From a small town girl to an IAS officer: How Mamta Yadav defied the odds to achieve her dreams

With unwavering dedication and perseverance, anyone can accomplish their aspirations by committing themselves to the task. A compelling illustration of this is the remarkable journey of IAS officer Mamta Yadav, who surmounted numerous challenges to successfully conquer one of the toughest exams in India- UPSC.

Yadav hails from Basai, a small village in Haryana. Her father worked in a company, and her mother was a housewife. Since their financial situation wasn't good, she was set to turn it around and left no stone unturned in doing so. Yadav, who has been good in studies, completed her 12th standard from Balwant Rai Mehta School in Greater Kailash, Delhi, and later secured a seat at Hindu College of Delhi University, reported Nav Bharat Times. (Also Read: Starting your UPSC journey? 9 pro tips for beginners that will help in your preparation)

The outlet further informed that once Yadav graduated from college in 2015, she got placed in a job; however, she opted out to study for the UPSC exam. From there, she dedicated all her time and energy to studying various subjects in depth. After studying and learning continuously for four years, Yadav sat for the exam in 2019 and secured 556th rank. While this rank would have got her placed in the Railways, she was not satisfied and decided to reappear for UPSC.

This time, she increased her studying hours and took the exam again in 2020. When the results were out, Yadav was shocked to find that she was ranked 5th in the list. (Also Read: UPSC aspirants say they study for 18+ hours a day, wake up at 2:40 am. IAS officer says ‘misleading’ vlogs)

During an interview, Mamta said, "I was expecting that my rank would improve, but I got the 5th rank; this is really a very surprising thing. There is no goal that you cannot achieve. You only need to work hard in the right direction to achieve that goal," reported Zee News.