About Sweta Agarwal upsc topper, Marks of Sweta Agarwal, Strategy by UPSC topper Sweta Agarwal, Tips for preparation for UPSC
Success Story of Sweta Agarwal: UPSC 2015 Topper AIR 19
UPSC is all about hard work and dedication. It is not at all an easy exam to crack. You have to work hard for it, you have to give your time to your preparation. There are many candidates who are preparing for UPSC, but still, they are not able to clear the exam. So, don’t worry we will try to help you to stay motivated and tell you about the strategies toppers used to follow.
Sweta Agarwal is another motivation to all the people who are preparing for UPSC. Every year UPSC conducts exam for various civil services. 2016 is the year which is lucky for Sweta as she cleared the exam and become a national topper.
Sweta cleared the exam only by doing her own preparation. She made everyone proud of her achievement. So, in this article, we will be going to tell you her journey and the strategies she used to follow during her preparation. She is a brilliant example of consistency and patience.
Must read: The strategy for UPSC Interview.
About Sweta Agarwal
Name: Sweta Agarwal
Mother’s Name: Prema
Father’s Name: Santosh
Age: 29
State: West Bengal
No. of Attempts: 2
Rank: AIR 19
Year: CSE 2016
Optional Code: 39
Category: General
Hometown: Bengal
Nationality: Indian
Must read: The strategy for UPSC Prelims.
Family Life
Sweta belongs to a middle-class family, she is the only child of her parents. Her parents gave her the best they can give to support and educate their child. She is a grocer’s daughter and now she will soon become an IAS officer. Her parents gave her the best of education despite battling abject poverty. Her rank is the highest attained by any Bengal candidates.
Her father studied till class XIIth and her mother Prema studied till class Xth after that she got married. But both of them never compromised with the education of their daughter.
In one of her interviews, she also said “My father is a baniya only as far as his profession is concerned. He started out in a small way as a grocer but shifted to other businesses. But unlike his community (trade), he never thought of marrying me off – his only child. He has no fear of what society might say. He let me grow in the true sense of the term”.
She also stated that “I think I would be the first IAS officer from Bhadreshwar. It means a lot to me – I feel strongly about my roots, which is Bengal”.
Sweta’s parents also made her daughter to understand society and wanted Sweta to serve the people of the country. She also expressed her happiness by saying that her dad did not marry her off early and gave her full freedom to pursue her dreams of becoming an IAS officer.
Also read: About the journey of Siddharth Jain: UPSC IAS topper.
Educational Life
It is often noticed that poor parents would not be able to provide the best financial support for educating their child but they never leave any chance to educate their child. She completed her schooling at St Joseph’s Chandernagore, Auxilium Convent Bandel.
After that, she completed her graduation from St Xavier’s College, Kolkata. She stood first in her college in Economics. She also said that “My parents went to Hindi-medium schools, but made sure I knew my English. They also made sure I could serve the nation”.
In 2014 also she had given the civil services examination and she was able to clear the exam. She qualified for IPS officer in 2014. She was about to start her training, but she decided to again attempt the exam to pursue her dreams. In 2016 she again gave the exam and got selected as an IAS officer. The most important thing is that just hours before to announce the result, she had bagged the Bengal IPS Cadre.
Must read: Everything about UPSC exam from scratch.
Marks of Sweta Agarwal
She secured 972 marks and become a national topper by getting rank 19th. Her marks are given below:
Mandatory Subjects:
Essay: 129
General Studies 1: 95
General Studies 2: 86
General Studies 3: 94
General Studies 4: 108
Optional Papers:
Optional Paper 1: 139
Optional Paper 2: 126
Written Total: 777
Personality Test/ Interview: 195
Total Marks: 972
Also see: The inspirational journey of Nidhi Gupta: UPSC IAS topper.
List of Books/References
The list of books he used to read during her preparation is discussed below:
General Studies Paper 1
Culture: spectrum, NIOS
Indian history: NCERT
World history: NCERT
Post-independence India: Bipin Chandra Indian struggle for independence
Indian society: NCERT
Role of women, poverty: NCERT, Yojana, Planning commission
Globalization on Indian society: The Hindu
Communalism, regionalism, secularism: Mrunal.org, NCERT
World geophysical: NCERT
Resource distribution: Mrunal.org
Factors for industrial location: Mrunal.org/geography
Earthquake tsunami: Down to Earth
Impact on flora-fauna: Down to Earth
General Studies Paper 2
Indian Constitution, devolution, dispute redressal: DD Basu
Comparing Constitution with the world: Vajiram notes
Parliament, state Legislatures, executive-judiciary: DD Basu
Ministries departments, various bodies: Constitutional, statutory: India year book
Pressure group, informal asso.: NCERT
Representation of people’s act: Internet
NGO, SHG: EPW
Welfare schemes, bodies: PIB, Yojana
Social sector, health, edu, HRD: PIB, Yojana
Governance, transparency, accountability, the role of civil service: Ministry of personnel
E-governance: DIETY
India & neighbors, bilateral/global grouping, the effect of foreign country policies: DSA, The Hindu, Mrunal.org
Intl.bodies- structure mandate: Internet
Diaspora: Ministry of overseas affairs
Also see: The inspirational journey of Ashish Tiwari: UPSC IAS topper.
General Studies Paper 3
Indian economy, resource mobilization: Planning Commission
Inclusive growth: Planning Commission
Budgeting: Ministry of finance, Yojana
Major crops, irrigation: NCERT geography
Agro produce – storage, marketing: Ministry of food processing
E-technology for farmers: Planning Commission
Farm subsidies, MSP: 12 FYP
PDS, buffer, food security: Ministry of food processing
Technology mission: DIETY
Animal rearing economics: Planning Commission
Food processing: Ministry of food processing
Land reforms: Planning Commission
Liberalization: Planning Commission
Infra: FYP
Investment models: FYP
Science-tech day to day life: The Hindu, Mrunal.org
Indian achievements in sci-tech: Dept of science and tech. , Mrunal.org
Awareness of IT, space, biotech, nano, IPR: Dept of science and tech. , Mrunal.org, The Hindu
Environmental impact assessment: Down to earth
Disaster Management: NDMA
Nonstate actors, internal security, the role of media, social networking: vajiram notes, 2nd ARC report
Cyber security: National policy on cybersecurity
Money laundering, border Management: vajiram notes
Security agencies- structure mandate: MHA
General Studies Paper 4
Ethics and interface, family, society, emotional intelligence: vajiram notes
Ethics in the pub. ad, accountability, laws, rules: 2nd ARC Reports
Corporate governance: Vajiram notes
Probity in governance, work culture: 2nd ARC Reports
Citizen charter, ethics code, work culture: 2nd ARC Reports
Challenges of corruption: 2nd ARC Reports
Case studies on above topics: vajiram
Also see: The inspirational journey of Shweta Chauhan: UPSC IAS topper.
If you have any doubt or need guidance you can comment below, our team will try to answer it.
Other Recent UPSC Toppers Success Story
- Ira Singhal – UPSC Topper 2014, AIR 1
- TINA DABI AIR 1 UPSC Topper 2015: YOUNGEST IAS TOPPER
- Nandini KR- UPSC Topper 2016 AIR 1
- Arushi Sharma – Rank 292, UPSC 2016
- Success Story of Jasmeet Singh Sandhu: 2015 UPSC TOPPER (AIR 3)
- Artika Shukla: UPSC Topper 2015, AIR 4
- Saumya Pandey: UPSC 2016 Topper, AIR 4
- TEJASVI RANA AIR 12, UPSC 2016
- SUMAN SOURAV: AIR 9, UPSC 2016
- SHWETA CHAUHAN: UPSC IAS AIR 8
- ANAND VARDHAN- UPSC IAS TOPPER AIR-7
- ANMOL SHER SINGH BEDI: 2016 UPSC IAS TOPPER
- Athul Janardhanan: UPSC Topper 2016 AIR 13
- Ashish Tiwari: UPSC 2015 Topper, AIR 6
- Siddharth Jain: UPSC AIR 13 2015
- Nidhi Gupta: UPSC IAS Topper 2014 AIR 3
- IAS Topper Renu Raj AIR 2, 2014
- Anupam Shukla: UPSC IAS topper 2015, AIR 10
- Gopalakrishna Ronanki UPSC IAS Topper 2016: A Primary School Teacher to an IAS Officer
- Charusree T 2014 UPSC Topper AIR 6
- Kirthi Chekuri UPSC 2015 Topper AIR 14
- Kothamasu Dinesh Kumar: 2016 UPSC IAS topper
- Suharsha Bhagat CSE Rank 5
- Utsav Kaushal: AIR 14 CSE 2016
- Lok Bandhu: UPSC 2014 Topper AIR 7
- Namami Bansal: 2016 UPSC Topper AIR 17
- Vandana Rao: UPSC 2014 topper AIR 4
- Lok Bandhu: UPSC 2014 Topper AIR 7