IAS Kasturi Panda persevered and cracked the UPSC exam in her second attempt, emerging as one of the toppers and becoming an IAS officer at the young age of 23.
The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) is undoubtedly one of the toughest exams in the country with hundreds of thousands of aspirants taking the test each year in order to fulfill their dream of becoming an IAS, IFS, or IPS officer. A majority of aspirants usually take years of coaching and preparation to clear the exams, but there are a select few who crack the tough exam at a young age, and even a slimmer minority manages to do it without any coaching.
One such shining example is IAS Kasturi Panda, who topped both PCS and UPSC exams at just 23 years of age, and did it without any formal coaching.
Who is Kasturi Panda IAS?
Born and raised in Odisha, Kasturi Panda has a B.Tech degree Computer Science from NIT Rourkela. After earning her engineering degree, Kasturi started preparing for civil service exams and cracked the Odisha Public Service Examination (OPSC) in 2020, securing an impressive 14th rank. She was only 22 at the time.
Kasturi also attempted UPSC in the same year, however, success eluded her in the first attempt as she could not make the cut past the final or interview stage.
IAS at 23
Despite the early setback, Kasturi Panda persevered and cracked the UPSC exam in her second attempt, emerging as one of the toppers and becoming an IAS officer at the young age of 23. The young woman secured 1006 marks in the UPSC CSE, including 822 marks in the second stage, or written test.
Thus, Kasturi Panda scripted history by topping both PCS and UPSC examination at the young age of 23, and she did it without any formal coaching, which was frankly unavailable at the time, due to the nationwide lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kasturi revealed that in absence of coaching classes, she engrossed herself in self-study and relied on mock tests to prepare for the real thing. The UPSC topper further revealed that she used textbooks from classes 9th to 12th to get a better grasp of the subjects she was preparing for, which gave her an edge in the exams.
Additionally, as part of her preparation, she solved dozens of test papers, which helped her in tackling all types of questions in the UPSC CSE, she added.
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