Awanish Kumar Sharan IAS

Quick Introduction

About Awanish Kumar Saran

If you are a UPSC aspirant, you should know that the best way to prepare for the exams is to read about the stories of successful UPSC officers, their study methods, and their struggles. One such successful officer is Awanish Kumar Saran, and his story or journey is also inspiring. The hero of this story wasn't a bright student from the beginning, but his determination and wisdom came together to make a success out of his efforts.

Awanish Sharan, a renowned IAS officer, scored 44% marks in his 10th exam and 65 % in his 12th class. Even his graduation percentage was 60%. So, how did he achieve one of India's most respectable government services? Let's find out further in this article.

Early Life

Awanish Sharan was born on 20th January 1981 in a small village called Kevata, Samastipur District, Bihar. Bihar is an underdeveloped state in India where poverty still reigns over common people's lives. Avnish's household wasn't an exception to this. He aspired to become a Civil Service officer since childhood and worked hard to achieve his dream. However, he was not a bright student and had a hard time grasping methods and solutions. One of the reasons for his underachievement was the lack of educational facilities. Despite everything life has thrown at him, he worked hard and cracked one of the most arduous and competitive exams in India.

Education

From elementary school to upper secondary education, Awanish studied at a government school in Bihar and passed with below average percentage. He passed his 10th class board exam with 314 marks out of 700 in the third division. At that time, nobody could have expected him to grow into a successful government servant. In 2002, he acquired 10th rank in the All India UPSC Exam.

Before finally cracking the Civil Services exam, Awanish had failed most of the preliminary tests in the State Civil Services.

Family

His family includes his father, Lokesh Sharan, who worked hard to provide for his family even though they couldn't afford much. He had seen his father work endlessly and with so much dedication that he wanted to improve the economic conditions of his household with a respectable job and revenues. He was an ambitious child since the beginning and didn't want to lose any opportunity coming towards him. Most of the time, due to the absence of electricity in his village, he studied under the lantern at night. His brother, Arjun Sharan, had also taken a chance at the UPSC examination but was out of luck in his first attempt.

In the year, 2010, Awanish Sharan got married, but we don't have any information regarding his wife. In 2017, to set an example for others and to encourage the public to use government facilities, he took his wife to the government hospital for delivery. Also, he admitted his daughter to a government school. He has two daughters named Vedika and Kritika. Unlike most government officials and politicians, Awanish not only believes in better facilities from the government, but he sets an example for others to do the same.

Posting

As his first opportunity, he joined as the assistant collector in May 2011 as tasked by the Government of Chhattisgarh. From September 2011 to July 2012, he worked as the district magistrate. After that, he also contributed as a Municipal Commissioner. Soon he was gliding through the ranks at a fast yet successful pace. In the year 2015, he served as the Additional collector, and two months later, after his joining, he was appointed as the Chief Executive. In April 2018, he got promoted as District Magistrate, and around June 2020, he acquired the position of Chief Executive in Skill Development. Recently, he has been posted in the Barlampur District of Chhattisgarh as a Director of the Technical and Employment Department. He believes that if the candidates want to clear the UPSC exam, then they have to work hard and revise each and every topic thoroughly. The Civil Service competition is a brutal and tough race where only the most prepared can win against their competitors. It takes years of practice and focus to reach where Awanish Sharan and many other IAS officers are.

Tips by Awanish Sharan to crack UPSC

Before the Civil Service Exam 2022, Awanish Sharan shared some of the basic tricks and strategies on his Twitter to prepare for the exams so the students can be less anxious. Here are those five valuable lessons to study for UPSC-

• Go through the syllabus again and again so you would not miss any topic, even if you want to.
• Use standard books as your only study material.
• Essay writing is an essential aspect of the MAINS exam. So give yourself time to practice your writing skills as much as you can.
• Solve at least ten UPSC question papers from past years in a fixed time limit.
• Try not to scribble through the exam, and keep your handwriting up to an understandable level.
• Avoid spelling errors by using the correct vocabulary.

An Inspirational Journey

He didn't have a luxurious life or a photogenic memory to pass the exams with flying colors, but the only aspect of his life that he could control was his determination to never give up. According to the survey done by the Ministry of Education, Bihar has been declared as the state with the least literacy rate in India. Despite the lack of opportunities and a mountain of failures, he had a clear goal in his mind, which was to help his family financially, so they could live a better life. He was determined enough not to get discouraged by the results of his 10th and 12th exams and kept his complete focus on achieving a dream.