Kerala daily wager's daughter cracks UPSC, secures 481 rank

Aswathy has dreamt of becoming an IAS officer since she was in Class VIII.

S Aswathy, daughter of a construction labourer in Thiruvananthapuram, never thought she would clear the UPSC examination as it was her fourth attempt. She has secured 481st rank in the UPSC examinations which was held in 2020 which made proud of her parents who settled at Karikkakom here.

However, she has not given up her urge towards her dream of becoming an IAS officer. She is currently preparing for the prelims of this year's UPSC examination scheduled for October 10.

"Though I am happy that I cleared the examination, I may get IRS (Indian Revenue Service). As my dream is to become an IAS officer, I am preparing for the upcoming UPSC examination, " Aswathy told TNIE. Aswathy, 27, started dreaming of becoming an IAS officer since she was in Class VIII. However, she later chose to study engineering and got into Government Barton Hill Engineering College in Thiruvananthapuram. During her final year, she got placed at TCS Kochi in 2015.

It was after getting into her IT job that she started thinking seriously about appearing in civil services examinations and went about working and studying simultaneously. In 2017, she resigned from the lucrative IT job and joined full time learning for civil services.

She studied at Kerala State Civil Services academy and some private academies in Thiruvananthapuram.

Premkumar P, Aswathy's father, said his daughter's achievement made him proud as her studies were under difficult circumstances. "I am proud of my daughter. She is hardworking and she was excellent in her studies from her school days," he said.

Aswathy's mother Sreelatha P is a housewife and she has a younger brother named P Arun who is working in an IT firm at Technopark.