- Education: B.Sc (Physics), MBA (IMT)
- Work Experience: 9 years in a private insurance company
- Home Town: Sonipat (Haryana)
- Rank: 2
- Optional Subject: Sociology
- State Cadre Alotted: Kerala
- Brand Ambassador: Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign Haryana.
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Kumari Dahiya ranked second in the UPSC examinations in 2017 and was the topper among women. Anu comes from the rural area of Sonipat in Haryana. She dreamt of becoming an IAS officer, and started preparing in earnest for the UPSC civil services examination ten years after completing her graduation. She started her career with a private life insurance company, where she worked for nine years. In 2016, Anu quit her job to prepare for the exam.
Anu got her fabulous result in her second attempt, when she was 31; she fell short by a few marks from qualifying in her preliminary examination in 2016. Mother of a four-year-old son, not only had she to shoulder all the responsibilities that come with being a mother and a housewife, but all that work could not keep her from 8-10 hours of intense preparation every day. Her husband Varun Dahiya is a small businessman.
Far from enrolling in expensive coaching institutes that push concentrated cramming down the throat of aspirants, Anu depended solely on content available online for the UPSC exam preparation. “There was no newspaper in the village where I was preparing for my exams. A strong will is necessary to achieve something in life and if you are able to do that, nothing can stop you from being successful,” she says. But then, behind her going it alone was the confidence she drew from being a bright student all along: for her graduation, Anu took a degree in Physics from Delhi University; an MBA diploma in finance and marketing from IMT Nagpur followed.
The 33-year old IAS officer of the 2018 batch won the best trainee award at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, and the President of India gold medal and certificate is a treasured possession. Anu says that the two-year training at the LBSNAA is a reward for the enormous amount of hard work she put in, and for the support that she got from her family, especially from her 7-year-old son, Riyan. By next month, she is likely to join her field duty in Kerala, the state cadre allotted to her.
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