UPSC Success Story: Farmer's Daughter Priya Rani Quit High-Paying IT Job, Secured AIR 69 And Became IAS

Many UPSC journeys turn on a single decision: to stay comfortable or to keep going. For IAS officer Priya Rani, a farmer's daughter who rose through steady preparation and self-belief, the choice was clear. She left a high-paying IT track, climbed from AIR 284 in 2021 to AIR 69 in 2023, and is now a 2024-batch IAS officer serving in Bihar.

Born into a farmer's family, with her father a farmer and her mother a homemaker, Priya kept a steady academic course. She earned a B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, laying a technical foundation before turning to public service.

After engineering, she joined a multinational in Bengaluru. The role was stable and promising, yet her larger aim was the civil services. She resigned, moved to Delhi, and began full-time preparation for the UPSC Civil Services Examination.

From corporate role to UPSC

In her first attempt in 2021, Priya secured AIR 284 and was selected for the Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES). The result validated her preparation but did not replace the goal she had set.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

Winston Churchill's line fits the arc of Priya's journey, which turned on the resolve to try again.

Rank leap, Bihar cadre and early priorities

Her persistence showed in 2023, when she cleared the exam again with a major rank jump to AIR 69. She was allotted the Bihar cadre, and today serves as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Sasaram in Rohtas district.

As Sasaram SDM, she has said that people's concerns reaching her office will be heard with sensitivity. Among her priorities are improving administrative transparency, maintaining law and order, and ensuring effective implementation of government schemes.

Priya could have stayed with a corporate career in Bengaluru or settled after AIR 284 and IDES. Instead, she kept working toward the larger aim. For aspirants, her path underlines a simple truth: a setback need not be the end if persistence, preparation, and purpose stay intact.

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