K.T. Meghana from Periyapatna overcomes poor vision to score 465th rank

Mysore/Mysuru: As many as 42 candidates from Karnataka have cracked the coveted Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) 2019. C.S. Jeydev topped the State with an All India Rank of 5 while B. Yashaswini and H. Vinod Patil were second and third in Karnataka with all-India ranks of 71 and 132, respectively.

Among the candidates who have made the cut in the examinations, four are from Mysuru region. Prajwal of Vijayashreepura in Mysuru has secured the 636th rank while K.T. Meghana from Periyapatna has bagged 465th rank. The others are Abhishek Gowda of Maragowdanahalli, Malavalli Taluk, Mandya district who has secured 278th rank and Varun K. Gowda of Bannur Hobli, T. Narasipur taluk, Mysuru district, got 528th rank. 

Prajwal, a resident of Vijayashreepura, did his BE (Mechanical Engineering) from National Institute of Engineering and was working as a Design Engineer at a firm in Bengaluru. Prajwal has passed the exam in his fourth attempt. Though he was selected for the interview last year, he could not get a rank. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Prajwal’s family have their roots in Periyapatna. His father Sudarshan works as a manager at a hotel, mother Vishali is a homemaker. “This is my fourth attempt and last year I had passed but was not selected. This time I had worked hard. As I am from a middle class family, the financial condition of my family was weak and I had to pursue my dreams by working and now I have secured a rank too. I studied under Navo-Pramati Institute of Civil Services,” he said.

Giving details about the UPSC exam, Prajwal said that the exams are held in three stages. “This year, the exams were conducted for 900 posts. Now materials for the exams are easily available. But civil service aspirants must be selective in their studies and preparations. They need not read whatever subjects available online or offline,” he said. 

Overcoming difficulties

K.T. Meghana, also from Periyapatna, now a resident of Kengeri in Bengaluru, has cleared the UPSC hurdles to secure 465th rank. The family hails from Kudukuru village in Periyapatna and her father Tandavamurthy owns a ceramic shop while mother Navaneetha is a home-maker. 

Meghana had lost sight due to a problem in her retina (a rare genetic condition) at the age of 15 and dropped out in PUC. She had lost 70 percent of her vision but continued with studies after her parents convinced and persuaded her to study. 25-year-old Meghana missed the ranking by just 5 marks. She wrote the examination with the help of a scribe. 

Initially when the doctors told the family that her eyesight would drastically reduce due to the genetic disorder, Meghana suffered depression. She had joined Science stream but struggled to cope. Later she quit studies and after much pursuance from her parents, she joined the Arts stream. In the beginning, her mother used to read for her and later she learnt Braille and recorded teaching sessions at her college and listened to them after coming home. 

Meghana completed her BA and started working in a private firm. She decided to take up UPSC exams and enrolled for coaching classes. She prepared well and her confidence received a boost when three months ago she cracked the Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) and was appointed as probationary Assistant Director of Treasury Department. Her next aim was UPSC and now she has cleared it too. 

MBBS candidates clear exams

By securing 278th rank, Abhishek Gowda, an MBBS degree holder, has cracked the exam in his third attempt. He had received coaching at an institute in Bengaluru for six months and later appeared for the exam. Abhishek said, “I wanted to appear for UPSC exams since my high school days. After completing MBBS, I studied for two years for the exam. I had sought the guidance of Mandya Deputy Commissioner Dr. M.V. Venkatesh for the interview.”

Varun K. Gowda of Bannur Hobli in T. Narasipur taluk has secured the 528th rank and this is his first attempt. Varun completed his MBBS last year. “I appeared for the exam to serve the people. I had not expected a rank in the first attempt,” Varun said.

A total of eight students of Mysuru-based Navo-Pramati Institute of Civil Services have cleared the exams — B. Kruthi (rank 297), Bengaluru; Dr. N. Vivek Reddy (485), Srinivasapura, Kolar; Praful Desai (532), Gokak, Belgaum; K.R. Bharath (545), Mulbagal, Kolar; Pruthvi S. Hullatti (582), Shivamogga; R. Suhas (rank 583) Bengaluru; H.G. Darshana Kumar (594), Arasikere, Hassan and Prajwal (rank 636), Mysuru.