Bihar Man Could Not Take IIT Entrance Due to Fund Crunch, Years Later Son Tops Civil Services

UPSC Topper Shubham Kumar got the fruit of not only his hard work and sleepless nights but also from the generational hard work. While we know about the struggles of the UPSC civil services topper, his father Devanand Singh has also been a bright student, however, he could not achieve his dreams due to a fund crunch.

Hailing from Bihar’s Katihar, Devanand Singh was good at studies and wanted to clear the IIT entrance exam in 1983. But in an unfortunate turn of events, Devanand’s father, who was a teacher, passed away. Devanand had even filled the IIT form, however, he required Rs 500 to give the exam which he could not afford at that time.

In a conversation with Hindustan Live Shubham’s father, who is a manager of North Bihar Gramin Bank, was in tears as he mentioned how his son has fulfilled his long pending dream.

Pouring out his heart, Devanand revealed that he along with his one friend, who also had the same financial crunch, cried all night. Now, his son has fulfilled his long pending dream.

Now, after obtaining rank 1 in UPSC civil services,



Shubham wishes to stay in Bihar and focus on the state’s development. He wants to work for the underprivileged in rural areas. Shubham’s early education took place in his village Kumhari and later he enrolled in Vidya Vihar school at Parora in Purnia district to study from class 6 to 10. He pursued classes 11 and 12 from Chinmayanand, Bokaro.

The UPSC topper holds a BTech from Civil Engineering from IIT Bombay, which he completed in the year 2018. Ahead of the training that will commence in November, the young lad will be honoured in the auditorium of the Bihar Legislative Council. It is indeed a proud moment for the state, especially for his family.

Shubham too had to overcome a lot to crack the exam. His mother Poonam Devi informed that the boy was just six years old when he was admitted to a residential school in Patna. She shared that it was painful for her to leave the child all by himself. “I used to cry all night But since childhood, he wanted to do something big,” she added.

Shubham had earlier attempted the UPSC examination in 2018 but the result was not in his favour.