Visakhapatnam: Venkateswar Salijamala, who secured 216th rank in the UPSC, says it is not his success but that of his father, a peasant.
“Though he could not afford, he sent me to a residential school in my Intermediate and sacrificed all his earnings to ensure that I get good education. It is not my success but of my father, Venkayya,” said Salijamala, a medical graduate from the Andhra Medical College in Vizag.
This is the third attempt of Venkateswar at the UPSC. In the first attempt, he was chosen for the Indian Railway Accounts Service and at present, he is undergoing training in Faridabad. Venkateswar did his schooling from Layola College in Guntur district and joined Intermediate at Sri Chaitanya College in Visakhapatnam.
He secured a good rank in Eamcet and passed MBBS in 2012. When asked why he aspired for the civil services, he said: “I want to serve the poor because I know the hardships they face in life,” he said.
“There is a misconception that you have to go to Delhi to crack UPSC. I did it staying in Vizag and group study with my friends helped me a lot. To clear the UPSC, you have to grasp more. Studying for long hours is not a necessity.
Observing things and knowing about them will help immensely. One has to chalk out a plan to complete the syallbus on time,” said Venkateswar.
