Prayagraj woman Shakti Dubey tops UPSC exam, her twin misses out

Hindustan Times

22-04-2025

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2024 results released on Tuesday were a bittersweet experience for the Prayagraj-based Dubey family. While Shakti Dubey secured the first rank in the exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), her twin. Pragati –– who prepared for the exam along with her sister –– was not among the 1,009 candidates recommended by the commission for appointments to various services.
Shakti, a gold medallist BSc graduate from the University of Allahabad, emerged as the topper in her fifth attempt. Her father Devendra Dubey, a sub-inspector in the Uttar Pradesh Police, said that Shakti –– who is also a gold medallist for her MSc from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) –– had been preparing for the exam for the past seven year.
Shakti, on Tuesday, told reporters that she owed her success to her parents and teachers. 'Since childhood, my parents inspired me to study and teachers always encouraged me.' she stated, adding that they supported her during her failed attempts.
Earlier, in a mock interview with an IAS coaching academy, Shakti said that she was inspired by her father's profession to join the civil service. 'I have grown up in a family where my father is already in the police service. I have seen him work in the government service,' she said. 'I saw certain things like, the presence of a police vehicle make a person feel safe even while I was returning late from the campus. This made me wonder, how even small power can bring a change for somebody and how public service at large is benefitting people.'
While Shakti topped the exam, her twin sister Pragati did not make the cut. Their father Devendra said that the family is pained by the fact that their other daughter could not succeed. 'Pragati was preparing with full dedication and she will continue doing so to get success,' Devendra said.
A total of 1,009 candidates (725 men and 284 women) have been shortlisted by UPSC for appointment to various services. The top five candidates include three women and two men, led by Shakti, who qualified the examination with political science and international relations as her optional subject, the commission said in a statement released on Tuesday.
While Harsihta Goyal, a BCom graduate from the MS University of Baroda, came second;, Archit Parag, a BTech graduate of the Vellore Institute of Technology, got the third rank. Goyal and Parag had political science and international relations, and philosophy, as their optional subjects, respectively.
Aakash Garg, a BTech graduate from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, came fifth.
'The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2024 was conducted on June 16, 2024. A total of 9,92,599 candidates applied for this examination, out of which 5,83,213 candidates actually appeared in the examination,' the UPSC said in its statement. 'A total of 14,627 candidates qualified for appearance in the Written (Main) examination which was held in September, 2024. Out of these, 2,845 candidates qualified for the Personality Test of the examination. Eventually, a total of 1,009 candidates (725 men and 284 women) have been recommended by the Commission for appointment to various Services,' the commission said
Last year, 1,016 candidates were recommended for appointment.
According to the commission, the recommended candidates include 45 persons with benchmark disability –– comprising 12 orthopedically handicapped, 8 visually challenged, 16 hearing impaired, and 9 with multiple disabilities.