19 from Gujarat clear UPSC Civil Service test, highest so far, 3 in top 100

Ahmedabad

It was time for jubilation at the Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) today, as it clinched the title of doling out the highest number of successful UPSC candidates so far from the state of Gujarat trained at its own SPIPA IAS Study Centre. A total of 19 successful candidates made their mark on the national horizon.

For the year under consideration (2014), of the 11,274 applications received, SPIPA selected 340 trainees. Of them, 115 cracked the prelims. Then on, 61 went through to take the mains examination and finally 19 turned up winners.

Among them again, three have made it among the top-100 ranks nationally. They are Dr. Anil Dhameliya (BHMS), rank 23, with geography as his mains optional subject. He was followed by Shri Mihir Patel, rank 27, with philosophy as his optional mains and Shri Rajendra Kumar Patel, rank 70, who had Gujarati Literature as his mains optional subject.

Gujarat as a state becomes more prominent in the process. In the 2013 edition of UPSC, sixteen students tasted success and there were twelve successful candidates in 2012. The total number of candidates making their way into the final selection list in the last five years since 2010 are sixty seven.

SPIPA is an autonomous apex training institute for the state of Gujarat that hones and develops human capital and specializes in training in domains like public administration, local self government and rural development.

The institute attributed the success to an upgraded faculty that made it happen along with an array of experts from New Delhi and Mumbai made available to the students in due course for ample guidance. SPIPA meanwhile has also beefed up its training procedure, making it more intensive and quality- backed with a slew of mock tests planned accordingly.

Recordings of mock interviews were done followed by an intensive weekly feedback on the same leaving a lot of room for improvement before the grand finale.

“Our efforts have paid off well and we feel proud of our students. SPIPA put in the right efforts at an opportune moment. Key among them was keeping the study centre available and open 24×7. The hostel accommodation and food were well taken care of. An intensive, eight month training groomed the students well to make an approach with confidence and belief. This is the highest turnout so far, from our institute and Gujarat,” said Mr Vipul Mittra (IAS), Director General, SPIPA.