Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalis have performed creditably in the civil services examinations with Renu Raj from Changanassery bagging the second rank and K. Nitish eighth. Over six Keralites came in the top 50 list.
The results were declared by the Union Public Service Commission on Saturday. The others in the first 50 are I.S. Mercy Ramya, (32nd rank), S. Arunraj (34th), Asha Ajith (40th) and M.S. Prasanth (47th).
A total of 35 students from the state figure among the 1,236 candidates recommended for appointment to the Indian Administrative Service, IFS, IPS and central services groups A and B.
Renu Raj, a doctor, is a first-timer in the examinations. In contrast, Ira Singhal and Nidhi Gupta, the first two rank-holders from Delhi, are repeaters.
Renu Raj, who works in the ESI hospital, Kollam, hails from Kottayam. Thirty-four candidates who prepared for the final examinations at the Kerala State Civil Services Academy in Thiruvananthapuram qualified. They included the second rank- holder.
Ms Renu Raj, the second rank-holder in the civil services examinations, belongs to a middle class family in Ittithanam, a remote village in Kottayam district.
Ms Raj, who studied in a state syllabus school, said she had never expected to get the second rank. Her alma mater is St Theressa’s school, Vazhappilly.
Ms Raj, who completed her MBBS examinations from Kottayam Medical College, took Malayalam as the optional instead of medical sciences.
This was because her mother V.N. Latha, a third rank-holder in Malayalam BA from Mahatma Gandhi University in 1985, could help her with the preparation.
Ms Latha had not taken up any job as she had to take care of their two daughters, Raj and sister Remya Raj, who is doing her fourth-year MBBS at Kochi Medical College.
Ms Raj is married to Bharat of Kottarakkara who is doing his post- graduation in orthopaedics at Fr Muller Medical College, Mangalore. She opined that it was the encouragement from her husband, families and her perseverance that helped her crack the examination in her first attempt. In fact, it was Bharat’s grandmother, known as Chellamma sir, who encouraged her most.
Mr Raj, who works in an ESI hospital at Kalluvathukkal in Kollam district, said that she wanted to work in the state and use the opportunity to serve the downtrodden. Ms Raj completed her MBBS in 2013 and joined government service last year. Her childhood dream was to become a civil servant.
“I joined the government-run state civil service academy for coaching. Since this was my first attempt, I was tense since last night. Even though I knew the results would be out by afternoon, I did not inform my parents,” she said.
“I was tense and hence did not log on to the website. However, one of my friends called even before I could check the results and told me that I was ranked second,” she said.
Keralites steal show, grab 2nd, 8th ranks
The others are B. Vishnu Chandran (rank 34), Asha Ajith (40), M.S. Prasanth (47), Safeer Karim (112), Simy Mariam George (154), M. Reghu (162), K. Dhanya (170), K.M. Sarayu (220), Ronie E . Spurgeon (233), Bhavia Mangalanandan (249), R.K. Sreevishakh (264), Rachel Kurian Modayil (320), Sateesh V. Menon (342), A.K. Kamal Kishore (370), Farah Zachariah (428), Saju Vaheed (429), Minu Abraham (452), Hariram Shankar (483), V.B. Ganesh Kumar (581), Anand Achuthankutty (588), Deepa Sathyan (607), R. Krishnaraj(614), S. Sujith Das (679), D. Harikrishnan (790), N.S. Rajini (891), Wazim Mustafa (894), Arun K. Vijayan (919), K. Razeem (922), Nithin Nobert (949), S. Premkrishnan (987), Neeraj Surendran (1,008), Jethin B. Raj (1,121) and C. Shyam Chand (1,223).
