Delhi lad secures fifth rank in UPSC civil services exam

Delhi boy Aakash Garg secured fifth rank in the UPSC civil services exam 2024, the results of which were announced on Tuesday.

Garg attributed his success to the dedication of his parents. “I had been good at studies since my early days. My parents used to encourage me a lot to prepare for the civil services examination,” he said.

For the 24-year-old topper, it was focused studies and not the number of hours spent in preparation that helped him secure the fifth rank in the examination.

“I believe in quality and not quantity in studies. I did targeted studies that helped me in cracking the examination. I do not believe in hourly studies,” Garg said.

Youngest of the two siblings, he did his schooling at two different schools – Gitarattan Jindal Public School (till Class X) and CRPF Public School (Class XI and XII) – in the Rohini area of Delhi.

Garg has a Bachelor of Technology degree in computer science from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. He got fifth rank with sociology as his optional subject in his second attempt. He is the only one from the national capital among the top five candidates.

“I could not qualify the civil services preliminary examination in my first attempt. Then I decided to take the exam again and got selected,” Garg said.

To a question about the choice of service and cadre post his selection, he said: “I have opted for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and home cadre, which is Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre”. Garg said he would like to work in the education and healthcare sector after joining the service.

Delhi