IAS 2021 results: Women take top 3 spots; 31YO Priyamvada is Telangana topper

Hyderabad: The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) 2021 exam results were announced on Monday by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the top three are all women. Shruti Sharma ranked first followed by Ankita Agarwal and Gamini Singla.

Telangana toppers

In Telangana, 31-year-old Priyamvada Mhaddalkar became the state topper bagging an all-India rank (AIR) 13. Originally from Mumbai, Priyamvada moved to Sainikpuri in Hyderabad for coaching. Her optional subject was Sociology.

"I am extremely happy. When some news reporter called me, I knew that I was the state topper. This is like something from my dreams. My focus was to do my best and the rest just happened," said Priyamvada.

This is her second attempt. In 2020, she left her job and appeared for the civil service examination but she couldn't prepare well. "So, this is my first prepared attempt," she added.

Consistency more important than number of hours

Priyamvada said she used to prepare for 8-9 hours every day. "I think more than the number of hours, consistency is important for the civil service exam. It's important to be updated regularly and allocate some time every day for preparation," she said.

The other toppers from the state are V. Sanjana Simha (rank 37) from Dilsukhnagar, Kopisetti Kiranmayi (rank 56) from Hyderabad, Tirumani Sri Pooja (rank 62) originally from Vijayawada but who moved to Hyderabad for coaching, and Gaddam Sudheer Kumar Reddy (rank 69) from Hyderabad.

"I had to stay away from my daughter to prepare"

Kiranmayi who has bagged the 56th rank is a doctor. She had to stay away from her seven-year-old daughter to prepare for the exams. "I had to stay away from my daughter to prepare for the exams, and for that, my daughter gave me great support. Now that I have stepped to a greater height, I will give my best to serve society. I had the great luck of getting a good education during my childhood, so I will repay it through this success," she said.

Kiranmayi was born and brought up in Telangana. Though her parents are from Andhra Pradesh, they settled in Telangana. She said she was a blessed child as both her parents were educated and employed. Her mother was a retired government teacher and her father was a technical officer in DRDO.

"I was a blessed child with educated parents. My husband is a group-II officer who works as a deputy commissioner in the commercial tax department (state GST). He is my biggest inspiration. I have always wanted to interact with the public and that is why I chose to be a doctor and a general surgeon," she said.

She worked for a few years in a hospital and later, took a break after getting selected for civil services. Kiranmai currently works in Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Island civil services.