I want to improve bureaucracy: IAS woman topper

NEW DELHI - This year’s woman topper of the prestigious civil services examination has a simple aim - she wants to help people who haplessly run with files from one office to another.

“I must be able to improve bureaucracy so that I can help people who are running from one office to another with files,” said Iva Sahay, who ranked third in the All India civil services examination and has the highest ranking among women. The results of the exam were announced Thursday.

Sahay did her Master’s in geography from Jawaharlal Nehru University here. She is now pursuing a doctorate from Allahabad University, where her father is a professor of anthropology. She completed her school education from Ranchi and Allahabad.

“People are beaten in the mesh of politics and bureaucracy. I can’t do anything about politics, but I hope I can do something about bureaucracy,” Sahay told IANS on the phone from Allahabad.

Sahay, who selected geography and anthropology as her subjects for the exam, said hard work above intelligence, was required to crack the UPSC.

“You cannot focus on one thing as it is the toughest exam in the country. Hard work matters more than anything else. Intelligence goes in making your strategy, but it is more about the labour.”

“It was a really tough exam. I realised it when I saw the results. I had aimed for the first rank and I wanted to be second to none. But when I saw the result, I realised there are people who work harder,” she added.

Asked why few women compete for the civil services, Sahay said: “Very few women take up the exam. Even when I was taking the exam, I saw very few women. But when they take the exam, they take it with full preparedness. So they are there among the toppers.”

Talking about her future plans, she said: “I must keep my past and remember why I became an IAS. I must not get lost in the lucrativeness of the job.”