Meet man, who gave up high-paying job, cleared NDA but was disqualified due to…, cracked UPSC in third attempt, became IAS with AIR…, name is…
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) held by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is one of the most reputed and competitive examinations in India. The UPSC holds the CSE every year to select individuals for various posts, including IAS, IPS, and IFS. The CSE is conducted using a three-stage process. The three stages are the Preliminary Examination, the Main Examination, and the Personality Test (Interview). In this article, we will discuss the inspirational story of this aspirant who, at the mere age of 18, passed the UPSC NDA examination, but life threw something unexpected his way — something that changed his life forever. Here is the inspiring story of IAS Manuj Jindal, who went on to travel from the National Defense Academy (NDA) to the Civil Services and became an idol for millions of Indian youth.
Who is the inspiring IAS officer behind this journey?
Lakhs of candidates prepare each year for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, but only a handful reach the final merit list. One such successful candidate was IAS Manuj Jindal, who secured an All India Rank of 53 in 2017 and realized his aspiration of becoming an IAS officer. However, his journey to success was full of difficulties.
What challenges did he face after being disqualified from NDA?
Manuj Jindal hails from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. He did his early education at a school in Dehradun. During his school years, Manuj had the ambition to join the National Defense Academy (NDA). In 2005, he passed the UPSC NDA exam, and at the age of 18, he became an NDA cadet. Thus began his extraordinary journey.
Then came an event that changed Manuj’s life completely. Once chosen for NDA, candidates must go through three years of intensive training before they can be commissioned in the Indian Army. The first term of NDA training went well for Manuj, but in the second term, he began to suffer from depression. Due to limited physical activity and recurring injuries, his health deteriorated. After months of treatment, the academy ultimately decided to discharge him.
Despite the challenges he encountered, Manuj never lost hope. Wanting to move ahead, he applied to several universities, both in India and other countries, to study abroad and was eventually accepted to the University of Virginia. Upon graduation, he was offered a good-paying job at Barclays. After working there for a few years, Manuj made the decision to go back to India and prepare for the UPSC Civil Services Examination.
Following roughly 12 years of living abroad, he made his way back to India and started preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Exam, which he took twice but was unsuccessful. He took the exam in 2014 and passed both the preliminary and mains, but did not make the final list. In his second attempt, he passed the exam but was placed on the reserve list.
Finally, after two unsuccessful attempts, he finally cleared the UPSC exam in 2017 in his third attempt, ranking All India Rank 53 and fulfilling his ambition of being an IAS officer. Speaking of his UPSC CSE Main Result 2016, Manuj Jindal secured All India Rank(AIR) 53. He obtained 888 in his written examination and 165 marks on the personality test respectively. Overall he secured 1053 marks.
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