UPSC topper bats for technology in administration

The UPSC topper Kanishak Katariya says he will try to implement technology in administration to make things hassle-free for public in India.

Kanishak Kataria (26) who hails from Jaipur is the country wide topper in the UPSC exam, the results of which were announced on Friday. A graduate in computer science from IIT Bombay, he cracked the exam in his second attempt. Earlier, he had cracked IIT-JEE exam with first rank in SC category in India.

He believes that he wouldn't have been able to pursue his passion to improve the governance and administration in India without getting into civil services. "After graduating from IIT-Bombay in 2014 in SC category, I went to work for Samsung in South Korea and later in Bengaluru. But every time I wanted to do more for the people around me. And this is what persuaded me to go for civil service examination", said Kanishak.

The son of the former director of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department in Rajasthan, Kanishak admits that his father was also one of the inspiring figures in his life.

While talking about his journey after he quit the job in 2017 the UPSC topper told DH, "I somehow knew in that I would join civil services at some point of my life. I took a break from the multinational company I was working in Bengaluru. I started preparing by studying 10-14 hours every day. Finally I cracked the exams".

Kataria, who opted for mathematics in IAS, believes that scoring first rank was totally a surprise as he thought he would figure among the top 100. To implement his knowledge in the administration duty he gets, he says he would further digitise the things and make things hassle-free for people of India who are not techno-savvy.

Kanishak is fond of cricket and football besides reading books and spending time with mother (house maker) and elder sister (doctor). A native of Sikar village, he is presently living in Jaipur. After Tina Dabi achieved the feat in 2015, Kanishak is the next instance of a SC topping one of the intensely competitive examinations.