GVS Pawandatta, a doctor turned soon-to-be IAS officer, brought immense pride to his state, and his family, by securing AIR-22 in UPSC CSE 2022 and becoming the state topper! However, the covid-19 outbreak changed his outlook towards life, and he decided to become a civil servant.
Indian Masterminds spoke exclusively with him to know more about his career shift from medical to civil services.
BACKGROUND
Dr. Pawandatta’s father, G Venkateswarlu, works for LIC India in Rajampet, Annamayya district, and his mother, S Lalitha Kumari, teaches at Zilla Parishad High School in Koduru.
A native of Tirupati, he studied at Viswabharati High School in Gudivada, completed his intermediate at Narayana College in Hyderabad and graduated with MBBS from SV Medical College in Tirupati.
FROM MBBS TO IAS
It was during the deadly coronavirus pandemic that Pawan recognized his actual calling. He witnessed the successful administrative management during the period and believes it’s equally attributable to the doctors as much as the government.
However, he believes that the impact of an IAS officer is a thousand times greater than that of a doctor since they can touch many more lives on a larger scale, which a doctor may not be able to achieve.
“This gave me the motivation to become an IAS and I decided to prepare for the UPSC Civil Services Examination,” he shared.
PREPARATION
Pawan chose Anthropology as his optional subject solely because it is a scoring subject. He only had a few months to prepare for the exam, and as medical science is a rather broad field, he chose Anthropology. He studied hard for his optional and received excellent marks (294).
His strategy to prepare for UPSC was to have no strategy. He set broad targets for himself and prepared accordingly. He stuck to basics and revised every source material that he had numerous times. He did not make any notes for Prelims and made very short notes for current affairs during Mains.
“Being from a medical background had prepared me to write a lot quickly. I took coaching for my optional and gave a few mock coaching interviews,” he told Indian Masterminds.
During his interview, 95% of the questions posed to Pawan were on his medical background, and he answered them satisfactorily.
FUTURE PLANS
When questioned about his future plans, Pawan chuckled and indicated that he would first like to enjoy for a few months now that he has overcome his greatest challenge because he may not have such leisure time again.
Second, having a medical background, Pawan desires to focus on strengthening the country’s health sector since he understands the ground reality of the country’s health system.
Pawan faced several emotional breakdowns during his preparation but he rose like a phoenix and faced all his challenges diligently. He credits his success to his parents and especially his brother who not only helped him mentally but also financially, during his preparation.
TIPS FOR ASPIRANTS
For everyone who is still going through the preparation phase and hopes to crack UPSC CSE in the future, Pawan shares his few words of wisdom. He says, “Stick to the basics and keep it simple. Don’t overhype the exam and try not to stress much. Practice as much as you can and you will surely be able to clear the exam.”
