Meet UPSC 2020 Topper Shubham Kumar: A Small Town Boy with Big Dreams

Shubham Kumar, aged 24 (as of 2021), hails from Kumhari village under Kadwa block of Katihar district in Bihar has topped the most coveted civil services examination 2020 with 52.04% marks.

UPSC conducts civil services examination in three stages i.e., preliminary, main & interview - to select good officers for the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service among others.

Shubham’s Journey of UPSC: 

• While Shubham was in the village, he saw people facing a lot of problems and at that time he had decided to become an IAS officer so that he could contribute to relieving their sufferings at least to some extent.  And it’s the time for him as his childhood dream has been translated into reality and he got a chance to serve the nation.

• After completing his schooling, he got admission to IIT Bombay. In May 2017, he joined Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, as a summer research intern. 

• In 2018, he made his first attempt at UPSC, but he couldn’t clear. In 2019, he again tried for it and got 290th rank. He was then selected in the Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS). And in his third attempt, he topped the exam in 2020. 

• He has a resolve to address all those issues which are related to people as he believes every public servant should be 'People Connect' as he/she is expected to serve the grassroots people.

• Areas like poverty alleviation & development of villages and their people would be his focus area while in the service.

Shubham’s Success Matra:

Staying focused & persistent is the key to success, says young UPSC Topper.  Shubham believes in the Power of Self Assessment & Self Analysis and thinks education plays an extremely important role in our society and hence you can’t take it lightly. It has the power to fight every odd that comes into the way.