Service, a common theme of state's UPSC toppers

A medical practitioner that he is, Dr B Gopalakrishna felt helpless that he could only reach out to patients who came to his clinic.

This UPSC topper with rank 265 decided that he wanted to become a deputy commissioner and introduce certain changes that would help the community at large.

"I was working at Srinivasapur taluk in Kolar. Hundreds of patients would come with complaints of physical ailments. Most common among them was pain in the hands and legs. When I analysed the reason for this, I found that the fluoride content in water here was beyond permissible limits," he said

This was when Gopalakrishna realised that he could do much more as an administrator than just being a doctor and hence began preparing for UPSC exams.

Besides the NCERT text books, Gopalakrishna said that reading two newspapers thoroughly everyday helped him.

Haryana's Sachin Gupta stood third in the 2017 UPSC exams. It was in Bengaluru that this topper prepared for the exams. "Bengaluru has a good environment. It also has good coaching centres. My father is an agriculturist. Last year, I had secured the 755th rank and hence I reappeared," he added.

Dr Melvyn Varghese scored a 292. This medical practitioner wanted to bring about a change when he was exposed to tough conditions and saw how patients lived at the Mysore Institute of Medical Sciences.

"I did my 11th and 12th from Bengaluru and MBBS at Mysore Medical College. I did my coaching from Delhi. Health and education are two areas where I find a need to see improvement in our country and this is something that would be of interest for me," he said. This is his first attempt at the civil services exams and it took him a year to prepare for the exams.