17 October 2026
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Meet the Top Five of UPSC CSE 2023, Know Their Journey

Indian Masterminds Stories

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), on Tuesday, declared the results of Civil Services Exam-2023. A total of 1016 candidates have been selected for the services this year which includes 664 men and 352 women. This year, three men secured positions in the top five. Aditya Srivastava has secured the first position while Donuru Ananya Reddy became the female topper by bagging AIR 3. 

Animesh Pradhan secured AIR 2 while PK Sidharth Ramkumar and Ruhani got AIR 4 and AIR 5 respectively. 

Indian Masterminds presents the top five toppers, who are soon going to be part of the most prestigious service in the country. 

AIR 1, ADITYA SRIVASTAVA

Mr. Srivastava hails from Lucknow and has secured rank 1 in his third attempt. Last year, i.e. UPSC CSE 2022, he secured rank AIR 236. Aditya’s father is an assistant audit officer in CAG, while his mother is a homemaker. His father was his motivation all throughout his journey. 

Aditya Srivastava

He did his primary schooling from CMS, Lucknow. Then, he did his graduation (B.Tech) in electrical engineering from IIT Kanpur in 2019. After that, he joined Goldman Sachs, an American Investment Bank, in Bengaluru. He worked there for 15 months only. He quit the job in 2020 and started preparing for UPSC CSE. He qualified the examination with ­­­­­­­­ Electrical Engineering as his optional subject. 

“I would say that there is a lot to be learned in this journey. Some mistakes also happened, like when I failed in my first prelims. Life taught me a lesson. Also, leaving a job for preparation was really a tough decision for me,” he told Indian Masterminds. 

AIR 2, ANIMESH PRADHAN 

Hailing from Angul, Odisha Animesh Pradhan is a graduate (BTech.) in Computer Science from NIT Rourkela. His mother works in a PSU, and he too cleared UPSC CSE 2023 while working in the PSU, Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Mr. Pradhan chose Sociology as his optional subject and cleared the exam in his first attempt while doing a full-time job. 

ANANYA REDDY, THE FEMALE TOPPER

Donuru Ananya Reddy

Donuru Ananya Reddy, who hails from Mehboob Nagar, Telangana, is a graduate in Geography from Miranda House, Delhi University. Her father is self-employed and her mother is a homemaker. After graduation, she decided to appear for UPSC CSE. She chose Anthropology as her optional subject and cleared the exam with rank 3 in her first attempt. 

AIR 4, PK SIDHARTH RAMKUMAR 

PK SIDHARTH RAMKUMAR 

Ramkumar secured rank 4 in his fourth attempt and made his dream of becoming an IAS officer come true. He did his graduation in Architecture from College of Architecture, Trivandrum. In his last year, while doing internship, he decided to appear for the CS exam. He couldn’t clear the prelims in his first attempt in year 2019. 

He came back strongly and cleared UPSC CSE 2020. He was selected in Indian Postal & Telecom Account and Finance Services. But, the journey did not end for him there and he gave another attempt in 2021 and secured AIR 189. He is currently under training at the National Police Academy. As the results for UPSC CSE 2023 came out, he came to know that he has secured the fourth rank this year with Anthropology as his optional subject.

Here is the interview of Mr. Ramkumar with Rau’s IAS:

AIR 5 RUHANI 

Ruhani

A graduate in Economics from St. Stephens College, Delhi University, Ruhani hails from Gurugram Haryana. Both her parents are lecturers. After her graduation, she completed her Masters from IGNOU and simultaneously gave competitive exams. She first cleared Indian Economic Services and worked there for three years, including two years in NITI Aayog. 

She then cleared UPSC CSE 2022 with AIR 159 with Economics as her optional subject. She was under training at the National Police Academy when the result for UPSC CSE 2023 came out and she got to know that she has secured AIR 5.


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