‘Where there is a will, there is a way.’ Absolutely nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams or fulfilling your desires if you have made up your mind to make them happen. With similar thoughts in mind, IAS officer Ira Singhal decided to fight it out when she was denied service in bureaucracy even after gaining required marks, only because of her physical disability. Her journey into UPSC and how she became the topper of CSE 2014 is an inspiring story of grit and determination. A story that needs to be told and heard.
STRUGGLE SINCE CHILDHOOD
Born and brought up in Meerut, Ms. Singhal was raised with Scoliosis Disease that affected her spine so badly that she couldn’t walk properly or fully raise her arms.It also didn’t allow her to grow in height. The daughter of an engineer father and insurance advisor mother, she completed her schooling in Sophia Girls and Loreto Convent School Delhi.
However, getting into a good school was not easy for her. Whenever she used to visit schools for admission, she was either denied entry or given unsolicited advice.
“They suggested to my father that he should get me admitted to an institute for the disabled. A lot of times, this depressed me, but my father’s moral support gave me a path to walk on,” she stated in an interview.
LIFE BEFORE UPSC
Despite being physically disabled and facing societal pressure, Ms. Singhal completed her engineering from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology. She did her MBA in Marketing and Finance from Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.
In an interview, she had said that when she was young, she often used to hear about curfews in the city. She was told that these curfews have been imposed on the orders of the DM. Therefore, she came to know that DM is the one who imposes curfews and has a lot of powers. She was impressed by this and decided to become an IAS officer when she grows up.
Before appearing for Civil Services Examination in 2010, Ms. Singhal was working with Cadbury India as their Strategy Manager. She also worked in Coca-Cola Company as a Marketing Intern.
FILED A CASE IN CAT
Ms. Singhal appeared for the UPSC CS examination continuously for three years – 2010, 2011, 2013 – and with extreme will and dedication, cracked the exam and got allotted IRS in all the three attempts.
However, she was not allowed to join because of a 62 per cent locomotor disability. She saw all her hardwork go down the drain and decided that she would do something about it and took matters in her own hands.
She didn’t get disheartened despite all that she was facing and filed a case in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). She struggled a lot because of the case but after four long years, her efforts finally bore fruits and she won!
In 2014, she gave the examination once again and at the age of 31,Ms. Ira Singhal not only cleared the examination and got into IAS but scored AIR 1 and became the UPSC topper that year!
A TOPPER IN LIFE
Life took a complete U-turn for Ms. Singhal when she topped the examination. Despite being a person with disability, she scored more than the lakhs of candidates who had sat for the examination that year. She credits her success to her friends, family, and well-wishers who stood by her and believed in her.
After marking her presence felt as the brand ambassador for the Department of Disability, the officer is now posted as the brand Ambassador for the Ministry of Women and Child Development and NITI Aayog. She has also been a part of the design of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Examination Policy concerning children with disability.
The officer is a source of motivation for everyone and is invited to schools, colleges, centres for the disabled, top institutes for motivational speech and career guidance etc., for her words of encouragement.
