Following his graduation in Computer Science and Engineering, Kanishak Kataria worked as a software engineer at Samsung Electronics in South Korea and later as a Bengaluru-based data scientist. He left his corporate career in 2017 to prepare full-time, motivated by the examples set by his father and uncle, who both served as IAS officers. He secured the top rank in the 2018 examination with Mathematics as his optional subject, scoring a total of 1,121 marks. After the results, Kataria drew significant public attention for openly thanking his girlfriend alongside his family for their moral support.
Key points
Transitioning away from high-paying corporate technology roles can pave the way to top ho…: Transitioning away from high-paying corporate technology roles can pave the way to top honors in civil administration.
Deep-rooted familial examples in public service played a pivotal role in Kataria's decisi…: Deep-rooted familial examples in public service played a pivotal role in Kataria's decision to pursue the civil services.
Kataria openly credited his girlfriend alongside his family, prompting public praise as w…: Kataria openly credited his girlfriend alongside his family, prompting public praise as well as calls to focus primarily on his hard work.
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For many UPSC aspirants, securing a well-paying job after graduating from a prestigious institution is a significant achievement. But Kanishak Kataria chose a different path. After completing his BTech in Computer Science and Engineering from
IIT Bombay and securing a job in South Korea with an annual package of around ₹1 crore, he returned to India to prepare for the civil services examination. In 2019, he secured All India Rank 1 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2018.
However, when he spoke about his result, it was not just his academic journey or decision to leave a lucrative job that caught people's attention. Kataria openly thanked his girlfriend, along with his parents and sister, for their help and moral support. His acknowledgement became a talking point because it was unusual for a UPSC topper to publicly credit a romantic partner in a success speech.
The Union Public Service Commission announced Kataria as the topper on April 5, 2019. Speaking to ANI, he said, "It's a very surprising moment. I never expected to get the 1st rank.
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