Tanveer Ahmad Khan of J-K secures second rank in IES exam

Kulgam: Bringing laurels to Kashmir valley, a 26-year-old Tanveer Ahmad Khan of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district has qualified the Indian Economic Service (IES) exams and secured the second rank at All India level. Tanveer is the first one from the valley to qualify for the exam.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on July 30 released the results of the Indian Economic Service (IES) and Indian Statistical Service Examination (ISS) 2020.

Tanveer Ahmad Khan, a resident of the Negeenpora Kund area of Kulgam, did his schooling from a local government school and later went to the Government Degree College Boys at Anantnag for his graduation in Arts. He also completed his Master’s in Economics from Kashmir University in 2018. Later, Khan went to Kolkata for M. Phil in Development Studies and was preparing for IES alongside.

Tanveer informed that his father worked as agricultural labour, and was a seasonal rickshaw puller. “It was his punctuality that always inspired me. I have always lived in a joint family, so there are several people I would attribute my success to. My maternal uncle has been both a financial and emotional help to me and my family. So I am really thankful to him,” he said.

Khan also credits his success to his maternal uncle, Ghulam Nabi Rather, a teacher by profession, for facing every hardship to ensure quality education for him. “My teachers have played a great role in my life ever since class 11. I went to Kolkata to study to get exposure. I wanted to crack the exam since my masters but I never had the time to prepare,” he added.

Talking about the IES exam, Khan said, “During the lockdown, I got ample time to study and to crack it. The exam is not an easy one since the number of seats is limited, and with my kind of limited exposure, it is even harder.”

“It is a risky call to give complete focus to the exam, but the lockdown definitely gave me the required time to focus on the exam wholly,” he added.

Further, when asked how confident he was of being clearing the exam, Khan said, “I was confident about the exam, but factors like the limited seats, and the fact that I come from a place where no one has passed this exam before, I had my apprehensions.”

His success has brought happiness to the entire village and people from other villages are also visiting his home to congratulate him.

Ghulam Nabi, Tanveer’s uncle said, “I was praying when I got the news. I was overwhelmed by the good news. The news has not only made our family happy but has also being a source of happiness for the entire village. Tanveer’s father, a rickshaw puller himself, played a great role in helping me become a teacher and I attribute whatever I am today to him. It is Tanveer’s own hard work that paid off. My contribution to it is very little, and whatever little I could do, he has paid with this achievement.”

A local teacher of the village, said, “We are so happy that we cannot even express it in words. He is very hardworking and diligent. He is a gold medalist in post-graduation. I have tried to guide him in whatever way I could, but the contribution of his uncle could not be matched.”

Ghulam Hassan Rather, maternal grandfather of Tanveer said, “I wish every house gets a son like him to light up their homes. Tanveer’s father worked 24 hours for him, and Tanveer himself worked day and night to achieve it.”