Women form almost 25 per cent candidates clearing UPSC CSE exams every year now. But, they have been leaving behind male counterparts as they have been dominating the toppers’ list year after year. Indian Masterminds is presenting the set of women officers who cleared UPSC at a very young age. A top rank has been like cherry in the cake for them.

IAS SWATI MEENA

Mining mafia dread her. The Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Swati Meena cleared the exam in 2007 with AIR 260 at 22 years of age. Sheis the youngest IAS officer in her batch. She belongs to Sikar district of Rajasthan.

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Her father is a RAS officer, who always encouraged her to appear for the Civil Services Examination. Her father helped her in her preparations. He used to take her mock test. When the UPSC results were published in 2008, she became a national phenomenon. She was the youngest applicant to pass this exam. In 2016, Ansar Sheikh broke her record. But she still hold the record of being the youngest woman bureaucrat to clear the UPSC exam.

IAS SMITA SABHARWAL

Ms. Smita Sabharwal, a 2001 batch belonging to Telangana cadre, is one of the most popular IAS officers of India. She is popularly called ‘The People’s Officer’ for addressing citizen issues. She is a commerce graduate from prestigious St. Francis College for Women College in Hyderabad, Telangana. She cleared the UPSC CSE in 2000 with AIR 4th, when she was just 22 years old. She is the first lady IAS Officer to be appointed to the Chief Minister’s Office.

Ms Sabharwal could not clear the prelims in her first attempt, else she would have held the record of youngest woman candidates to clear UPSC. But, she did not give up and prepared with more zeal for second time. This time she not only passed the exam, but became the youngest aspirant in her batch to clear it. Her father is a retired army officer. She was ISC topper in her 12th.

She is very popular on social media. Her style of working and passion to help the poor is applauded. She is married to IPS officer Akun Sabharwal. She is presently working as, Secretary to CM, Government of Telangana.

IAS SIMI KARAN

IAS officer Simi Karan belongs to Balasore, Odisha. She is an IIT Bombay graduate who cleared the UPSC CSE in her first attempt in 2019 with all India 31^st rank at the age of 22. She was the youngest girl from Odisha to clear the coveted exam. Her father is an officer in the Bhilai Steel Plant.

While studying in IIT Bombay, on an assignment, Simi got the opportunity to teach children living in slums. From there she got the idea of public service. She wanted to serve and help people selflessly. For her preparation, she understood the UPSC exam pattern by watching the interviews of IAS toppers and had divided the UPSC Syllabus into small parts. At LBSNAA, Simi has been awarded LV Reddy Memorial Award and Certificate as the Best Performing Officer Trainee.

IPS S SUSHREE

While Swati Meena is the youngest IAS, S Sushree is the youngest IPS in India. She qualified for UPSC Exam on her very first attempt at the age of 22 and secured 151 rank in 2018. Daughter of former CRPF personnel, she hails from Kollam, Kerala. She graduated from Kerala University in BA English with 1st rank. She got the Odisha cadre.

Her father, PT Sunil Kumar was part of the Special Protection Group (SPG) between 2004 and 2010. protecting then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. In an interview, recalling her childhood, Sushree said at 14-years age, she got an opportunity to present a bouquet to then PM Dr Manmohan Singh. Sushree says that she had a brief interaction with Singh wherein he asked about her dreams. “I told him that I want to become a civil servant. He blessed me and I was very happy and motivated.”

IAS ANANYA SINGH

Like Simi Karan from her batch, IAS officer Ananya Singh also achieved a similar feat. She hails from Prayagraj, UP and currently posted in West Bengal cadre. She cracked the UPSC CSE in 2019 with AIR 51 and becomes an IAS officer just at the age of just 22 years. She has always been a topper. She scored 96 per cent in high school and got 98.25 per cent in 12th. She graduated in Economics honours from Delhi’s prestigious Sri Ram College of Commerce.

She began her preparations for the UPSC in the last year of his graduation. In an interview, she said that she prepared for UPSC with proper planning. Ananya says that to start the preparation, she first prepared a list of books according to the syllabus. She also made hand written notes according to her need. Notes had two advantages; one was that they were short and very useful for revision. Second, because of written notes, the answers got etched in the mind. Ananya advises the aspirants preparing for UPSC exam that you should go through as many previous year papers as sometimes questions are repeated in some topics. “For a aspirant, the time before pre and mains exam is very tough and one should work really hard during this”, she added.

IAS TINA DABI

She could be termed as celebrity IAS officer. She has been in news frequently. She is currently serving as the collector of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Ms Dabi cracked the UPSC CSE just at the age of 22 in 2015 with AIR 1 in her first attempt. She completed her graduation at the age of 20 and after 2 years of preparation, she became an IAS officer at the age of 22.

Tina Dabi was born in Bhopal, MP. Her father was the General Manager in BSNL. Her mother was an IES officer. She started her UPSC preparation while doing graduation in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. After training, in 2016, she became an IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre. Tina’s sister Riya Dabi has also cleared UPSC CSE 2020 with AIR 15.

IRS NADIA BEIGH

Being a Kashmiri, it was even tougher for her to crack the UPSC. She prepared for the exam during lockdown and curfew in Kashmir. But she come out with a stunning result and cleared the UPSC CSE in 2019 with 350 rank at the age of 23.

She is the first woman officer from Kupwara district of Kashmir, a hotbed of militancy. Nadia Baig’s parents are government teachers. She is an Economics (Hons) graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She said in a tweet that hard work and consistency is the key to crack this exam.