Meet IAS officer who failed in school exams, but cracked UPSC in first attempt at 22, secured AIR...

Among the most difficult things to accomplish is passing the UPSC exams. It takes a great deal of effort, tenacity, and patience to pass the Civil Services exam. We will tell you about the perseverance of IAS officer Anju Sharma today. At the age of 22, Sharma passed the UPSC exam despite having failed a few subjects in his Class 12 education. She made one of her greatest achievements out of her failure. 

Anju Sharma had failed her pre-boards in chemistry in Class 10 and the Economics Paper in Class 12. She passed every other subject with distinction, with the exception of these two. No one, she claimed, can prepare you for failures—only for success.  On the other hand, she feels that these two events in her life influenced her destiny. Anju Sharma was once quoted in a major daily as saying, "During my pre-boards, I had so many chapters to cover and it was almost post-dinner when I started panicking because I was unprepared and I knew I was going to fail. Everyone around me stressed the fact that how the performance of 10th grade is crucial as it determines our higher studies."
 
Anju claimed that her mother encouraged her and supported her through such a trying period in her life. She also discovered that studying at the last minute is not a good idea, so she began studying ahead of time for her college exams, which enabled her to win a gold medal. She graduated from Jaipur with a BSc and an MBA. 
 
She was also able to pass the UPSC exam on her first try thanks to this tactic. She qualified for the IAS toppers list by finishing her syllabus well ahead of schedule.

In Rajkot, Anju began her professional career in 1991 as an assistant collector. She is currently the Principal Secretary of the Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, Government Education Department (Higher & Technical Education).
In her thirty years of service, she has held a number of positions, including DDO Baroda, as Gandhinagar, District Collector, and in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Government of India; NRHM.