BPSC 64th CCE result: IIT-Delhi graduate gets rank 3, says aspirants should be ready with plan B

Anurag Anand, who secured rank three in the civil services exam conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), said that aspirants should explore plan B if success doesn’t come in earlier attempts. The BPSC results were announced on Monday. The BTech civil engineering graduate from IIT Delhi achieved this rank in his first attempt at the state exam. With two successive failures at the UPSC civil services exam, the Bihar civil services exam was plan B for the man from Darbhanga.

“After graduating in 2015, I stayed back in Delhi and began preparing for the UPSC civil service exam. I did not join any coaching and prepared for the exam through self-study. But I couldn’t achieve the desired result. I cleared the prelims twice but was unable to crack the mains exam,” said Anand about his initial days of preparation.

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“After two consecutive failed attempts, I had to look out for a plan B. So I appeared for the state civil services exam and engineering services exam. Meanwhile, I also applied for a recruitment drive at BHEL,” he further adds.

Anand cleared all the alternative exams he appeared in, and is currently working with the Indian railways as an engineer after qualifying the UPSC engineering services exam. He had appeared in BPSC 64th CCE exam before the engineering services exam, but the result was delayed by four years.

Talking about his preparation strategy for the BPSC exam, Anand said: “I studied daily for 6-8 hours religiously. My only strategy was to re-revise the prescribed books and NCERTs. I have solved multiple mock papers to test my preparation. As I was preparing for UPSC, most of the syllabus collided with my preparation. Hence, I did not refer to any extra resources.”

Anurag referred to Indian polity by Laxmikant, Ramesh Singh for Economics, GC Leong for Geography and also followed some YouTube channels for current affairs and concept clarity. Apart from mock tests, Anurag did not attend any classroom coaching and did all his preparation through self-study.

Anurag had been socially active throughout the preparation. He believes that keeping in touch with others kept him zestful and motivated. Being a football fan, he consistently followed all the matches even during his preparation days.

“It is often said that once you are part of the administration, real life begins. Sacrificing the current time and social life is often justified by many successful candidates. But I never believed in this theory. For me, each phase of life is priceless and should be enjoyed presently. That’s why I maintained contact with friends and family even during the preparation phase.” says Anand.

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For the aspiring candidates of BPSC and UPSC, Anand suggests that for the first two attempts, an aspirant should not worry about failures. These attempts should be given with utmost sincerity and dedication. If unfortunately, success is not achieved, a candidate should look out for a plan B but never halt the preparation for these exams.

Anand has qualified the UPSC civil service main exam 2020 and will be appearing for his interview in August 2021. He draws his inspiration from family and his flatmates who motivated him on every failure to try one more time.