Every UPSC aspirant dreams to serve the country and as Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Despite having no background in bureaucracy and limited resources, Kanika Goyal dreamt to become an IAS officer during her school days. She systemically planned henceforth and her hard work paid off when she found her name alongside rank holders. She cracked the exam on her second attempt. In her first attempt, Kanika was able to clear prelims only.
The daughter of a grocery shop owner, UPSC CSE 2022 AIR 9 Kanika shared her preparation strategies exclusively in an interview with News18.com. “Logical and conceptional clarity is necessary to formulate clear and authoritative answers in UPSC Mains,” claims Kanika. While preparing for UPSC Mains, she enrolled in two test series, remained consistent with her answer writing practice, and sometimes tried to frame pointers in her mind. The 23-year-old rank holder considers current affairs as a value addition while formulating answers for UPSC Mains.
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After graduating in political science honours from Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi University, Kanika opted for the same subject for her optional. “Self-study, reading of newspapers, using terminologies in answer writings, logical and conceptional clarity” remains the mainstay for her success in the subject. In her first attempt, Kanika said that she performed well below her expectations as she has a background in humanities and then graduated in political science. In her second attempt, Kanika understood the nuances and prepared well.
Sharing more, she started dedicated preparation for CSE in the third year of graduation. It was during the Covid pandemic when she started to devote 10 hours or sometimes more to UPSC CSE preparations. She believes in making a planned routine for sleeping, food, study, and relaxation time rather than restricting activities with time. For UPSC prelims, she first focused on subjects that she did not prepare and read basic books and gradually moved to advanced books.
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For her interview, Kanika said she was thorough with general studies, her optional (political science and international relations), information about her district, home district, and her graduation. She even prepared the reasons for her service preferences, acknowledged herself with other details, and took an interview guidance course for a final brush-up.
Hailing from Haryana, Kanika, after cadre allocation, aims to make the population an asset rather than a liability. She wants to sow the seeds of industrial revolution 4.0 with a humanistic essence, a skill development initiative led by women, and strengthening grassroots governance are some of her dreams.
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