IAS Success Story: Meet Samyak Jain, visually-impaired JNU alumnus who secured AIR 7 in UPSC

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) released the civil services examination final result 2021 on May 30, 2022, in which three women secured the top 3 positions.

However, one of the students who shined the most was  Samyak Jain, belonging to the PwD category. Samyak is visually impaired and got an AIR 7 rank in the UPSC exam. 

A resident of Delhi, Samyak cleared the civil services exam on his second attempt. His mother was his writer for exams. "I am very happy with the result. I never expected such a good rank. I'm very thankful to my parents, especially my mother who was there with me all throughout this journey," he had said after the result was released in May.

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Know all about Samyak Jain

IAS Samyak Jain completed his schooling and later graduated with BA in English honours in Delhi. He later went to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) to do a PG Diploma in English Journalism. Samyak then did his Master's in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He took political science and international relations as optional subjects at UPSC.

Interestingly, both of Samyak's parents work for Air India. He lives with his mother as his father is posted in Paris. Samyak says that he is blessed to have such supportive parents and friends.

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It was at the age of 20 that Samyak's eyesight started to decline and then gradually he stopped seeing everything. Despite this, his spirit did not diminish and he studied further at IIMC, Delhi. 

Samyak said when he was in JNU, many people around him were preparing for the civil services exam. Following that, he comprehended what the exam is about and then started preparing for it. As he is visually impaired, he had to take the help of a writer to write for the exam. In prelims, his mother wrote in the exam while in the mains exam, one of his friends wrote the paper.

Samyak's story of wanting to elevate and follow his passion despite being in a visually challenging position is sure to serve as an inspiration for many.