Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the book titled ‘Scaling Mount UPSC: Inspiring Stories of Young IAS Officers’, on Monday, which is written by Additional Secretary at Department of Expenditure of Ministry of Finance and talks about inspiring success stories of seven IAS officers across the years. Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, who is currently serving as G20 sherpa, was also present.
The books talks about the range of UPSC success stories including; a visually impaired girl Anjali Sharma, the son of a beekeeper from Kashmir Waseem Ahmad Bhat, an economically challenged 21 year old who had just got rejected by both IIT and NDA Satyam Gandhi, a mother of a 2-year-old Minnu , the ward of a servant to an IAS officer Bharat Singh, a privileged US based IITian, who chose to give up a cushy job and pursue the UPSC Lavish and lastly Shruti Sharma, who fetched 1st rank in 2021 UPSC exam.
Among all the mentioned IAS officers in the books, two were present in the event. One was visually impaired IAS Anjali Sharma, who secured AIR 185 in 2021 UPSC civil service exams and is currently posted as assistant secretary at Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Waseem Ahmad Bhat, from Anantnag in South Kashmir, who secured All India Rank 7 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2022 was also present in the event. The education minister facilitated them with momentum. The parents of IAS Bharat Singh were present on his place and were honored by the education minister. While addressing the UPSC aspirants, Pradhan said, “One should always keep their catalyst alive to keep themselves going on as everyday is an exam in itself, and one has to pass each one in order to crack the civil service exam. Apart from that, the world is changing very fast with the evolution of AI and fast paced change in geopolitical scenarios and we have to keep up pace with it, in order to fulfill the dream of ‘Viksit Bharat’ till 2047.” Mentioning the recent Pahalgam attack in his address, he said, “When the darkness looms over the country after the incidents like the Pahalgam one, Bureaucrats like Waseem become the source of light in the society.”
Talking about the utility of the book for UPSC aspirants, Kant said, “As you will turn the pages of the book, you will find encouragement in the journeys of seven heroes and heroines and the book is a call to action for every UPSC aspirant to remind them that no dream is too big to achieve, if you have the courage to peruse.”
Yadav is a 1995 batch IAS officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories) Cadre. He is also the author of the national bestseller India’s Vaccine Growth Story: From Cowpox to Vaccine Maitri, which has been translated into 16 Indian languages as well as Spanish. He holds a Doctorate in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA, and an MBA from the University of Delhi.
Yadav has served in senior leadership roles in both the Government of India and various state governments, bringing over three decades of rich and diverse administrative experience.
He has been honored with multiple prestigious awards, including the National e-Governance Award (2017-18) and the President of India Medal for excellence in Census Operations.
