IAS Ananya Singh Biography: An Inspiring Journey to Learn From

UPSC CSE is one of the most prestigious examinations in India. It is a dream for many.

Exams are conducted every year and several candidates try their luck. Those who pass this hurdle get to work for India. They can choose either IAS, IPS or IFS.

They become the motivation for several other aspirants. Here is a story of one such Candidate who cleared UPSC in her very first attempt. Read the article till the end to find out the biography of IAS Ananya Singh.

Ananya Singh Biography

Ananya Singh Cleared UPSC in her first attempt in 2019 at the age of 22. Ananya Singh IAS secured an All India Rank of 51 UPSC 2019. Her current posting is in West Bengal as an IAS officer.

Want to know more? Let us find out more about Ananya Singh IAS and her inspiring journey for UPSC.

Background

Ananya Singh’s hometown is Prayagraj (Allahabad). She completed her Basic Academic from there.

She did her high school and Intermediate from St. Mary’s Convent (SMC). Afterwards, she went to Delhi as a fresh graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi.

Her father is a former District Judge and her mother Anjali Singh is a Senior Lecturer at IERT. She also has an older brother. Aishwarya Pratap Singh stays at Kanpur and is posted as chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kanpur, with his wife Jyotsna. Jyotsna is also a magistrate at Kanpur.

IAS was Ananya’s Childhood Dream

According to her family, she always wanted to become an IAS officer. Though her actual preparation started in her Graduation’s final year.

Initially, she devoted seven to eight hours to studying. But when the time they were words said she devoted six hours.

Good Student from Start

Ananya Singh was a brilliant student from the beginning. Her academics score were good. She was a District topper in her 10th and 12th. She secured 96% in her High School ( ICSE 2013) and 98.25% in her Intermediate (ISC 2015)

Miraculous Success

Clearing UPSC was no less than a miraculous success for Ananya. During an interview with the Delhi Knowledge Track, She accepted that she didn’t expect to clear UPSC.

After giving her Mains she wasn’t very satisfied and firmly believed that she would not pass this. Therefore she started preparing for writing answers after giving her Mains.

But by God grace and her hard work, there was no need for a second attempt. She cleared UPSC in her first attempt. Moreover, she secured 51 ranks all over India.

Feeling motivated? Let us find out about Ananya’s preparation strategy.

Also Read: UPSC Prelims Preparation Strategy: How to Prepare for UPSC Prelims?

Preparation Strategy

Ananya started her full-fledged preparation in 2017 in her final year of Graduation.

Initially, she devoted 7-8 hours to study. But once everything was set she studied seriously for 6 hours per day.

Let us look at her strategies for each stage of UPSC.

UPSC Preliminary Examination

Ananya started her Preliminary preparation 3 months after the exam. During this time her focus was on mock tests and Current Affairs.

Current Affairs

According to Ananya, one of the important aspects of Prelims exams is Current Affairs. Therefore she emphasized reading Newspaper to stay updated with every news. Make notes while you read.

She revealed in an interview that she used to read newspapers carefully. She focused on the main issues rather than every political news of the world.

Mock Test

Ananya emphasized solving Previous year papers and taking Mock Tests. According to her, this is an integral part of her preparation.

This helps the candidate to assess their strength and weakness. This will help them to work on their weakness. Moreover, they will get used to the pattern. Their speed will also increase which will be beneficial for solving questions during the paper.

Mains

According to IAS Ananya, writing answers is very important for the mains examination.

Start by solving previous year questions, think of the answers and write them. Then compare your answers with the topper’s answer.

Check out what you missed and how you can improve it.

This process can help you to frame perfect answers for mains.

Tips from IAS Ananya Singh for Mains Answer Writing

# First write down the main points of your Answer.

# Then have an intro main body conclusion.

# Use diagrams, flowcharts etcetera wherever required.

# Try to attempt the maximum number of questions.

# Read the questions carefully.

# Always be neutral and give facts rather than your own opinion. Use facts and figures.

# Make sure your answer is neat and readable.

Economics Optional

Ananya opted for Economics as her optional subject for UPSC Mains. Here are some tips and preparation strategies that are used.

According to Anaya, you should opt for Economics as optional if you are doing graduation from Economics, as their syllabus syncs with each other.

But you should understand the difference between them. For graduation, you have to write quantitative answers but for Mains, you should focus on the core idea of the topic. You need to write a qualitative answer describing the central idea of the topic.

Also Read: Economic Strategy for UPSC Prelims 2021:Top 8 Guidelines for Preparing Economics for UPSC

Books Referred 

HL Ahuja for Micro Economics, Richard T Froyen for Macro Economics, Salvatore for International Economics, Debraj Ray for Developmental Economics, Public Economics for HL Bhatia, Economic History of India 1857-1947 by Tiranthkar Roy.

Strategies

She made notes from each book and referred to online materials. Anaya also took the help of her graduations notes. Try to read more and more for each topic. You can use google for references.

Moreover, she suggests reading Economics survey, Yojana Magazine, and budget.

Solve Previous year question papers and analyse the exam pattern. Some questions are repetitive. Try to point them out and make crisp notes of them.

Moreover, go through the syllabus again and again. You should use diagrams and graphs wherever required, this will help the examiner to understand your answers better.

Economics is often seen as a hard subject as an optional. But if you think you can do better in it then go for it.

Interview

You should fill your DAF carefully. Be careful with every information including your hometown city, state, degree, hobby and optional subject.

An interviewer will ask questions from it and therefore be prepared. Try to know basic information about your hometown, state, degree, etc.

The main key for cracking confidence, cracking interviews is confidence. If you don’t know. Honestly admitted without using any kind of fillers.

Also Read: What are the Tips to Perform Best at UPSC Interview? 12 Tips to Help You Prepare Best

Book List

Want to know about Ananya’s book collection? Here is the collection of books she used for her UPSC preparations.

History

# For Ancient History- Old NCERT class 11

# For medieval history- Vajiram Yellow Book

# For modern history: Spectrum Modern history. 

Also, three themes of the NCERT books.

Art and Culture

# For art and culture:  Selective chapters from Nathan Singhania and Vision IAS notes.

Political Science

# For Polity:

Indian Polity from M Laxminath and Current Affairs Notes.

Geography:

# NCERT 11 and 12

# NCERT 6-10 for reference

Environment

# Class 12 Biology

# Shankar IAS

Economics

# PYQS, graduation notes, and online materials.

Science and Technology

# Current affairs

Ethics

# Vajiram yellow books

# Vajiram class notes

# Case studies from current affairs

Conclusion

Ananya advises her fellow aspirants to study Current Affair carefully. Current affairs are an important part of your UPFC preparation; they can either make you or break you.

Feeling inspired? Now start your preparations. Want to take your UPSC preparation to the next level and ensure your success?

Refer to UPSC Pathshala, this website guides you throughout your preparation. Want to know more, visit UPSC Pathshala.

Also Read: Best Strategy to Crack IAS in First Attempt: Ten Best Tips for UPSC Aspirants