He is a poor farmer’s son from a remote village in Andhra Pradesh. But with his grit to defy all odds, he has got the third rank at all-India level, in the Union Public Service Commission’s civil services 2016 examination. 30-year-old Gopala Krishna Ronanki’s parents, Ronanki Appa Rao and Rukminamma do agricultural labour in the fields, and they didn’t use to have electricity at home or enough money to send their ward to a private school. The family lives in Parasamba village of Palasa block in Srikakulam district.
Somehow, he managed to get admission in a government school and did his 10+2 with Maths, Physics and Chemistry at the Government Junior College, Palasa. After that Ronanki did a two-year teachers’ training course at Dubacharla in West Godavari district and was selected as a government teacher in 2006. In his own words, “Getting a job was my priority as I had to earn my own livelihood.” Ronanki has been working as a teacher in a primary school for the last 11 years. While teaching, Ronanki did his B. Sc. privately from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. However, He wasn’t content with this, as he always dreamt of becoming an IAS officer. Now when his dream has been fulfilled he is elated. A joyous Ronanki says, “I had been preparing for it for almost a decade. Finally, I could achieve my goal in my fourth attempt.”
In his journey of becoming an IAS officer, he had another hurdle to cross. As he had studied till 10+2 in the Telugu medium, Ronanki had also selected Telugu literature as his optional subject in the Mains Exam. But as they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way. He was allowed by the UPSC to appear for the personality test in Telugu, which was a great relief for him. In his own words, “With the help of the Telugu interpreter, I could face the interview boldly.”
Ronanki has clearly stated that he owes his success to his parents, who have done a lot of hard work and struggle to bring him up. He also said, that they didn’t knew anything about his dream and efforts. “We didn’t even have electricity at home till I completed my Intermediate. All that my parents knew was that I was a teacher. I broke the news today to them that I had been selected to the IAS and would soon become a collector” said Ronanki.
His achievement is being acknowledged in various quarters. Director of the Brain Tree India coaching institute in Hyderabad, Dr Gopalakrishna has praised Ronanki, saying that the third ranker was a brilliant candidate from the most backward area of Andhra Pradesh, who used to appear for mock interview sessions at his coaching centre and was very bright. It’s pleasant and inspirational, to see and hear about the success stories of people like Ronanki, is all what we can say.
