R. Rajesh, IRS, Assistant Commissioner, GST and Central Excise, interacted with students at the inauguration of The Hindu Civil Services Aspirants Club at St. Josephs College of Arts and Science for Women in Hosur on Friday. | Photo Credit: BASHKARAN N

The Hindu Civil Services Aspirants Club inaugurated at St. Joseph’s College in Hosur

by · The Hindu

A Civil Services Aspirants Club was inaugurated at St.Joseph’s College of Arts and Science in Hosur under the aegis of The Hindu and Shankar IAS Academy on Friday.

For an audience from diverse backgrounds in a tier-three town, there could not have been a better figure of inspiration than in R. Rajesh, IRS, Assistant Commissioner of GST and Central Excise, Hosur, who was the chief guest of the day.

His speech that traced his journey from a small hamlet near Bellary from a family of migrants from Andhra Pradesh to the interview for the UPSC Civil Services Exam and his eventual first stint in the intelligence in the Research and Analysis Wing had the audience of young students under his spell.

Hailing from a time, when UPSC was indeed a distant dream for the youth of small hamlets and from regional language medium, Mr.Rajesh, spoke of his call for interview to Delhi upon his clearing the civil Services Preliminary and Main exams. “For me, a visit to Bengaluru was a distant dream, when I got the call for interview to Delhi,” he said.

At the interview, he knew the answers for the questions posed in English, but only that he was unable to answer in English coming from Kannada and Telugu medium. But as perseverence would have it, he would not clear the interview that year, but was handpicked by a certain bureaucrat on the panel Ajit Doval, now the National Security Advisor of the country.

Mr. Rajesh’s close to half-an hour long speech held a mirror to the struggles that are common across generations, but none unsurmountable with perseverence and determination.

The inaugural of the Civil Services Aspirants Club witnessed The Hindu donating St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science The Hindu publication books worth ₹33,000 to the principal of the college Dr.J. Caroline Rose.

The event saw Sammrat Bhaskar, senior mentor, Faculty of Security and Societal Issues, Shankar IAS Academy, Bengaluru, mentoring students.

Published - September 27, 2024 08:36 pm IST