It is believed that every individual passes through difficult phases in life but if you are dedicated to achieving something, nothing can stop you. There are lakhs of people in India who live a life with some misery but the life of a poverty-stricken person can never be truly felt.

Success never comes overnight and these people are the true inspiration of our country; they teach us that passion, hard work and dedication can help you achieve what you want in life. They overcame poverty and have now become IPS and IAS officers by cracking one of the toughest exams in India- the UPSC civil services exam.

Mohammad Ali Shihab

Mohammad Ali Shihab is a 2011 batch IPS officer who lived a life in an orphanage due to financial issues. He was born in the remote village of Edavannappara in Kerala. Due to economic conditions, he used to sell betel (paan) and bamboo baskets along with his father, Koroth Ali. Because of poverty, his mother sent him and his siblings to an orphanage. After shifting, he dedicated all his time to studying and started enhancing his skills and knowledge. He worked as a peon, a clerk and a government schoolteacher. Later, he succeeded in the UPSC civil service examination with an All-India Rank (AIR) of 226.

Shweta Agarwal

During Shweta Agarwal’s childhood, her parents couldn’t afford much other than her basic study materials. She is from Hooghly district, West Bengal, and is the daughter of a grocery trader. She did her schooling at St. Joseph Convent School and graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, paying a fee of Rs 165 per month. She cracked the UPSC with 19th rank in 2015 and became an IAS officer.

Gopal Krishna Ronanki

29-year-old Gopal Krishna Ronanki from Andhra Pradesh secured AIR 3 in the UPSC civil service exam in 2016. He is the son of a poor farmer from Parasamba Village in Srikakulam district.

Shikha Surendran

Coming from a small village in Ernakulam, Kerala, Shikha Surendran said in an interview that once her father stated education was the only way out of poverty. She completed her B.Tech and shifted to Delhi to prepare for the examination. Later, she only did self-study and cracked UPSC with AIR 16 in 2017.

Shivguru Prabhakaran

Shivguru Prabhakaran comes from a village in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. He had to give up on his dream due to a lack of resources and take up engineering. Later, he worked as a sawmill operator, did farming and slept at the railway station to gather money for his education. He completed his M.Tech. from IIT-Madras in 2014 and cracked the UPSC in 2017.