In this second part of our feature on IAS officer Namit Mehta, who is the District Collector of Pali in Rajasthan, we highlight his journey into Indian Administrative Service. How a young boy who dabbled in student politics for a while ended up in India’s most coveted government service. The journey gets all the more interesting as the ex-student leader also becomes a Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary on the way!
Indian Masterminds spoke to Mr. Namit Mehta to know about his UPSC journey and his CSE success story.
STUDENT LEADER TO IAS OFFICER
Hailing from Jodhpur in Rajasthan, 2012-batch IAS officer Namit Mehta did his post-graduation in commerce from Jodhpur University. Back in those days, he was the senior Vice-President of Jodhpur University.
“During my college days, I was senior Vice-President of Jodhpur University. I always wanted to be in a profession where I could interact with the public and do something for them,” Mr. Mehta said.
After becoming the Vice-President of the university, Mr. Mehta had desired to fight for the seat of the President of Jodhpur University. However, elections didn’t take place for 2-3 years, so he decided to drop the plan.
During this time, he completed his Chartered Accountancy and Company Secretary courses. “I always was an above average student during my school and college days, so I prepared for CA and managed to get through it.”
Though Mr. Mehta could not stand for the president election in his university, he still had the desire to enter into public life. That’s why he started preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Examination.
Mr. Mehta told Indian Masterminds, “Basically, I had two options. Either to be a part of public life by entering politics through student leadership, or crack the most difficult and prestigious examination of the country, CSE. UPSC is also one of the better options to interact with the public and do something better for them. So I opted to prepare for this examination.”
He also said that generally most of the aspirants start preparing during their graduation days, but his decision came after he became a Chartered Accountant. Mr. Mehta was married when he was preparing for his UPSC examination.
IRS IN FIRST ATTEMPT
Mr. Mehta cleared UPSC CSE in his very first attempt with AIR 430 in 2010 and got selected for Indian Revenue Services (IRS). However, he was not satisfied with the result and thought of giving it one another shot. He prepared again and gave the exam next year and managed to crack UPSC CSE 2011 with with All India Rank 13.
He said that he did not get motivated by any IAS or IPS officers, instead, it was just his studies and the zeal to be in public life and interact with them that fascinated him enough to crack the exam.
PREPARATION STRATEGY
“During my preparation days, I majorly focused on current affairs. I always looked closely into what’s going on around me. Hence, newspapers were a priority during that time,” he shared.
He also said that one should always go through the previous year question papers to have knowledge about how the questions are being set. He further advised that during the interview round, aspirants should answer all the questions confidently.
MESSAGE TO ASPIRANTS
To all aspirants, Mr. Mehta would like to say that, be it the UPSC exam or any other exam one faces in life, one has to work hard and stick to the goal to achieve it.
“However, I personally believe that even if you have worked hard, then also you cannot reach your goal at times if something other than UPSC is written for you. But, one should not loose heart. Make new goals and steadily keep working towards them,” he added.
He further advised the aspirants to lessen their screen timing on social media platforms. “Back in 2010, when I was preparing, there wasn’t any such usage and influence of social media platforms. But now, there is vast usage of these platforms. People have more than 3-4 hours screening time which ultimately wastes a lot of time,” he said.
According to him, aspirants should keep all the negative influence away from them consciously. Though there are many good things on social media, there are bad things and disadvantages as well, which can lead to negative thoughts.
JOURNEY TILL NOW
“My journey from the year 2012 till now has been very exciting. I am blessed and feel fortunate that I was able to crack this prestigious, yet difficult, exam with my hard work and determination. I have got the opportunity to work in different capacities and I have derived a lot of satisfaction, be it professionally, personally or on the social level,” Mr. Mehta said in conclusion.
