20 October 2026
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Meet Mamta Yadav, The First IAS Officer From her Village

Indian Masterminds Stories

One needs to be focused on their goals in order to achieve success and the story of 2020 batch IAS officer Mamta Yadav proves the same, who despite having cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination in her first attempt, gave another attempt and achieved her dream of becoming an IAS officer. 

Today, Indian Masterminds brings to you the success story of IAS officer Mamta Yadav who, with her firm belief, willpower and focused goals, became an IAS officer in her second attempt.   

FROM AIR 556 TO AIR 5

Born in Basai village, Gurugram, Ms. Yadav did her schooling from Delhi after which she completed her graduation in Physics from the Hindu College, Delhi University. Right after her graduation, Ms. Yadav started preparing for UPSC CSE. She cleared her UPSC examination in her first attempt with AIR 556, becoming the first girl in her village to clear the UPSC examination. 

Soon, she started training for Indian Railway Personnel Service. However, her mind was set on her goal to achieve success as an IAS officer, therefore, she decided to give a second attempt at the examination. With her strong willpower and hard work, Ms. Yadav cracked UPSC CSE 2020 with AIR-5, thus fulfilling her dream.

Now that Ms. Yadav has been selected for the prestigious post of an IAS officer, she hopes to focus on issues concerning women, children, and education. 

SELF-PREPARATION

While doing her preparation for the examination, Ms. Yadav studied for up to 10-12 hours a day. She focused on self-preparation to achieve her longtime dream. According to her, self-study is the best way to identify your mistakes and work on them. 

While self-studying, Ms. Yadav concentrated more on strengthening the topics in which she scored less in her previous attempt. She consistently solved previous years’ questions papers, gave numerous mock tests, and focused on answer and essay writing. 

She gives the credit for her success to her parents who always supported her in her journey. Her father says that his daughter has made him proud, not only by becoming an IAS officer but also by becoming the first girl in the village to get into the Indian Administrative Service.

OPTIONAL SUBJECT 

Ms. Yadav chose physics as her optional subject. It was easy for her to prepare for this subject as she graduated with BSc in Physics Honors. This helped her to score good marks as her basics were clear. 

She advices aspirants that they should choose their optional subjects according to their interest. Choosing an optional subject with zero interest will be tough to prepare. 

TIPS TO ASPIRANTS 

Ms. Yadav believes that while preparing for UPSC, aspirants should follow a well-prepared schedule. If they analyze their preparation from time to time and rectify their mistakes, they can achieve success in lesser time. She further advises aspirants to retain an intensive grip of static understanding while preparing for their Prelims.

Apart from this, she advises aspirants to read newspapers, magazines, and current affairs daily, to enhance their knowledge. She asks them to focus on regular revisions up until the exam starts and not stress out during the exam. “If the paper is not going well in the starting, don’t worry because the following portion will be easier. As sometimes you get a set that is hard in the beginning and becomes simpler later on,” she said. 

Indian Masterminds wishes her the best of luck for her future endeavors!


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