It is a common notion that cracking UPSC CSE is the ultimate goal for aspirants and one who can get in will definitely continue serving as an IAS or IPS officer. To break the stereotype, we have Roman Saini. Saini became the youngest person to clear the AIIMS admission exam at the age of 16. At the age of 18, he had already written a research paper for a prestigious medical publication.
After completing his MBBS, the young Roman Saini worked at the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) at AIIMS. Most people would cherish such a well-reputed job but for Roman, his stint as a doctor lasted only 6 months.
At the age of 22, Roman Saini passed the UPSC Civil Services test. On why he chose to become an IAS officer, he once remarked, “I was pursuing my MBBS and was posted in Haryana's Dayalpur village. I saw how people were deprived of basic facilities. That's when I decided to serve the nation.” Roman was among the youngest IAS officers at 22 years of age and was posted to Madhya Pradesh as a collector.
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While becoming an IAS is the ultimate goal for lots but Roman decided to pursue something else. Soon he left the coveted job and instead joined his friend Gaurav Munjal in founding Unacademy, a platform that today helps thousands of IAS aspirants prepare for UPSC exams. The idea behind Unacademy was to provide a platform for UPSC coaching classes that don’t require students to spend lakhs of rupees.
While Unacademy had its humble beginnings as a YouTube channel created by Gaurav Munjal in 2010, the company was officially founded in 2015 by Munjal, Saini and their third co-founder Hemesh Singh. As of May 2022, Unacademy was valued at USD $3.44 billion. The platform has more than 50 million active users.
