Chennai’s Beno Zephine To Mumbai’s Pranjal Patil, Visually Impaired Candidates Who Cracked UPSC

It is said that where there is a will there’s a way and if you are determined for your dreams, then nothing can stop you. A similar thing happened with some meritorious UPSC aspirants who despite losing their vision, managed to succeed in their lives by cracking the civil services exam. Let us know more about them.

Pranjal Patil

Despite being visually impaired, Pranjal Patil accomplished what many people would consider impossible. Pranjal, 26, cracked the UPSC examination with a 124 rank on her second attempt in 2017. Due to an incident at school, the 6-year-old girl from Ulhasnagar, Mumbai lost her sight back then. She was not discouraged and continued to excel in both school and college. She had decided to become an IAS during his graduation. Pranjal holds an M.Phil degree as well. She used JAWS (Job Access With Speech) software to read the computer screen.

Beno Zephine

Indian diplomat Beno Zephine was the first applicant who was accepted into the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 2005. As per reports, she is the first 100% visually impaired IAS Officer. She is a resident of Chennai. She passed the civil services exams when she was 25 years old. In her first attempt, Beno got through the Prelims but was not successful in Mains. Finally, she secured an All India Rank 343 in 2013. She had a Doctorate in English Literature by that time. She was also employed at the State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer. Beno attributed her success to her parents and teachers. She made use of JAWS (Job Access with Speech) software as well.

Ajit Kumar Yadav

A childhood illness caused Ajit Kumar Yadav to lose his vision. But it did not break his will. In 2008, Ajit secured an All India Rank of 208 in the UPSC examination. But even after passing the civil services exam, he had trouble getting into the Job. He was hoping to get an IAS post, but instead, he was offered a place in the Indian Railway Personnel Service. Ajit then took the matter to court. Even after the decision by the Central Administrative Tribunal in 2010, he did not get the post. Later with the intervention of the National Forum for the Rights of the Disabled and politician Brinda Karat, Yadav finally got the IAS designation.

Ayushi Jain

This visually impaired teacher cracked the UPSC examination in her fifth attempt to secure AIR 48 in 2021. Sharing about her journey to success, she said that she was working throughout the past five years while preparing for the civil services exam. She could not enrol in a coaching centre because she never had the time. Hailing from Rani Kheda, Delhi, she received her Bachelor’s from Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, DU. Further, she completed her post-graduate degree in History at the Indira Gandhi National Open University followed by a Bachelor of Education degree from Jamia Millia Islamia. Ayushi started working in a school in 2012. Further, she topped the DSSSB exam for the post of lecturer in 2019 which gave her a chance to work at Government Girls Senior Secondary School in Mubarakpur Dabas, Delhi.

Poorna Sunthari

A resident of Madurai, Karnataka, Poorna Sunthari was not visually impaired by birth. An unfortunate incident happened to her when she was aged 5. She was diagnosed with a rare retinal degenerative disease, after which her vision started degrading. When a physician suggested surgery, it didn’t go successful resulting in complete loss of vision for her. But this incident did not stop her from achieving what she wanted. Poorna cracked the UPSC in 2019, in her 4th attempt. She secured an All India Rank of 286.