Kanishak Kataria has topped the UPSC Civil Services Exam with Rank 1. He is son of an IAS (Indian Administrative Services) officer.
Educational Background and Work Experience
In year 2010, Kanishk had topped the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced in 2010 and had pursued Computer Science engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.
After his graduatIon from IIT-Bombay in 2014, Kataria has worked with a multinational company in South Korea and Bengaluru but resigned in 2017 to prepare for civil services.
Motivation for Civil Service/IAS
More than money, his motivation was“to improve the quality of public governance and administration in India”. It was during his work outside India that Kanishak got the idea of stepping into his father’s shoes. To quote Kanishk “I worked in private sector. I also got a chance to work with a company in the US. I realised that I was just making money and and not working for my country. So I made a decision to prepare for civil services, he said”.
Family Background
Moreover, Kanishk had observed public service from Right from the childhood. — his father Sanwarmal Verma and uncle Kailash Chand Verma are both IAS officers. While the former is the director of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department in the Rajasthan government, the latter is Jaipur’s Divisional Commissioner.
The Winning Strategy for Preparation of CSE
“It was my first attempt and I was confident of getting a good rank, but number 1 rank was a big surprise for me. It is a childhood dream come true, said Kanishk Kataria.” Kanishk studied 8-10 hours daily and slogged 14-15 hours in the last two months before the examination.
While talking to Media, Kanisk said that, “I did take Coaching for General Studies and Optional Subject. But always tried to Personalized my Notes.” My exposure to general studies had been zero because of which I joined IAS coaching in June 2017. But, from March 2018 I have been into self-studies,” said Kanishak.
Coming from Science Backward, Essay writing in 1000 words each was a challenge for me. I took Essay Course of Triumph IAS before my Mains under Mentorship of Vikash Ranjan Sir. Vikas Sir’s inputs greatly helped in improving my Essay. His Evaluation was strict. The marks whichbI got in UPSC was exactly what Vikash Sir used to give in Essay Test.