Rourkela: Six candidates who cracked the ‘Civil Services Examination 2023’ conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) have connections with Sundargarh district. They are either domiciles of the district or have been staying here to pursue their academic career. Four ex-students from NIT Rourkela have cracked the examination, while one candidate from Rajgangpur and another girl from this city have achieved the same feat. The four NITians, who have passed the examination are Animesh Pradhan, (All India Rank: 2nd), Padmanava Mishra, (AIR: 176), Biswajit Panda, (AIR: 343) and Anushka Sarkar, (AIR: 426).
Incidentally, Padmanava is a resident of Chhend Colony in this town. Padmanava visited the NIT campus Wednesday to meet the professors of the institution. NIT Rourkela director Professor K Umamaheswar Rao congratulated the ex-students for their brilliant show. “It is a matter of pride that four of our students have cracked the Civil Service Examination this time. It is indeed a very creditable achievement,” he said. Other than the four NIT Rourkela students, Ankit Agarwal of Rajgangpur has secured an AIR rank of 297. His father Kamal Agarwal is a businessman while mother Baby Agarwal is a homemaker. Ankit dedicated the success to his parents. “I have succeeded in the exams, but all the credit goes to my parents. Without their support, I wouldn’t have been able to crack this tough examination,” Ankit said. Priyanka Priyadarshini, (AIR: 423), is the daughter of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) senior executive NR Ray Chaudhury. Born and brought up here, Priyanka completed her Class X from Carmel School and Class XII from Delhi Public School, (Rourkela). Thereafter after she cleared the CLAT Examination and joined the Hidayatullah National Law University in Raipur. She passed her BA LLB (Hons) exams with 11 gold medals. Priyanka has been working as an assistant director at Sports Authority of India (SAI) since 2023.