Aditya Srivastava, a 26-year-old Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur alumnus from Lucknow, has topped the 2023 Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination held annually for top government positions such as Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Foreign Services (IFS), and Indian Police Services (IPS).

His family said Srivastava worked with a private company in Bengaluru before taking the UPSC exam unsuccessfully for the first time. Srivastava appeared for one of the country’s toughest exams for a second time last year and was ranked 136th. He opted for IPS and has been undergoing training in Hyderabad.

“Aditya called us over the phone from Hyderabad to share the news. We were all very confident that he would do well this year. But we never expected him to be the topper. This is like the icing on the cake. It is a proud moment for the family,” said his father Ajay Kumar Srivastava. “After having worked for a year and a half [with the Bengaluru firm], he made up his mind to appear for the civil services exam.”

He added Aditya Srivastava quit his lucrative job to seriously prepare for his second attempt in 2022 and cleared it. “He always wanted to become an IAS officer. Aditya…told us [last year] that he is writing UPSC [exam] for the last time. We are proud that his dream has come true. Both my wife and I supported him in taking the tough call of quitting the job,” said the father.

Last year, women candidates secured the top four spots in the UPSC examinations for the second straight year. Ishita Kishore, an economics graduate from Delhi University (DU)’s Sri Ram College of Commerce, topped the exam last year. Garima Lohia, a commerce graduate from DU’s Kirorimal College, and Uma Harathi, an engineering graduate from IIT Hyderabad, secured the second and third positions.