The 2017 UPSC result was a blessing for Mr. Saad Miya Khan as he was rewarded for his patience and hard work over a period of five years. He bagged the 25th spot and was counted among the toppers. He could have easily got into the coveted Indian Administrative Service (IAS). However, much to everyone’s surprise, he chose the Indian Police Service (IPS) over the IAS. Indian Masterminds presents his success story today.
EARLY LIFE
Mr. Khan was allotted his home cadre, Uttar Pradesh. He was born in Bijnor and is the son of Rais Ahmed Khan, who retired from the post of Assistant Returning Officer in Muzaffarnagar.
He completed his intermediate from Bijnor’s St Mary School and moved to Kanpur in 2012.
CHOOSING UPSC
Being from the science background, he pursued BTech in Civil Engineering from Harcourt Butler Technology University in Kanpur. In an interview to the media, he had said, “I decided to sit for the UPSC exam at a very early age during my graduation. I had already made up my mind that I did not want to choose the private sector, rather sit for this exam and prepare accordingly.”
Speaking about his inclination towards the Civil Services, he said, “It is one of those jobs which allows you to make sure that justice is served to even the last person in the mile. It also gives the liberty to especially work for the poor and those who are deprived.”
With sheer determination to reach his goal, Mr. Khan started preparing for the UPSC exam right from the beginning of his college and sat for it for the first time in his second year.
FAILURES LED TO SUCCESS
He failed four times before clearing the exam with flying colours. In the first two attempts, he used to make notes from The Hindu newspaper which he later realised was unnecessary and time consuming. In the third and fourth attempts, he focused more on current affairs magazines like Vision IAS and Insights Secure. However, he failed to clear the exam with that strategy, as well.
In the fifth and the final attempt, he followed a separate strategy and focused on reading The Hindu, revising only IAS summary of Hindu editorials, Visions IAS (Dec 2016 to Sep 2017) and Insights Secure – GS 3 (Jan 2017 to Sep 2017).
This time he was confident enough that he has done pretty well in comparison to his last four attempts. This confidence in expecting a good outcome turned out to be true when the CSE 2017 results were released, and he secured the All India Rank 25. It was a moment of celebration, and his home was soon filled with people sharing the happiness together.
After scoring the high rank of 25, he could have easily got into the IAS, but sticking to his vision, he chose the IPS and joined with a mission to change the perception of police service in the country.
