Failures had become a part of life for Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) officer Amartya Banerjee until he finally cleared the UPSC exam in 2016. He failed to clear 97 competitive exams and even landed up in a do-or-die situation for UPSC Civil Services Exam. Coming all the way from West Bengal, Amartya Banerjee had a very tough journey on the road to UPSC. Indian Masterminds presents his success story, that came only after 97 failures.
SHANTINIKETAN EXPERIENCE
Born and brought up in West Bengal, Mr. Banerjee completed his schooling mainly from Kolkata and joined Visha Bharti University in Shantiniketan, founded by late Maharishi Devendranath Tagore and later expanded by his son Rabindranath Tagore. It was the first time he was living away from his home for studies.
In an article, Mr. Banerjee wrote, “In many ways (which I realised much later) the University and its ethos have shaped me in ways more than one. Santiniketan is a wonderful place to stay, the gardens, the pathways, the forests at the far end, the culture and all.”
TURNING POINT IN LIFE
After completing his studies at Visha Bharti, he came to Delhi for further studies. He took admission in Delhi University for post-graduation. He had his first brush with civil service when he was at home and his father had brought question bank of the civil service exam and kept it in a small wall shelf. However, when he came to Delhi, his passion for civil service was ignited by a very good friend of his, Ronak Chaudhary, who is currently working as a Rajasthan Administrative Services officer.
Mr. Banerjee mentioned, “I loved the fact that someone who came from such a humble background (he had seen grinding poverty and a hand-to-mouth existence while growing up) could speak and dream of these exalted standards with a desire so restless that it was a sheer pleasure to behold.”
Soon he completed his post-graduation and started preparing for the civil services exam. However, during his studies at Visva Bharti and DU, he never got exposed to the examination as nobody in his batch was even mildly interested in appearing for it. He knew it was a tough journey for him.
COMPETING FOR A BETTER FUTURE
During this time, he not only focused on the civil services but also applied in an array of exams like Bank, SSC, CDS, CAPF, Delhi Metro, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Allahabad, etc. He said, “In the midst of this, to support my own endeavours, I started taking up small, part time assignments in different sectors, using a mix of my own writing ability and some contacts.”
These opportunities made him support his family during the tough time they were going through and, also, provided him with some economic stability for the time being. In 2014, he got placed for a permanent job as a senior research assistant in an organisation. However, his mind was still revolving around civil services as he used to spend his travelling time in reading newspapers and other informative stuff for the examination.
After appearing for umpteenth number of examinations, he finally made his way through the West Bengal Civil Service Examination in 2014 and was allotted the Food & Supplies Department by mid-2016. Till then, he had already appeared for the UPSC Civil Services Exam four times and wasn’t able to even clear the prelims.
FINALLY CRACKING UPSC
Anybody in his shoes would have started pursuing other ambitions, but he took his last shot at UPSC in 2016, and finally cleared the examination, scoring an All-India Rank 524 to get into the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)!
