Srinagar: Nine candidates, including three women, from the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir have qualified the prestigious UPSC Civil Service examination, the results of which were declared on Saturday.

India’s Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared a total of 1,236 candidates successful across the country.

Deeba Farhat from South Kashmir’s Bijbehara town and Ruveda Salam from North Kashmir’s Kupwara district are the two women from the Valley to figure in the list, besides Jammu-based Pryati Sharma.

Other candidates who made it to the list from the state include Baseer-Al-Haq, Afaq Giri, Choudhary Mohammad Yasin, Athar Aamir-Al-Shafi Khan, Irfan Hafiz and Ankit Koul.

This is the sixth consecutive year youth from Jammu and Kashmir have figured prominently in the UPSC list. In 2013, Ruveda Salam became the first woman from Kashmir to crack the IAS examination.

Baseer-Al-Haq topped the list of candidates from the state with a rank of 46, while Pryati Sharma was ranked 136.

Ankit Koul was ranked 414th, Afaq Giri ranked 457th, Chaudhary Mohammad Yasin ranked 459th, Deeba Farhat ranked 553th, Athar Aamir-Al-Shafi Khan ranked 560th and Irfan Hafiz ranked 1,183th.

Ruveda Salam reappeared this year and was ranked 878.

The eldest among three siblings, Deeba lost her father in a road accident when she was in primary school. Her mother, a government employee, has been supporting the family ever since.

Sharing her story, the engineering graduate said, “My mother always wanted to see me on top and I dedicate this success to her and also to my late father.”

Deeba secured a place in M Tech. However, she decided to drop out and qualified for the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) in 2012. She has been working as an accounts officer at the District Rural Development Agency’s Anantnag chapter.

But her quest for excellence did not stop there. She decided to work hard and opted for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

But her preparations were hampered because of last year’s floods which damaged her house and study material.

“I appeared half prepared for the examination. I got only a month to prepare as our house was flooded and we have been living at my grandmother’s place ever since,” she said.

She lost all her books, certificates and other important documents during the floods.

“One thing I did not lose was the belief that I can achieve more. And though I qualified for the exams, I intended to have another shot at the coveted examination and try to better my rank the next time around,” she said.

Passionate about Urdu literature and poetry, Deeba had opted for Urdu in civil services despite being a science graduate.

“I have only studied Urdu till secondary level, but I always loved reading Urdu literature and poetry. I am particularly fond of reading Alama Iqbal and Mirza Galib,” she said.

“Success depends on how committed you are towards achieving your goal. The commitment to qualify for competitive examinations has to be total. It is difficult but then it’s not impossible,” she said.

Incidentally, Deeba’s first posting after she cracked KAS was at her mother’s office, as her boss.

Belonging to a middle-class family, 33-year-old Baseer qualified for the exam in the third attempt.

Already a Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) officer, Baseer is presently posted as Block Development Officer (BDO) in Khari, Ramban. He had cracked the KAS exam in 2013.

— PTI