UPSC results: ITS officer secures AIR 19 after three failed attempts and 454th rank last year

However, this achievement for Singh has come after three successive failed attempts (2014 to 2016) and a fourth attempt in 2017 when he secured 454th rank. Not stopping there, he went ahead for fifth attempt in 2018 to improve his ranking.

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Posted as an assistant director general of foreign trade under the department of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Singh speaking to The Indian Express said, “I failed to clear in first three attempts. In first attempt, I did not even clear the written exam. Then in next two, I reached till interview round but failed. In fourth attempt, I finally cleared it but rank was 454 on basis of which I got the ITS cadre. My job is not bad,, but my aim was to be an IAS or IFS officer. So I decided to give it a fifth try. In a way I just worked hard to promote myself further.”

Singh has also worked as an Assistant Commandant with Border Security Force (BSF) for two years and was posted at Bangladesh border.

After completing his bachelors in electronics and communication engineering from Thapar Institute and Technology (Patiala), he also worked with IT-giant IBM.

His father Malwinder Singh is a businessman dealing in cattle feed and mother Gurpreet Kaur is a school teacher in Doraha town.

His father said, “Since Class 12, he wanted to be an IAS officer and would say that he wants ‘lal batti waali gaddi’ (vehicle with red beacon). Three unsuccessful attempts failed to stop him and he just kept working on it. I thought he will be satisfied with rank 454 last year but he wasn’t. We are proud of him.”