The Union Public Service Commission organizes different exams throughout the year among which the Civil services examination is the most anticipated one. This is the dream job of millions of Indians. This is why every year the results are announced and the successful candidates become the role models of the people. Recently, UPSC has declared the result of the UPSC CSE-2020 batch.
This year Shubham Kumar bagged the UPSC Rank-1 with total marks of 1054 and became a role model or celebrity for all other aspirants out there. In this article, you will find out about Shubham Kumar marks.
| Name | Shubham Kumar |
| Father’s Name | Devanad Kumar |
| Mother’s Name | Poonam Devi |
| Siblings | Elder sister, Ankita |
| Age | 24 |
| Education | Vidya Vihar Residential School, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, IIT-Bombay |
| Total number of Attempt | 3 attempts |
| Roll no. | – |
| Year | 2020 |
| Category Rank | 1 |
| Optional Subject | Anthropology |
| Current Posting | Indian Defence Account Devices |
Shubham Kumar- UPSC Topper Biography
Shubham Kumar secured rank 1 in UPSC 2020. He is receiving congratulations from the whole of India since the result got out. From childhood, Shubham Kumar was a meritorious student. He always scored well in his academics. But in 2020, he wrote his name in the golden history of UPSC.
Shubham Kumar was born in Kumheri village, Kadwa block, Bihar. His father’s name is Devanad Kumar and his Mother is Punam Devi. His father is a cashier at Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank and his mother is a homemaker. Besides them, he also has an elder sister, Ankita. She is a scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Center.
Shubham Kumar completed his primary education from his village and then completed his high school at Vidya Vihar Residential School, Parora in Purnia. Then he went to Jharkhand to complete his intermediate from Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Bokaro.
He then took the engineering entrance exam and got admission to IIT Bombay. There he pursued his degree in B.tech. There he secured a CPI of 8.37 from 10. After his graduation, he started his civil service journey.
Also Read: IAS Ankita Chaudhary Wiki: Biography, Education, Rank & Facts to Know
AIR 1 Shubham Kumar’s UPSC Journey
He gave his first attempt in 2018. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pass that attempt. Still, he reflected on his past mistakes and gave his second attempt in 2019. This time he secured 290th rank and got selected as Indian Defense Accounts Service.
He was training at the National Academy of Defense Financial Management Institute, Pune when he gave his third attempt in 2020. This time he secured 1st position in all India.
After the declaration of the result, he and his news are all over the media. Everyone is congratulating him for his success. Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar congratulated him and said that he had made the whole of Bihar proud.
Even deputy chief minister Tarikshore Prasad came personally to his village to talk to his parents and expressed his desire to participate in his honour ceremony.
Also Read: IAS Preeti Hooda Biography: Journey of a Bus Driver’s Daughter to an IAS Officer
Shubham Kumar Marksheet
| Subjects | Marks |
| Essay | 134 |
| General Studies-I | 115 |
| General Studies-II | 111 |
| General Studies-III | 092 |
| General Studies-IV | 166 |
| Optional Subject-I | 170 |
| Optional Subject-II | 150 |
| Written Test | 876 |
| Personality Test | 176 |
| Total Number Scored | 1054 |
Shubham Kumar Rank 1: Optional Subject
Shubham Kumar took Anthropology as his optional subject. When he was asked in an interview why he said that:
“First, because I discovered an interest in indigenous people. All components of the subject–human behaviour, human biology, cultures, and societies—seemed interesting. The syllabus was manageable and the subject’s overall record in UPSC was good.”
Also Read: IAS Namrata Jain: Journey of a First Woman Naxalite to Becoming an IAS Officer
Shubham Kumar on His Success
In an interview, Shubham Kumar said his dream was always to become an IAS officer. According to him, it provides a wider platform for everyone to work for the benefit of society. Shubham wants to work for his village and underprivileged people. He also said that he wants to be recruited in the Bihar cadre.
He exclaimed that his father has always supported him and inspired him to go on even after failures. He gives credit to his family and friends for his success.
Preparation Strategies of Shubham Kumar AIR-1
Shubham Kumar UPSC CSE topper 1 says that on his success that he even didn’t expect to be successful let alone bagging rank 1.
Strong Base
Developing core subjects is a crucial strategy of UPSC preparation. As it is said you cannot build a tall building on a weak base, this goes the same with your UPSC preparation. You need to strengthen your core subjects like History, Political science, Geography, etc. For this, you can take reference of NCERTs.
NCERT
NCERT books are specially designed books to help a student understand the basic concepts of a topic. It is officially launched by the government and is considered as the best and essential book for your UPSC preparation.
Limited Resources
Candidates often are advised to develop their own booklist from all suggested books. But many often think to read different books at once for better results but the outcome is totally opposite. Candidates who rely on several resources cannot focus on proper revision. Instead, a person who relies on limited resources can prepare well and revise too. They can revise a book several times and get expertise on it.
Mock Tests
Due to covid-19, Shubham Kumar didn’t take any coaching. Instead, he focused on two things: self-study and solving mock tests. Mock tests are an important part of your UPSC preparation. It helps you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Several toppers claim that they have solved at least 100+ mock tests before their examinations. You can find different mock tests from different websites.
Notes
Notes are important for your revision. Everyone suggests that aspirants should make short and crisp notes. For this, you should read a book, understand the topic and then write it in the notebook. Rather than copying from a book, this method can help you to memorise the topic without much effort.
Revision
A few days before your prelims, revision becomes important. While revision is important, adopting the correct strategy is the key. You should avoid reading new books a few days before your exam. Instead, stick to what you have been reading. It is said that it is always better to read a book thrice than to read three different books once.
Previous Year Question Paper
This is another important preparation strategy for your UPSC preparation. Solving several previous year question papers helps you to adapt the exam structure of prelims or mains. On the exam day, you won’t be surprised by the question type, instead of by solving them you can find a correct strategy to approach it.
Time Management
Time is an important part of any aspect of life. With proper time management, you can perform your job well and allocate time to different tasks easily. The same goes with UPSC preparation too. At the beginning of your preparation only you need to allocate your time for different subjects. Make a timetable before you embark on your UPSC journey.
Self Study
While going to a coaching institute for preparation or studying at home is a huge controversy among UPSC aspirants. Some believe coaching is a very important part of proper guidance, boosting competitive spirit, etc. While others believe that self-study helps them to focus and have a proper time devoted to their preparation. Shubham Kumar took several coachings before but in his final preparation time, he relied on self-study.
Answer Writing
You cannot clear mains with knowledge alone. You need to know how to present your answers. Remember the examiner does not evaluate you on the basis of knowledge you have but on the answers you write. Therefore practice writing different answers. You have to solve at least one answer daily. You can get them evaluated by someone experienced.
Optional Subject
Choosing an optional subject is very important. While often candidates look for an easy way and go with the optional subject that others find scoring or are a popular demand. Shubham Kumar speaks on the choice of his optional subject:
“When I started preparing for UPSC, I compared other social science subjects with Anthropology, and I found the syllabus of Anthropology very interesting. It was one of my core interests anyways, and I was certainly good at it. That’s when I realized that I can score good marks in this subject,”
From this, we can conclude that you should go with that optional subject that you find interesting.
Interview
The interview is the last phase of your UPSC journey. For your interview, you need to prepare well from your DAF. DAF stands for a detailed application form. It is a form in which you have to fill out your details. The interview panel asks questions about this form. Therefore fill out your details carefully. Remember not to lie and be honest with your DAF.
Stay Confident
Throughout your UPSC preparation, you will have different emotions. Sometimes you may feel low and sometimes high. This is a normal process but you shouldn’t let it ruin your preparation. Stay confident, have trust in yourself before your exam.
On the Exam Day
A night before your exam you should sleep well. Ensure a proper sleep and then in the morning have a light and nutritious breakfast. Then reach the examination hall before the allotted time only. After this don’t let any emotions suppress you. Take a deep breath and get ready for making history.
Booklist of UPSC CSE Rank 1
| Brief history of modern India | Spectrum |
| Indian Art and Culture | Nitin Singhania |
| Certificate Physical and Human Geography | GC Leong |
| Atlas | – |
| Indian Polity | M Laxmikanth |
| Indian Economy | Sanjeev Verma |
| Shankar IAS Environment | – |
| Internal Security and Disaster | Ashok |
| Lexicon for Ethics | – |
| Introduction to Social-Cultural Anthropology | NK Vaid |
| Outlines of Physical Anthropology | BM Das |
| Tribe India | Nadeem Hussain |
Also Read: IAS Story of the 2017 Exam Topper Anupama Anjali: An Inspiring Journey to Learn From
Top 20 Performer of UPSC CSE 2020
Here is a list of the top 20 performers of UPSC CSE 2020.
| Rank | Name | Written Test | Personality Test | Total Marks |
| 1 | Shubham Kumar | 878 | 176 | 1054 |
| 2 | Jagrati Awasthi | 859 | 193 | 1052 |
| 3 | Ankita Jain | 839 | 212 | 1051 |
| 4 | Yash Juluka | 851 | 195 | 1046 |
| 5 | Mamta Yadav | 855 | 187 | 1042 |
| 6 | Meera K | 835 | 206 | 1041 |
| 7 | Praveen Kumar | 848 | 193 | 1041 |
| 8 | Jivani Kartik Nagjibhai | 858 | 182 | 1040 |
| 9 | Apala Mishra | 816 | 215 | 1031 |
| 10 | Satyam Gandhi | 827 | 201 | 1028 |
| 11 | Devyani | 842 | 182 | 1024 |
| 12 | Mithun Premraj | 845 | 179 | 1024 |
| 13 | Gaurav Budania | 850 | 173 | 1023 |
| 14 | Karishma Nair | 834 | 187 | 1021 |
| 15 | Ria Dabi | 859 | 162 | 1021 |
| 16 | Arth Jain | 853 | 168 | 1021 |
| 17 | Sarthak Jaiswal | 822 | 195 | 1017 |
| 18 | Radhika Gupta | 838 | 179 | 1017 |
| 19 | Shashwat Tripurari | 852 | 165 | 1017 |
| 20 | P Srija | 831 | 184 | 1015 |
Conclusion
With his determination and hard work, Shubham Kumar was able to bag rank 1 in UPSC CSE. He is an inspiration for those who get depressed by their failure. He learned from his mistakes and kept on working until he touched the sky.
Feeling motivated? Take your UPSC preparation to a next level with UPSC Pathshala. This website is a one-stop solution for your UPSC preparation. It has customized courses, high-quality videos, noted material, and many more.
Thank you for sharing every detail of this determined civil servant. This is very inspiring.
This article is extremely motivational. I have learned many lessons from this amazing personality.