Pradeep Singh, a 29-year old Indian Revenue Service officer from Haryana, has topped the Civil Services Examination, 2019, on his fourth attempt. He was followed by Jatin Kishore and Pratibha Verma, according to the results declared by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday.

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This year, 829 candidates have been selected for the various services, including 66 who have been provisionally recommended. The results of 11 candidates have been withheld. The results are on the basis of the written examination held in September 2019 and the interviews for a personality test held between February and August 2020.

“It was unexpected,” said Mr. Singh, adding that while he had hoped to crack the examination, he had never expected to top it. A B.Tech (Computer Science) from Sonipat’s Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, he worked as an Inspector in the Income Tax department briefly while taking the UPSC exams. Having been placed at the 260th rank in his previous attempt, he then took leave to prepare for the examination last year.

His father Sukhbir Singh, a farmer and former sarpanch of Tewari village, is his “pillar of strength” and biggest motivation, says the topper. During the times when he felt like quitting since it was difficult to prepare for the examinations while working in a job, it was his father who encouraged him not to give up. He initially took coaching, but due to job constraints he had now been preparing on his own with help from friends.

Looking ahead, Mr. Singh said he hoped to “work for the poor” and contribute towards the “development of the nation”.

The 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) was implemented for the first time this year, with 78 candidates selected under that category. Apart from 304 successful candidates in the general category, there were 251 from Other Backward Classes, 129 from Scheduled Castes and 67 from Scheduled Tribes.

The successful candidates will join the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and Central Services Group A and B, in accordance with their merit list. There are a total of 927 vacancies reported by the government in these services, says a UPSC statement.