16 candidates from Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh crack UPSC civil service

Sixteen candidates from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Union Territories (UTs) cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil service exam-2019, the result of which was declared on Tuesday.

Among 829 successful candidates in the UPSC list ,14 are from J&K while two hail from Ladakh. Abhiskhek Augustsya of Jammu, who is ranked at 38, is at the top of the list of the successful candidates from J&K. He is followed by Sunny Gupta (148), Dev Ahuti (177), Parth Gupta (240), Asrar Ahmad Kitchloo (248), all from Jammu.

Asif Yousuf Tantray (328), Namgyal Angmo (323) Nadia Beigh (350), Aftab Rasool (412), Sabzar Ahmad Ganie (628), Majid Iqbal Khan (63, Stanzin Wangyal (716), Rayees Hussain (747), Mohammed Nawas Sharafuddin (778), and Syed Junaid Adil (822). While Angmo and Wangyal are from Ladakh, rest of the successful candidates are from Kashmir valley.

Nadia Beigh, who hails from remote Punzwa village of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, credited her family for her feat. Both her parents are in the teaching profession, while her two young sisters are studying MBBS and brother studied BBA.

A graduate in economics honours from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, she was away from home last year when a communication blockade was imposed in the valley after the abrogation of Article 370 last year.

“I wanted to talk to my parents but could not due to the communication gag. I dedicate my success to my parents and my siblings who always stood by me,” she said.

Nadia is the second female qualifier of prestigious examination from Kupwara after Ruveeda Salaam, who qualified the exam in 2012.

Asrar Kichloo, a 27-year-old doctor from remote village of hilly Doda district, said a patient’s pain drove him to crack civil services. “During my internship, I was shocked to see that a patient had applied cow dung on his wound in a remote village. He was not aware that this will cause septic,” he said.

“In the entire Jammu, we have only one medical college, and people from remote areas had to travel for 24-hours to reach the hospital. Many such incidents happened during my internship which pushed me to go for civil services," Asrar added.

From this year, unlike past years, there will be no upper-age relaxation for applicants taking the civil services examination-2020, who are domicile of Jammu and Kashmir between 1980 and 1989, according to a notification issued by the UPSC. The UPSC had announced 796 vacancies in the India’s bureaucracy to be filled through the civil services examination 2020.

The Civil Services exam 2020 was scheduled to be held on May 31. The exam has been rescheduled to October 4 in view of the coronavirus crisis.