Ambitious people never give up on dreams, come what may. In a competitive world, where people sweat it out to give absolutely everything to crack the exam, only very few have touched the pinnacle of success. Ever heard the story of how a visually impaired girl went on to crack IAS exam in the first attempt?
There is nothing that can stop a woman from touching the pinnacle of success. Pranjal Patil who hails from Ulhasnagar has done something remarkable which others can only dream of. She cracked the civil services exam in her first attempt in 2016 with an All India rank of 773. It is not easy to crack Union Public Service Commission exam but Pranjal Patil made it look so.
She lost her vision in one eye at the age of six when a student in her class stabbed a pencil into it. In the next year, she lost her vision completely. However, the disability didn’t stop her dreaming big in life. Her attitude was so strong that she never came up with excuses as she still prepared with grit and determination to clear IAS exam.
She developed a habit of reading through her fingers to grasp knowledge. The fact that she came across software that would help her to listen to word by word and make things simpler. From what we can come to a point is that she had the patience when she went about her business. Ever since her childhood, she was very specific about choosing her career.
When asked about how she cracked the exam, She told about how she got into the scheme of preparations. Having developed the art of reading, she said she loves to read and the syllabus excites her to the core. She stood by her own leg to accomplish the goal.
“I love to read and the entire process of academics excites me. I studied on my own and took test series from ALS academy in Delhi,” Patil told the DNA about her exam preparation.
“There were times when I was marred by doubts and disbelief regarding my ambition that. I think that when you have doubts, then only you get motivated,” she added.
For her credit, she got the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) according to the rank, she secured 773rd after clearing the exam, but the Railway Services department didn’t offer her a job because of the reason that she was completely blind. The Railways who have their own set of rules claimed that someone who is visually challenged is ineligible for the job.
According to a story published in DNA, a letter dated November 8, 2016, the Railways informed the DoPT that Pranjal in not eligible for the job.”Only partially blind (PB) candidates under visually impaired (VI) category are recruited to IRAS. Therefore, it is not feasible to accept the candidature of Patil Pranjal Lahensingh for IRAS,” reads the letter.
Pranjal who pursued PhD from JNU, in an interview said, “In July, I got a letter from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) that I have been allotted a job in the IRAS, and that the training would begin in December 2016. But when I didn’t receive any communication from either DoPT or Railways, I contacted them. I was told verbally that they cannot appoint a person with 100 percent blindness.”
“DoPT knows that people with 100% blindness cannot get a job in IRAS. Patil’s file should not have come to us in the first place. However, when Patil’s dossier came to us, we returned it to DoPT. The department should have communicated this to Patil,” the official was quoted in DNA.
“I was disgusted, sad, hurt, angry, and all at the same time. Like others, I had also cleared the UPSC exams. But why do I have to face this situation,” she was quoted in DNA.
However, she replied back in style in her next preparation where she secured an AIR of 124 and cracked IAS exam. She proved the naysayers wrong. “All my life I have been trying to prove people wrong and working against differential treatment that society tends to give to the people with disabilities. I would want to carry on this fight until the last day of my life,” said Pranjal.
“Success doesn’t give inspiration; the struggle behind success gives you the inspiration. But success is important because only then people will be interested to know your struggle. The attitude and the approach to do something matters and each individual can become a building block for a beautiful society,” she told in an interview with ABP Majha.
