Meet man, son of tea seller, walked 70 km daily to school, cracked UPSC exam thrice, finally became IAS officer

It's a dream for countless across India to crack the extremely competitive Civil Services Examination (CSE), annually conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Clearing UPSC civil service exam is no easy job. Every year, exam halls get flooded with dreams and aspirations. Yet, there are a few who navigate through the multi-stage process, setting examples before everyone. One such example is of Himanshu Gupta from Uttarakhand, who fought poverty to become an IAS officer. Let’s know his inspiring story.  

Who is IAS Himanshu Gupta? 

Himanshu Gupta hails from Uttarakhand's Sitarganj district and has been a smart student since his childhood. His family’s financial condition was really poor, and he experienced the worst poverty. His father was a daily wage worker, and his job could not provide sufficiently for his family's needs. Hedecided to start a tea shop in which Himanshu helped everyday after school.  

In an interview with The Better India, Himanshu explained how burdensome it was for his family to support them financially. “I never saw my father much because he was in different places trying to find jobs. My family moved to Shivpuri in Bareilly where my maternal grandparents lived. So, I was enrolled at the local government school there.”   

Himanshu Gupta’s education 

He said that there was a time in his life where he would travel 70 km every day just to get basic English education. After completing his schooling, Himanshu got admission into University of Delhi’s Hindu College but paid for his fees by giving tuitions and writing blogs. 

In his masters, he studied and topped in Environmental Sciences and topped his batch. Then he got an opportunity to pursue a PhD in another country, but Himanshu chose to stay in India to pursue Civil Services. He remained in India to his family and for this he joined as a research scholar at a government college.  

UPSC success story 

Himanshu Gupta took the UPSC Civil Services exam thrice. In the first attempt, he got selected for the Civil Services although for IRTS. In his second attempt in 2019, he became an IPS officer. In his third attempt, he appeared for UPSC Civil Services and qualified for Indian Administrative Services (IAS).