The Indian Administrative Services job is one of the most prominent and prestigious jobs in the country. Individuals who pass the IAS exam get an entry into the world of Indian bureaucracy, which is dubbed the invisible government. . To become one of the youngest IAS officers, one needs to clear the UPSC examination almost immediately after graduation.
The UPSC examination is the most prestigious, and experts consider it to be the second difficult exam in the world. Several Indians try to crack the UPSC, but they don’t do it even with multiple attempts. Some crack the examination at a young age and even at the first attempt.
People who were once the Youngest IAS Officers
Ansar Ahmad (21)
One of the youngest IAS officers is Ansar Ahmad, who passed his IAS examination with an All India Rank of 361. He is posted in Orissa and was a genius from the beginning. He scored 91 per cent in the tenth grade. His story is rags to riches, and he did face a financial constraint while he began his career. His brother had to work in a garage to ensure that they could cover the education fees. He is currently posted in West Bengal and is a Special Officer for MSME and Textiles.
Tina Dabi (22)
Tina Dabi cracked her IAS examination at the age of 22. She became quite a media sensation when she passed the examination, and the mainstream media covered her personal and professional life. Dabi also became a media sensation when she married fellow IAS officer Athar Khan. Tina Dabi is currently in Bhilwara as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
Roman Saini (22)
Roman Saini is a popular individual on this list to crack the UPSC examination after Tina Dabi. He passed the IAS examination at the age of 22 and became one of the youngest IAS officers. He quit his job position and then set up Unacademy, one of the most happening names in the Edutech genre. Saini provides education for UPSC for free with this Unacademy company.
Amrutesh Aurangabadkar (22)
Amrutesh Aurangabadkar cleared the UPSC examination at the age of 22. He is currently the Regional Commissioner of Municipalities, Vadodara.
Pradeep Singh (21)
Pradeep Singh completed the UPSC examination at the age of 21 in the first attempt in 2018 and joined the list of youngest IAS officers. He works in the Income Tax and Revenue Department. Like most of the other UPSC aspirants, he also faced financial constraints for most of his life.
About IAS Examination and Youngest IAS Officers
These are the youngest IAS officers in India in the past couple of years. Several coaching institutes offer coaching for UPSC aspirants. The charges of these coaching classes are prohibitive, but it is a matter of prestige for a person and a family to pass the exam. You will need to carry out proper research and get all the information about any coaching class. The IAS examination is one of the most difficult examinations in the world and you need to be prepared for it.
The two people who stand out on this list are Tina Dabi and Roman. While the others in this list became famous because they joined the list, Dabi and Roman became celebrities in their own right, and the fact that they are on this list was just the beginning. Dabi became the media’s cynosure for a while, and Roman is an entrepreneur who quit his IAS job, something that’s unheard of in India. You will also see that at least two people from this list come from an economically backward background, and the IAS examination came as a boon for them.
Eligibility of IAS Examination
There are some eligibility criteria to become a UPSC aspirant. These criteria are nationality, age, number of attempts and educational qualification. The person should either be an Indian or a Person of Indian Origin. There is an educational qualification in the mix as well. They should be a graduate and must be within the age of 21 and 32. The maximum number of attempts in the general category allowed is 6. For people from SC/OBC/ST and other categories like Ex-army, differently-abled and others, the maximum number of attempts is nine. Even those from the Economically Weaker Section can give the examination nine times instead of the general six.
People vie for an IAS posting because it is a financially lucrative job. The beginning pay is around 60,000, and the IAS officer gets various other perks like residence, travel and other such aspects. However, what drives people to the IAS is the idea of becoming part of the system that runs the country and makes everyone’s dream possible. The IAS and the UPSC examination has become somewhat of a pop culture reference. You will find these references in several of the movies and web series that are streaming now.
In a Nutshell
The IAS examination is one of the few examinations in the country and the world with negative markings – which means that a candidate can get negative markings for wrong answers in the prelims stage. It comprises three stages – the Preliminary Examination, the IAS Mains and the UPSC Personality Test.
The IAS examination has several components, and most of the questions are about current affairs. The questions are on the national and international incidents in the past year. To prepare for the UPSC examination, reading NCERT textbooks is an excellent idea. UPSC aspirants also make notes from these textbooks for the preliminary examination. There are nine papers, with the first two being of a compulsory Indian language and English. The rest are about general studies, and there are two Optional Papers. There’s also an interview for a personality test. One can learn and get inspired from the above mentioned youngest IAS officers.
If you are planning to pursue the profession of an IAS officer, keep in mind that it is not an easy life. You need to be articulate, diplomatic and know how to get things done even in the most tense of scenarios. Being an IAS officer is whole new style of living, and you should first be sure that you would be able to lead such a life, for example, the life of Amrapali Kata.
