Brought up in the Newari village of Madhya Pradesh, Krishna Pal Singh Rajpoot has emerged as the only civil servant in his whole family by securing a place in the final list of UPSC 2021 results. He originally comes from a farmer’s family as his grandfather was a farmer himself. However, his father did not follow the traditional work and choose to study and become a lawyer.
Krishna Pal somewhat followed his father’s footsteps as he chose studies over joining farming activities. This turned out to be a better option as he cleared the UPSC exam in the second attempt and brought laurels to the whole village.
LEFT HOME AT THE AGE OF 13
Krishna Pal is a resident of the Papavani Negua village of Prithvipur tehsil of Niwari district. His father, Ramkumar Rajput, is a lawyer in Orchha town and his mother Mamta Rajput is an Anganwadi helper. Whereas his grandfather Nathuram Rajput is a farmer.
Singh studied up to fifth grade in Papavani village and completed his 8th in Orchha. He was just 13 when he left Orchha to move to Niwari and complete his high school education. After this, he completed his 12th and graduated in English Literature from Maharani Laxmi Bai Government College of Excellence, Gwalior.
He planned to appear for the UPSC exam after graduation and hence shifted to New Delhi for preparation.
CLEARING UPSC
Krishna Pal decided very early in life that he wanted to serve the public and become a civil servant. Hence, during his second year of graduation, he started a three-year coaching programme in Delhi and was living in Karol Bagh. He got over with his graduation and immediately appeared for the first time for the civil service exam in 2020. He failed to clear the preliminary stage, but he knew it was very early for him as he had just graduated.
In the second attempt in 2021, Krishna Pal not only cleared the prelims but also got through the mains and interview stage. On the result day, his name appeared on the final list as he scored an All India Rank 329.
It was not only a proud moment for him but for his whole family and the people of his native village. Krishna Pal cleared the exam at the age of just 23 and become one of the youngest aspirants to clear the exam in 2021.
In an interview, he had a few suggestions for aspirants: “Maintain consistency and never become under-confident for being sustainable in the UPSC journey. It’s never about how many attempts you are giving but the preparation behind it.”