Meghna Chakravorty, a student of Modern High School, ranked 79th in the Civil Services Exam 2024. She scored 215 marks in the interview, which was the second highest in the country, just one mark less than the top score of 216.
At a state event honoring this year’s successful civil service candidates, Meghna said, “Now that I’m moving from a time of struggle and uncertainty to success, I wonder if we should ever forget the hard work it took to get here.” Meghna and four others trained at the state-run Satyendra Nath Tagore Civil Services Study Centre (SNTCSSC).
In total, 10 people from Bengal passed the exam this year.
This was Meghna’s second time taking the exam. “Last time, I didn’t make it to the interview stage,” she said. Meghna studied at St Stephen’s College and completed her post-graduation at JNU.
Urmi Sinha, who got 170th rank in her first attempt, shared her childhood dream of becoming an IAS officer. She became emotional when she saw her mother, Poonam, crying in the audience. “Mamma, don’t cry…” she said softly and couldn’t continue.
Archana Malakar, mother of Paramita Malakar who ranked 477th, thanked the study centre. Paramita could not attend the event as she is away for training. Rajdeep Ghosh, who ranked 789th, said he will try again next year. He said with determination, “I will be here taking the exam again next year.”
The candidates also thanked Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri, a veteran civil service trainer and academic advisor of SNTCSSC. Pal Chaudhuri spoke about Ashok Khemka, an IIT Kharagpur graduate from Kolkata, known for his long and dedicated career. He said, “Instead of asking what went wrong, we should ask what went right,” and laughed.
Manoj Pant, the state chief secretary, encouraged the candidates by sharing his own journey. He said, “Keep working hard and don’t forget that you are here to serve the people of India with honesty.”
Other candidates honored at the event were Sahars Kumar (153), Praveen Kumar (837), Yash Kumar (227), Prativa Lama (461), Zojila Dolkar Bhutia (765), and Rishita Das (840).
Surajit Kar Purkayastha, chairperson of SNTCSSC, said, “Our 2024 batch did very well — 54 cleared the prelims, 17 reached the interview stage, and 5 made it to the final list.”
