Meet IIT graduate, who left Germany to appear for UPSC exam, became IPS, then IAS with AIR...

An engineering intern returned from Germany to appear for India’s most tough competitive exam, and she did crack it not once but twice. This inspiring story is of a brilliant IAS officer, who hails from Madhya Pradesh. Her hard work paid off and she secured a position in the Indian Police Service as well as in the Indian Administrative Service. We are talking about IAS Garima Agarwal.

The success story of Garima Agarwal, a trailblazer from Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district, embodies perseverance, patience, and determination. She achieved the remarkable feat of clearing the prestigious UPSC Civil Services Exam not once, but twice. Her journey to becoming an IAS officer is truly inspiring. 

Despite belonging to a family of businessmen, she had a strong academic focus. She received grades of 89% in class 12 and 92% in class 10. She pursued her education at Saraswati Vidya Mandir in Khargone. After completing high school, she took the JEE exam and was accepted into IIT Hyderabad. She cleared the JEE exam, securing admission to the esteemed International Institute of Information Technology (IIT) Hyderabad. After graduating, she went for an engineering internship in Germany, she returned to India and dedicated 1.5 years to studying for the UPSC exam. Her hard work paid off when she scored 240 on the UPSC CSE exam in 2017, securing a position in the Indian Police Service (IPS). 

However, Garima wasn't satisfied with just achieving IPS. She continued to study for the UPSC exam while receiving training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Police Academy in Hyderabad. Her perseverance paid off when she retook the exam in 2018, scoring 40th and achieving her dream of becoming an IAS officer.

Today, Garima serves as the Assistant District Magistrate of Telangana, inspiring countless aspiring civil servants with her remarkable journey. Her story is a testament to the power of determination, intellect, and unwavering ambition. She has an important piece of advice for UPSC aspirants. She suggests preparing for Prelims, Mains, and Interview together, as the same questions may appear in both Prelims and Mains. She emphasizes that acquiring knowledge is not enough and suggests practising mock tests and writing questions and answers to accelerate preparation.