The Civil Services Examination(CSE) is one of the toughest examinations in India. Held annually, the exam is held for three phases: prelims, main, and interview. Every year, lakhs of people fill up the UPSC CSE application form to get recruited for the posts of IAS, IPS, IFS, and other posts. Only a small fraction succeed in securing selection due to the intense competition and limited number of seats. In this article, we will talk about the success story of a man who used to herd his uncle's sheep and goats, who obtained an All India Rank(AIR) of 551 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024.
Birdev Siddappa Done, a native of Yamge village in Kagal tehsil in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, made his family and village proud by achieving the 551st rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024 and is now on course to be an IPS officer. As mentioned in the AajTak report, when the final UPSC results were announced, Birdev was shepherding his uncle's sheep and goats in Belgaum, Karnataka.
According to the report, Birdev's family is engaged in sheep and goat rearing. Their family has only one acre of land, which supports a traditional livelihood. Regarding his educational qualifications, Birdev attended the local Zilla Parishad school in his village. He has done well in his 10th and 12th grade examinations.
Subsequently, he took admission and earned a degree in Civil Engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune. After completing that, he shifted to Delhi as he had planned to prepare for the UPSC exam for the next two years. He did not find success in the first two attempts for UPSC but met with tremendous success in the third attempt.
In the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024, Birdev obtained 775 marks in the written exam and 160 in the personality test. Overall, he scored 935 marks in the UPSC Civil Services(Main) Examination, 2024. Birdev Siddappa Done's UPSC Roll number is 6607925. He secured All India Rank(AIR) 551.
As reported by Aaj Tak, Birdev Siddappa Done was preoccupied trimming goat hair in Belgaum at the time and had no idea the UPSC results were out. It was only when a friend called to congratulate him that he could take in the fact that he was a UPSC exam success story, and on the list. He was delighted, but he wanted to finish his work before relaying that information to his family. The place, filled with more than a thousand goats, immediately became a celebratory environment.
In the report, Birdev noted that he attributes his good fortune to his dedication and the blessings of "Bakri Mauli." Birdev reflected that the time spent sitting and watching the goats during herding has afforded him study time. The picture of him celebrating the accomplishment with the goats has been widely circulated on social media.