Meet IAS officer who was once mocked for her poor English, cracked UPSC exam in 2016, got AIR...

Written By Sonali Sharma | Updated: Jan 06, 2024, 06:26 AM IST

After completing her schooling, Surabhi appeared for the entrance exam of State Engineering and cracked the exam.

UPSC is one of the toughest exams to crack to become an Indian IAS officer. To pass the civil service exam, a person studies religiously for several hours. Each year, thousands of candidates seek to take the exam to become IAS, IFS, IPS, and IRS. Only a few number of them succeed in the most competitive exam. Today we will talk about Surabhi Gautam, who hails from Madhya Pradesh and cracked UPSC in 2016.

She appeared on her state's merit list for her outstanding achievement in the examinations for her 10th and 12th grades. She cleared every competitive exam that she took.

Surabhi Gautam hails from a small village in Madhya Pradesh. Her mother, Dr. Sushila Gautam, is a high school teacher, while her father practices law in the Maihar court of MP. Surabhi Gautam, an IAS officer, finished her schooling at a government school in her hometown, where basic amenities were also barely available. The school was a Hindi medium school.

That didn't stop IAS Officer Surabhi Gautam from realizing her aspirations, though. Surabhi Gautam, an IAS official, received 93.4% in her class 10 board exams. She received a flawless score of 100 in both Science and Maths. Thanks to her strong grades, IAS officer Surabhi Gautam was able to secure a berth on the state merit list in classes 10 and 12. 

After class 12th, Surabhi took the State Engineering entrance exam and did very well. She moved to the city for higher education, becoming the first girl from her town to do so. She finished her engineering degree in electronics and communications in Bhopal, where she won a gold medal for her outstanding performance and placed first in the university.

Surabhi Gautam, a gold medallist and university topper, had aced multiple tests before taking the UPSC Civil Services exam. Surabhi Gautam has spent a year working at BARC as a nuclear scientist. Exams such as GATE, ISRO, SAIL, MPPSC PCS, SSC CGL, Delhi Police, and FCI were also passed by her. In addition, she received an AIR 1 in the 2013 IES exam.

She struggled in college to speak English fluently. She was mocked many times in class for not speaking English properly. Nevertheless, she refused to give up and chose to give it back to them with her success.

IAS officer Surabhi Gautam started talking to herself in English to improve her command of the language and learned the meanings of at least 10 words every day. 

The result was that IAS officer Surabhi Gautam topped the first semester of her graduation and was also awarded the College Chancellor's Award. 

IAS officer Surabhi Gautam got a job in TCS through college placement as soon as she completed engineering but quit midway because of the desire for civil services. She then appeared for several competitive exams. 

She was selected for IES Services in 2013 and was ranked first at the All India level in this exam. She cracked the IAS exam with AIR 50 in 2016 and became an IAS officer.

IAS Surabhi Gautam is currently posted in district Viramgam of Ahmedabad, as the District Development Officer and serving as the Assistant Collector.