At least six men from Gujarat have cleared the Union Public Service Commission, 2021, exam, the results of which were declared on Monday. Hiren Barot of Ahmedabad topped from the state and secured an all-India rank of 332. This was his fifth attempt at clearing the exam. The 27-year-old completed his graduation in commerce in 2015 before working at the Reserve Bank of India between 2017 and 2019. He served as Surendranagar deputy collector after clearing the Gujarat Administrative Service in 2020. At present, he is undergoing training as an officer under the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs after clearing the civil service exam through the Indian Corporate Law Service in 2019.
Barot told IE that his various jobs had taught him how to deal with the public. Tasked with ensuring medical services for home-quarantined patients during the first Covid-19 wave at Surendranagar, Barot said counselling mothers with small kids and other vulnerable sections and coordinating with medical teams taught him a lot.
His first preference is the Indian Administrative Service, followed by the Indian Foreign Services.
Jayvir Gadhvi cleared the exams in his second attempt with an all-India rank of 341. He had also cleared the Gujarat Public Service Commission exam in 2019. Gadhvi, 25, appeared for the mains exam a month after his appointment as deputy collector of Vadodara in September 2021. Gadhvi’s first preference is the administrative service, followed by the police service as these service branches would allow him to contribute at a much larger level.
The youngest of four children, Gandhvi’s father drove an autorickshaw in their village before his eldest brother, who now drives a tempo, took over. One of his two sisters is a doctor in Kutch.
Prabhat Singh, on the other hand, started preparing for the Union Public Service Commission exam in 2011 after finishing his higher studies from Ahmedabad and moving to New Delhi. However, financial constraints and his mother’s death following prolonged illness forced him to start working as he completed his law degrees from Delhi University.
In 2019, Singh was posted as a state tax officer with the GST department in Gujarat. He also cleared the Union Public Service Commission exam for the Indian Railway Services that same year. He is currently undergoing training at the National Academy of Indian Railways in Vadodara. This year was his last and sixth attempt. Singh told IE he appeared for the exam whenever he got the opportunity. He was always interested in the Union Public Service Commission but situations are stronger than aspirations at times, he said.
Singh, with his experience in the state tax office and interest in arbitration law as part of alternate dispute redressal, prefers the police service as his first choice followed by the Indian Revenue Service.
