IAS Anju Sharma, who failed in Class 10 and 12, cracked UPSC in first attempt at the age of 22

IAS Anju Sharma had failed in her pre-boards in chemistry in Class 10 and also in a few subjects in Class 12.
However, today, she is the Principal Secretary to Government Education Department (Higher & Technical Education), Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, Gujarat due to her hard work, perseverance, and patience.

With her grit and determination, she turned her failure into one of her biggest achievements and went on to crack UPSC in her first attempt only at the age of 22.

Today, we will talk about the inspiring journey of Anju Sharma from being a school failure to an IAS officer. 

According to DNA India, the two incidents of failure in Class 10 and Class 12 shaped Anju’s future.

She was quoted as saying “During my pre-boards, I had so many chapters to cover and it was almost post-dinner when I started panicking because I was unprepared and I knew I was going to fail. Everyone around me stressed the fact that how the performance of Class 10 grade is crucial as it determines our higher studies.”

All this while, she learnt the lesson that one shouldn’t depend on last-minute studies. So, she made sure to prepare for college exams in advance which helped her become a gold medalist in her college. She completed her BSc and then did her MBA before finally cracking UPSC, India’s toughest exam.

Anju started her career as Assistant Collector and is currently the Principal Secretary. Anju credits her mother for standing by her during difficult times and motivating her.