Civil service aspirants from rural Kolhapur & Satara shine

KOLHAPUR: Aspirants from the rural areas of the Kolhapur and Satara districts have done very well in the civil services exam conducted by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC), the results for which were declared on Monday.
Swapnil Mane, an engineering graduate from the Sidhnerli village of Kagal tehsil in Kolhapur, cracked the exam in his third attempt this time and bagged the 578th rank.The 25-year- old had lost his mother when he was nine years, and in 2018, his father also passed away. He only had his two sisters remaining in his immediate family. “I have a thousand reasons or explanations to give, had I failed this exam. However, I have only one reason for success — determination. In 2018, I decided to prepare for the exam. That was the year I lost my father. There was stress, but it was secondary to the aim I had set for myself,” Mane told TOI.
Omkar Pawar, from a small village in Satara district, improved his rank from an earlier 455 to this year’s 194. Currently serving as an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Pawar expects Indian Administrative Service (IAS) berth this time. Over the past two years, he had studied in his small village. “There is no need to go to Delhi to crack the exam. One must be dedicated and stick to the timetable. I think civil services is just a career option. It is not your whole life,” said Pawar, who too is an engineering graduate. He had done his entire schooling in Marathi medium.
Ashish Patil, from Shahuwadi tehsil of Kolhapur district, bagged the 563rd rank in the exam.