Who is Shakti Dubey? How did she clear UPSC Civil Service examination after 5 attempts?
The UPSC stated that about 28% of all recommended candidates were women, adding that in the top five candidates, three were women, at the ranks of 1, 2, and 4, and 11 candidates were women out of top 25 rank-holders.
Shakti Dubey hails from Naini, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. She had graduated from the University of Allahabad and the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) prior to beginning her preparation for the civil services examination around 2018. She secured first rank in CSE 2024. Her subject included Biochemistry at the undergraduate level. She passed the CSE with the optional subject of Political Science and International Relations.
She initially thought to become a doctor.
'I was a PCB (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) student in school, but based on my rank, I was allotted a seat in dental. I wasn't interested in that path, so I chose to pursue a BSc instead,' Indian Express quoted Dubey as saying. 'I couldn't even clear the prelims in my first three tries. In the fourth attempt, I made it to the interview stage but fell short. And last year, I missed the cut-off by just 12 marks. That was the lowest point in my life—I genuinely thought about quitting,' she added.
'I'm going to sleep peacefully tonight. For years, jo neend puri nahi hui, aaj usko pura karungi (Today, I'll make up for the years of lost sleep)," Dubey mentioned.
"Shakti studied till Class 12 at the SMC Ghoorpur, just nearby, and later topped the B.Sc exam from the University of Allahabad," her father, Devendra Dubey, a sub-inspector in the Uttar Pradesh Police said. "After graduation, she pursued M.Sc from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where she also topped. Though we initially sent her to Delhi for coaching, the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to return home and she continued her preparations on her own," he added.
UPSC CSE Interview took place between January 7 to April 17, 2025. After Dubey, the list of five toppers consisted of Harshita Goyal, Dongre Archit Parag , Shah Margi Chirag, and Akash Garg.
First Published: 24 Apr 2025, 08:43 AM IST
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