Poverty often do people in, kill their potential early and leave huge mental scars that remain unhealed all their lives. But some people manage to beat the odds, and come off as stellar winners in the pursuit of their goals. One such true story is of Mr Suresh Kumar Ola, an IAS officer of 2014-batch, who is now the District Magistrate of Dungarpur in Rajasthan.
Mr Ola was born in the family of a very poor farmer in Rajasthan. Even when he had grown up, the curse of poverty never left him
THE BEGINNING
Mr. Ola hails from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan and was brought up in a family where his father worked as a farmer and his mother as a homemaker. The family, as far as he remembered, remained in perpetual financial crisis. Due to did not have many resources and found very few opportunities coming his way.
The boy Suresh got admission in a government school as enrollment in a private school would have cost an unaffordable amount for the family.
A TURNAROUND IN COLLEGE
Struggling all through this period, Suresh somehow completed his schooling and got admission in an engineering college to pursue B.Sc. in Physics. College is a particular stage in life where a person grows mentally and deals with several instances which later adds up as his experiences.
Similarly for Mr. Ola, college turned out to be a medium which made him realize that he needed to work harder to achieve something. This realization did not come on its own. It was in the second year of his graduation when he got promoted to third year with the help of grace marks. This fear of failing the examination shook him up and also motivated him to do better in future exams.
Soon, he started focusing on his studies and making goals for himself. The setback he got in his second year helped him in a big way as he cleared graduation with decent marks and got admission in an MBA course.
POOR FARMER’S BOY CLEARS UPSC
After completing his masters, Suresh got a job in a bank, which he never imagined when he was young. He switched four organizations during his professional career and soon he got hooked to civil services. This inspiration came from nowhere but his own elder brother who was already serving in the public administration.
He started preparing for the exam, working day and night. He appeared for the UPSC 2014 examination and successfully cleared the prelims and mains exam and got an All-India Rank (AIR) of 41.
IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Suresh topped one of the most difficult exam in the country which he never dreamt of. He was allotted Rajasthan cadre and was posted as an Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.
He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Jaipur Smart City after which he got posted as the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation in Jodhpur. His dedication towards work from an early stage in his life resulted in his good governance in the public administration as well.
As the Municipal Commissioner in Jodhpur, he took several initiatives such as effective waste management and improved sewage treatment, which is considered one of the in the biggest indicators of urban development.
In October 20, Mr. Ola became the District Magistrate of Dungarpur. But if there is one lesson to be derived from his story, it’s that circumstances mean little if you have your sight fixed on the target and are willing to pay the price to reach there.
