https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Bus Conductor’s Son Is A SDM Now

Prem Shankar Pandey cracked UPPCS with rank 2 He is currently posted as Samiksha Adhikari in Lucknow Earlier, he has been served in Indian Airforce for 20 Years
Indian Masterminds Stories

It’s story of a person who joined Civil Services 15 years after he started preparing for civil services. And he was doing a job so this while! That is what makes Prem Shankar Pandey exceptional. He failed and failed again. His all permissible attempts at UPSC were consumed by 2015. After UPSC, he started to give state civil exams. But again he was on the losing sides till 2021. But he never gave up. Like Nelson Mandela he said, “I never lose. Either I win or I learn.”

His story also exemplified Winston Churchill’s best lines that success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. And finally, the entire struggle paid off as now he is going to become SDM after bagging second rank in UPPCS.

Coming from a lower middle class family, this journey was never easy for Prem. But it was his sheer positive attitude and his hard-work that nothings could stop him even after a long thread of failures.

Speaking exclusively with Indian Masterminds, Prem shared his exceptional long and inspiring story.

JOURNEY: FROM AIRFORCE TO SDM

After his class 23, he joined Indian Air Force in 2001 in technical department. He retired from IAF in 2021 as Sergeant.

He started his civil services preparation around 2009. From 2010 to 2015, he gave 6 attempt of UPSC. He cracked prelims of UPSC CSE 4 time and wrote mains exam. But he could not even reach the Interview stage.

When in 2018 UPPCS pattern was changed on UPSC line, he started preparing for UPPCS. In UPPCS-2022, he reached to the Interview round, but could not make it to the final list. He was successful in UPPCS-2023 with rank 20 in his 6th attempt.

Meanwhile he also cracked Review Officer (Samiksha Adhikari) exam in 2021 and is currently posted in Secretariat, Lucknow.

Prem said, “My journey was very long.It had many ups and downs. But I was determined and believed that if I kept working hard, I will be successful sooner or later. This is a happy end to the journey.”

Prem Shankar Pandey with his wife and daughter

BACKGROUND

He originally belongs to Pratapgarh, but now his family is settled in Prayagraj. His father was a bus conductor in UP Roadways (UPSRTC) and got retired in 2010. His mother is a housewife. He has 3 more brothers.

Prem is married and has a daughter. He said, “I always believe that I have to keep studying. Even when my UPSC attempts finished, I continued my studies as I had belief that I will succeed at last.”

CIVIL SERVICES PREPARATION

It was obviously difficult for him to study along with his job. But he was willing to do it and achieve it. He never joined any coaching for his preparation. But he took online guidance from various sources.

His strategy was studying with the syllabus only. He also suggested that never ever go out of the syllabus, because that would be absolute waste of time for aspirants.

Apart from it, he solved PYQs of prelims and mains both and focussed on revisions as much as he could. For UPPCS, he took help of YouTube videos and telegram for notes.

He said, “I have less time, so i minimized my resources and stuck to the one material for each subject according to the need.”

INTERVIEW

His interview was very formal. He was asked questions from his background, from Air Force to Defense and his current job as review officer.

He was asked some situation and opinion based questions too. Like – If you become SDM, then what would be your priorities? A member asked him that as a SDM, what values you will bring to your job from Defence?

An interesting question was: as a review officer, what difference you find in Civil and Defence organizations? Another member asked him question related to Corruption in bureaucracy?


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
Devendra Kumar Tiwari Alka Tiwari  IAS Jharkhand
First IAS Couple in India to Hold Both Chief Secretary & State Election Commissioner Posts Consecutively - Know This Powerful Pair
Policing, Trust, and Investment: Insights from IPF - Indian Masterminds
Indian Police Foundation Marks 10 Years, Discussion on How Policing Builds Investor Confidence
Madhya Pradesh football training
Mini Brazil to Germany: Vicharpur’s Young Footballers Get CM Mohan Yadav’s Blessings on Vijayadashami Week
bureaucracy news
Centre Announces Key Bureaucratic Appointments & Deputation Extensions: Neeraj Surendran, Arun G, Anand Mohan Among Key Names
PM Modi CM Nitish Kumar
Bihar Receives Rs. 10,219 Crore from Centre: A Festive Gift On Vijayadashami to Fuel Development & Welfare, Backed by GST Reforms
Chhattisgarh government
Chhattisgarh CM Charts Development Roadmap: Push for Capital Expenditure, Biometric Attendance, & Transparent Governance
Vishnu Deo Sai CM
Chhattisgarh Gets Rs. 3,462 Crore Boost from Modi Government: Here's How CM Sai Pledges To Spend It!
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IFS Ravikant Meena UPSC IFS
Ravikant Meena on IFS Preparation, Optionals, and Life in Forest Service
Siddhartha Saxena UPSC CAPF
How Siddhartha Saxena Cracked UPSC CAPF AIR 326 Against All Odds
Dr. S.K
Technology Meets Ecology: IFS Dr S K Srivastava’s Game-Changing Innovations in Forest Management | Eco Warrior Awards 2025 Interview
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar Live Interaction
From Cut-off Dates to Coaching & Reforms: UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar Assures Aspirants of Fairness, Transparency & a Future-Ready UPSC | UPSC@100
A Century of Service: The UPSC’s Landmark Year Begins. Chairman Ajay Kumar on UPSC’s Centennial: “Merit,...
Giriraj Parihar MPPSC 2024
From Constable to Deputy Collector: Giriraj Parihar’s 9-Year MPPSC Journey | Farmer’s Son, Brother to Five Sisters
From a jail guard to MPPSC 2024 Rank 8, Giriraj Parihar’s nine-year journey of self-study, hard work,...
Ankit MPPSC 2024 Rank 3
From Village Dreams to Deputy Collector’s Chair: Meet Ankit, MPPSC Rank 3 Hindi Medium Topper
Ankit, a Hindi-medium aspirant from Balaghat, secured Rank 3 in MPPSC 2024 and became Deputy Collector...
Social Media
World Rhino Day India
On World Rhino Day, IFS Officer Parveen Kaswan Shares Rare Insights - India Now Hosts 80% of the World’s One-Horned Rhinos
September 22 Marks Global Call for Rhino Conservation; India Holds 80% of World’s Greater One-Horned...
Parag Madhukar Dhakate
Relentless Rains Wreak Havoc in Dehradun: IFS officer PM Dhakate Warns Citizens Amid Flash Floods
Cloudbursts in Dehradun triggered flash floods. IFS officer Dr. PM Dhakate warned citizens to stay indoors...
Forest Guard Tiger Encounter
Tigers Clash in the Wild as Forest Guards Capture Rare Footage , Retired IFS Mohan Pargaien Posts Viral Video
Retired IFS officer Mohan Pargaien shares viral video of three tigers brawling in Ramnagar, as forest...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
Devendra Kumar Tiwari Alka Tiwari  IAS Jharkhand
First IAS Couple in India to Hold Both Chief Secretary & State Election Commissioner Posts Consecutively - Know This Powerful Pair
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IFS Ravikant Meena UPSC IFS
Siddhartha Saxena UPSC CAPF
Dr. S.K
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT