Thiruvanananthapuram: Sreedhanya Suresh, a tribal girl from Pozhuthana in Wayanad, has achieved a rare feat. She has passed the civil services examination securing the 410th rank, the highest scored by an adivasi student from the state.
Thrissur native Sreelakshmy Ram secured the 29th rank, the highest for Malayalis in the civil services examinations, the results of which were announced on Friday. The other top winning Keralites are Ranjana Varghese, ranked 49, and Arjun Mohan from Payyanur, Kannur, who secured the 66th rank.
Sreedhanya had her schooling in government and aided Malayalam medium schools in Wayanad up to Plus-Two and did her graduation from St Joseph’s College, Devagiri, Kozhikode. She completed her post-graduation in applied zoology from Calicut University.
Sreedhanya told DC over phone that she was confident after the interview and that she was thrilled over the success. She had prepared for the civil services in an academy in Thiruvananthapuram.
Suresh and Kamala, parents of Sreedhanya Suresh at their partially completed home at Wayanad. Brother Sreerag is also seen. — Manu Damodar
Sreedhanya’s parents, Suresh and Kamala, daily labourers of Kurichia tribe, live in their partially completed small house at Ambalakkolly tribal settlement of Idiyamvayal near Vythiri, Wayanad, They were preparing for their simple supper after the day’s work when they received the news of their daughter’s victory.
Later, relatives, friends and media joined them to share their joy. “It was her choice and she used to tell us things,” said Suresh while distributing sweets to visitors. “I have been toiling to meet the educational expenses of my children,” he said and added that the years’ of hardships had yielded results.
A landless tribal, Suresh had to encroach on the vested forest to get a piece of land years ago as part of the tribal land agitations that rocked Wayanad. “Though we started constructing a small home, it is yet to be finished,” he said shedding tears of joy.
Sreedhanya has an elder sister Sushitha and younger brother Sreerag.
TOPPER: Kanishak Kataria, an alumnus of IIT Bombay, topped the list. Srushti Jayant Deshmukh, topper among women candidates, secured the fifth rank. The top 25 candidates comprised 15 men and 10 women.
As many as 759 candidates, 577 men and 182 women, have been recommended for appointment to the Indian Administrative Services and Indian Police Services, according to a press release issued by the UPSC.
