IAS Ira Singhal Biography: Where is Ira Singhal Posted Now?

The 2014 AIR 1, Ira Singhal was very famous when she got her results. The reason for this was that she had a 62% disability. Even though she had a disability she yet managed to get the number one rank in all over India. This surely was and still is a great achievement.

This article serves as Ira Singhal’s biography and will answer important questions like where is Ira Singhal posted now? Did Ira Singhal give exam in the general category? Did Ira Singhal use reservation?

Ira Singhal Profile

Ira Singhal was born on the 31st of August in 1983 and is currently 37 years.  She hails from Meerut. She has a B.Tech degree from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology and an MBA from FMS, Delhi.

Her father is an engineer too and her mother is an insurance advisor. She did her schooling from Sophia Girls School, Loreto Convent School, and Army public school.

Ira has a disability. She has scoliosis which is a spine-related disorder. This left her unable to use her arms properly. She has trouble with the movement of her arms but not completely.

She had written the exam four times. The first three times she had gotten a position in IRS whereas the 4th time she managed to secure a position in the IAS.

Court Case

Ira had managed to get a posting into IRS in 2012 but was denied the position due to her disability.

She had a 62% locomotor disability. She then went on to file a case at the Central Administration Tribunal (CAT) and went on to win the case. She was allowed to hold a posting as an IRS officer after the case. Soon she wrote the UPSC exam again and managed to get the number one rank!

You may wonder, did Ira Singhal use reservation? Let’s find out if she did or not

Did Ira Singhal Compete in Reserved Category?

You may wonder did Ira Singhal compete in the reserved category? The answer to that is, no, she did not compete in the reserved category.

Now you may think, did Ira Singhal give exam in the general category? Yes, Ira Singhal did give the exam in the general category.

She is the first woman to give the exam in the general category with a disability and managed to get the number one rank among millions of writers.

Now let’s have a look at Ira Singhal’s marksheet.

Ira Singhal Marksheet

Event	Marks
Mains exam	920
Interview	162
Total marks	1082

Even though she had a disability she did not feel the need of taking any reservation in order to clear the UPSC exam, she had the belief that she could easily do it and she made it happen.

A reservation is definitely an aid in the exam but it does not mean you have a clear cut path. You still will need to work very hard and try your best to score from your ability as this will also instill a lot of confidence within you and will boost your personality!

Keep working hard no matter how clear the path is for you!

Posting

So if you are wondering, where is Ira Singhal posted now? Then the answer to that is New Delhi. She was recently announced as the additional charge of Director (press and information). She is from the North Delhi Municipal locality.

Work Done

Ira Singhal is a very famous IAS officer. She is the brand ambassador of many government departments. She is currently the brand ambassador of the Department of Disability, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Women and Child Development, and the NITI Aayog.

She has also been a part of the designing of examination policies for disabled students with the Central Board of Secondary Education also known as the CBSE.

She has been a huge speaker on topics like education, disability and gender disparity throughout the world. She has attended over 500 conferences as a speaker and has also given speeches at the prestigious institutions like IIM and IIT.

She has rescued more than 300 children from bonded child labour and returned them to their families in her very first year on duty. She is also said to be the first person to give a transgender a full-time government job in Delhi.

Also Read: IAS Topper Marksheet: Find out Toppers Who Shined in The Mains & Personality Round

Bullying

Unfortunately, society is not a safe place for anyone. Even though she has achieved so much with her problems she has been constantly bullied. One such specific case was on Facebook.

The man had abused her on social media to which she had to say that the person was trying to bully someone that cannot be bullied.

Making fun of her disability is not morally right and people should look to change their mindset. She herself has not viewed this as a problem in her life and thus does not even see the need to have a reservation.

Also Read: IAS Manuj Jindal Wiki: Manuj Jindal’s Biography, Age, Rank, Strategy and Optional Subject

Note Making

One astonishing fact about the topper is that she never made notes! She did not see the necessity to make notes and just depended on the reading material.

She used to revise the reading material more than 5-6 times and thus she would also be able to remember important facts easily.

She believed that notes would only help in not re-reading the whole text again and she preferred reading the textbooks again.

She lays emphasis on understanding the topics in the book and not just reading like an obligation if a person can understand answers and content they need not memorize anything in specific.

Look to understand each topic and read twice or thrice if you do not understand. Mugging up will not help with a syllabus this huge.

Tips

Writing the answer in points is something she believes a lot in. you need not write answers in big paragraphs but rather break it down pointwise.

Underline anything you feel is important and directly related to the question. This will lead to an easier understanding of the answer for the evaluator.

Attempt questions you know the answers of and do not waste time writing stories instead of answers. Remember that there is negative marking for every wrong answer, so do not spoil your overall marks.

Read NCERT books as much as possible. Most questions are based on NCERT, so base your prep around NCERT itself.

Also Read: Highest Post in UPSC: Find Out the Top Ranks in IAS, IPS and IFS

Strategy for Ethics

The ethics paper is based on personality more than textbook learning. It is very important for you to understand yourself and present yourself in the exam.

The ethics paper will have case studies based on someone facing a social dilemma. You will need to present the person all the options and then also help them in choosing the right option.

There is no right or wrong option but you have to make the examiner believe that your answer is very correct, morally.

So you will need to present the advantages of your choice and also think about the decision not for yourself but for the betterment of another individual. Your thinking will have to be selfless.

Also Read: IAS Harpreet Singh Wiki: All about the BSF Officer Who became an IAS Officer

Reasons for IAS

Ira Singhal had been discriminated against ever since she was a child. Her principals, her teachers, and even the society would not accept her for who she was.

When she was in school, her parents were told to put her in a special school. When her brother had passed away, the society asked her parents ‘who would be running the home now?’. No one believed in her ability to be an asset for her own family except her family and friends.

They believed in her and encouraged her throughout her preparations. She had almost given up on writing the exam again, but her friend convinced her to write the exam again for the fourth time and then she set the bar very high.

She wanted to become an IAS officer so that she could bring a change in society for women and disabled people. She wants to cut down all the discrimination women and disabled face every day due to society.

She says it was not only her dream but also the dream of her father to become an IAS officer.

Also Read: Check-out the Story Of The IAS Topper Who Failed In The Graduation Exam

Ira Singhal Blog

Apart from being an IAS officer, Ira also has her own YouTube channel and her own blog. To read her blogs one can simply click here.

Preparation

Many people have been inspired by Ira and wish to join the force in order to make a positive impact as she made on the society of the nation. In order to do that candidates need to write the UPSC CSE exam and clear it too!

For that to happen there is a lot of work that needs to be done by students. The very first step would be to break down the syllabus for the exam. Know the syllabus well and break it down so that you can ensure that you study each topic thoroughly.

Keep your primary target to clear the preliminary round. Only on clearing the preliminary round, you will be able to write the mains round. So ensure that you have broken down your main goal into smaller objectives too!

UPSC Material and Books

In order to score higher in the exam, ensure that you have the correct sources for preparation. The quality of UPSC materials and books will determine your ability to understand the subjects. It is important to refer to NCERT textbooks too.

There are many websites that provide you with great material, which breaks your syllabus down and also gives a better understanding of each topic in detail. It is often seen that students with bad material tend to score less. Thus, make sure you have good material, not just more material!

Choosing Optional

Choosing the correct optional subject is very important for your exam. Prefer to choose a subject that you are keenly interested in and/or have a strong base in. This will make preparation much easier as you may not have enough time for the subject. Prefer taking a subject of your choice instead of being influenced by someone else.

Conclusion

IAS officer Ira Singhal had topped the UPSC 2014 exams. She achieved an all India rank of number 1 but that is not the only thing that is unique about her. If you have read till now then you already know what is so unique about her.

Hopefully, you have got enough inspiration to ace the upcoming UPSC examination. Have you made a strategy yet? Do share your answer in the comment box below.