NEW DELHI: Customs official Ira Singhal became the first physically-handicapped woman to top the civil services examination.
Assistant Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, Ira Singhal got first rank in Civil Services examination.
Women candidates have bagged all the three top slots in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in this year.
Ira has topped the examination followed by Renu Raj and Nidhi Gupta, who have secured second and third positions respectively, according to the results announced by the UPSC on Saturday.
Ira and Nidhi, who hail from Delhi, are Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) officers whereas, Renu Raj is a doctor by profession. She hails from Kerala.
“I am really very happy. I can’t believe this. I just prepared for the examination,” Ira said.
“I want to be an IAS officer. I want to do something for the benefit of physically challenged people,” she said.
The 29-year-old, who topped the examination in the general category despite being physically challenged, said she was “shocked and surprised” by her success. She said she had never allowed her disability to come in the way of pursuing her dreams.
Ira, who suffers from scoliosis or curvature of the spine, said her physical condition was never a concern for her.
“I suffer from scoliosis due to which my spine is curved. But my physical condition has never deterred me from pursuing my dreams,” she said.
Ira, an engineer from Delhi’s NSIT (Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology) and an MBA from FMS, had cleared the civil services examination in 2010 earlier and she was allotted to Indian Revenue Service but first the revenue department refused to give her a posting, and once it agreed, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) refused to give postings.
Both department finally agreed to post her as Indian Revenue Service officer in 2014.
Ira and Nidhi are currently posted as assistant commissioners in the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise).
