An IIT Bombay pass out of the 2014 batch, Kanishak Kataria studied B.Tech in computer science and engineering and joined Samsung in South Korea till 2017.
On his return to Bengaluru and by 2018, he started working towards attempting the UPSC exam, which he topped with flying colours.
Since then, all the IAS aspirants have been curious about Kanishak Kataria’s preparation strategy.
IAS Officer
Passing a UPSC or IAS (Civil Services) exam is important in India, and those who clear them are held in high esteem. They are important due to the government job packages and the power attached to it.
An IAS officer is responsible for several tasks such as revenue administration, maintenance of law and order, along with general administration of the area under him or her.
Additionally, an IAS officer can also look into revenue collection and court functions regarding revenue matters.
IAS salary packages fall into the range of INR 1.8 lacs to 2.5 lacs between various Pay Commissions depending upon the officer’s age.
This power package is the sole purpose why lots of young people leave lucrative jobs with a desire to attempt the UPSC or IAS exam and have their chance at a government job.
These young aspirants want to follow the strategy, score excellent marks, and achieve their dream of becoming an IAS officer.
Kanishak Kataria Strategy
The Kanishak Kataria strategy for IAS wants the aspirants to follow these simple rules to crack the UPSC or IAS –
- Have internal motivation
- Focus on the preparation
- Avoid any distractions
- Study effectively with full concentration
- Self-study is the key to better conceptual understanding
- Make one’s own strategy
- Solving previous years papers
- Preparing your own notes
- Learning time management
- Having an integrated approach towards studying all subjects
- Continuous revision
- Balanced approach towards IAS syllabus
- Keeping oneself updated through social media usage and reading blogs of IAS toppers
- Read a lot of reference books in his ancient history by R. S. Sharma
- Read reference books on the history of medieval India by Satish Chandra
- Choose the optional subject carefully
UPSC Attempts
Kanishak Kataria, with this strategy, in his very first attempt, cracked one of the toughest exams in the country.
Many people will also find it inspiring to know that Kanishak Kataria left a highly lucrative job, known to fetch him INR 1 Cr. as a salary is a part of a renowned multinational company abroad.
It is highly motivating to see that he returned to India as he wanted to be a part of the country’s growth story. His success mantra is ‘hard work and stay positive’ to achieve your dreams.
Also Read : IAS Namrata Jain: Journey of a First Woman Naxalite to Becoming an IAS Officer
Kanishak Kataria Marks in UPSC
One often wonders as to what a mark sheet of an IAS topper would look like. Many of the young aspirants looking forward to attempting the UPSC or IAS examination would like to know Kanishak Kataria’s marks in India’s most challenging exam.
They would like to have a peek in the Kanishak Kataria marksheet, so here it is.
UPSC Topper’s Marksheet
| Subject | Marks |
| GS I | 98 |
| GS II | 117 |
| GS III | 117 |
| GS IV | 116 |
| Essay | 133 |
| Optional I (Mathematics) | 170 |
| Optional II (Mathematics) | 191 |
| Personality Test | 179 |
| Total | 1121 |
At 26 years of age, Kanishak Kataria has achieved the highest merit of all times in India’s UPSC exam by being its topper.
His social media handle of Instagram by kanishak_kataria is full of success stories, pictures, videos, and congratulation messages from all over India.
Kanishak Kataria Notes
The notes of the toppers are very insightful and are often extremely helpful. While preparing for the UPSC, Kanishak Kataria had made many notes for which he has provided links to his Google Drive and Dropbox on the internet.
Kanishak Kataria AIR 1 started sharing his strategy, sources, and PDF notes via a telegram channel. The notes contain his class notes, some test series trivia, online and offline information, etc.
So, the notes will be beneficial to the young aspirants of UPSC or IAS exams.
Kanishak Kataria Booklist
Kanishak Kataria used to refer to many of the reference books. Here is a book list of those reference books.
The books list is as follows –
- Ancient History by R.S. Sharma
- History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra
- A brief history of Modern India – Spectrum
- World and Post-Independence – Vision Material
- Geography -NCERT Text Books – 11th and 12th
- Certificate of the Physical and Human Geography – G C Leong
- Society
- NCERT Text Book – XIIth
- Vision Material
- Indian Polity – Laxmikanth
- Lukmaan IAS notes
- Vision 365 notes
- Governance
- Lukmaan IAS classroom notes
- Reverse Learning from Test Series Questions
- International Relations
- Vision Mains 365 Material
- Economy – 12th Class NCERT – Macro Economics
- Vision IAS classroom notes
- Vision Mains 365 Material
- Agriculture
- Internal Security by Ashok Kumar IPS
- Vision Mains 365 Material
- Environment – 12th NCERT Biology – last four chapters about Ecology
- Mrunal videos
- Vision classroom notes
- Vision Mains 365 Material
- Disaster Management
- ARC summary
- Reverse Learning from test series for various disasters
- Ethics Paper
- Lexicon for Ethics
- Insights 70-day program for Ethics Answer Writing
- Lukmaan 100 case studies Classroom
Kanishak Kataria Optional Subject Choice
Kanishak Kataria insists on a careful and cautious selection of the optional subject. Kataria opted for mathematics as his optional subject due to his genuine liking for the subject.
He devoted more time to his optional since it has a vast syllabus. He spent around 13 to 14 hours to studying mathematics every day.
Kanishak Kataria’s dedication and determination were such that he completely evaded social media presence. He only focused on the exam and its preparation, not giving much thought to the results.
Kanishak Kataria Posting
Kanishak Kataria has got a posting in his home state of Rajasthan in Jaipur. After securing the first rank and fulfilling his dream of becoming an IAS officer, Kanishak Kataria, now in his new capacity, wants to work for the country’s growth and betterment.
Conclusion
With over 15000+ trained and satisfied students for UPSC Exam with many selections, UPSC Pathshala’s personal mentors are experts of UPSC with years of experience.
A personal mentor to prepare you for UPSC is the best way to ensure continual improvement. They not only help to improve in weak areas but also resolve doubts and keep track of progress.
Join now for a free demo class and familiarise yourself with the teaching methodology of UPSC Pathshala.
Also Read : IAS Anupama Anjali Biography: Know Anupama’s UPSC Rank and Strategy
