studying for five to six hours a day in the months leading up to the mains, held in Sep. "I never felt the need to go elsewhere," she said. "I've always studied in a way that suits me, and staying close to family kept me grounded. I knew what I needed, and I stuck to it."
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Riya Sethi | AIR 89
Riya Sethi, a resident of Sector 72, Mohali, secured AIR 89 in her fourth attempt. A 2019 economics graduate from Delhi University's Khalsa College and a postgraduate in development studies from JNU (2021), Riya returned to Punjab after the Covid pandemic and was selected for the Punjab Good Governance Fellowship programme. She was posted in Ludhiana in 2023. "A senior official I worked with told me to give it another go. That advice stayed with me," she said. Riya lost her father in 2017. "He always wanted me to pursue this. After he passed, it became my goal too." Preparing from home with sociology as her optional, she added, "I had the mental space and family support I needed. I wasn't distracted by the stress of being in a new place. I could just focus."
Tanvi Gupta | AIR 187
Tanvi Gupta, a 28-year-old from Panchkula, cleared the exam in her fifth attempt. A Bharatnatyam dancer who represented Haryana at the National Youth Festival in 2012, Tanvi graduated in economics from Panjab University in 2018 and completed her MA in 2024. She drew motivation from her grandfather, a social worker who established dharamshalas across India. "His life was rooted in service. That spirit guided me," she said. Tanvi relied largely on home preparation, using online resources and enrichment courses, but did briefly go to Delhi for answer writing practice. "Even then, I knew I couldn't stay long. I am most focused when I am at home. My parents, the comfort of familiar routines—that's what helped me keep going."
Vijaylakshmi Bishnoi | AIR 233
Vijaylakshmi Bishnoi, 26, is pursuing her LLM at Panjab University. She prepared for the exam at Girls Hostel 4. She completed her B.Com LLB from UILS in 2022. The eldest of five siblings from a farming family in Haryana, she cleared the exam in her third attempt—having not made it past prelims in her first and mains in her second. "I kept refining my approach and used online mock tests and group discussions," she said. "I knew going to Delhi would be too much to manage, logistically, emotionally," she said. "Staying here meant I could focus completely. With online mocks, I created the right rhythm for myself."
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