Haritha

Patna, May 3: The wait was long but when success came, the wait appeared worth it.

That is how Patna boy Ramesh Ranjan, 26, felt when he found he had ranked 76th in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations, the results of which were declared today.

For the electronics and communications engineer, success came at the third attempt.

“I couldn’t clear the hurdle in the first two attempts, but the third one proved lucky for me,” he told The Telegraph. The engineering graduate from NIT, Calicut, had mathematics and public administration as his optional subjects in the mains.

Like Ranjan, IAS topper Haritha V. Kumar of Thiruvananthapuram also has an engineering background. Haritha is at present an Indian Revenue Service officer, undergoing training in Faridabad.

In fact, it’s party time for Kerala with Malayalees V. Sriram and Albi John Varghese grabbing the second and fourth slots respectively.

Both Sriram and Varghese are doctors, the former a postgraduate student of medicine in Cuttack, while the latter works at a primary health centre in Ernakulam.

Patna boy Ranjan comes from a humble background and stays in Madhubani district where his mother Sunil Devi works as a nurse in a government hospital. His father Nageshwar Prasad is a retired government schoolteacher.

Ranjan attributed his success to his parents, saying but for their support, he could not have devoted time for preparations. The youth is also all praise for his school — PN Anglo Sanskrit School, in Naya Tola locality of Patna.

“The school provided me the foundation which helped me to achieve what I desired for,” said Ranjan, the youngest of four siblings — he has two sisters and a brother.

Another engineer from Bihar figures in the list of successful candidates — Nishant Kumar (26) of Begusarai has secured 148th rank. Nishant, a graduate of IIT, Roorkee, dedicated his success to his father who passed away two years ago.