Small farmer's son from Andhra is IAS topper

Mutyala Raju Revu, an Indian Police Service probationer hailing from Andhra Pradesh, has topped the Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination 2006 in the country. He will be joining the Andhra Pradesh cadre of the Indian Administrative Service.

Born in Chinnagollapalem, a remote island village in Krishna district on Andhra coast, Mutyala Raju comes from a marginal farmer's family. He belongs to Agnikula Kshatriya caste of fishermen community among the Other Backward Classes. His two elder brothers are also into farming.

Incidentally, it was Raju's third attempt in the UPSC examination. In his previous attempt in 2005, he secured 223rd rank and was allotted to Rajasthan cadre of the Indian Police Service. He is currently undergoing training at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

"I come from a family of farmers. Getting proper education and medical facilities was difficult in Chinnagollapalem as it is cut off by Godavari and Krishna rivers," Raju recalls but he has excelled all through his academic career, overcoming all hurdles.

He studied at Zilla Parishad High School near his village.

Being the state topper in Common Entrance Eexamination for Polytechnic, Raju pursued his studies at Mullapudi Memorial Polytechnic College in Tanuku (West Godavari district) and specialized in electrical and electronics engineering.

He secured first rank in Engineering Common Entrance Test in 1998 to come into mainline engineering, He appeared for GATE in 2002 and secured all-India third rank. He completed B-Tech from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, and pursued ME from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in Signal Engineering. He also secured first rank in Indian Engineering Services 2003 and was posted as a railway engineer.

For this third attempt in the Civil Services exam, Raju took coaching at R C Reddy Coaching Centre in the city. He took electrical engineering and mathematics as optionals to try for the IAS and came on top.

"I joined the NPA after I appeared for the Civil Services exam again. I expected a rank within the top 10. I am so elated. I did not expect the top rank," he said after coming to know of UPSC results on Monday evening. He said that he would attend the training at NPA as usual.

27-year-old Raju is a bachelor. While his IPS batch-mates and friends in the city greeted Raju, his family was elated over the distinction he achieved in the Civil Services exam. His father Revu Narasimha Murthy recollected Raju's always reading General Knowledge books.

Murthy said he had expected his son to be among the top 100 but Raju exceeded everyone's expectations by securing the top rank. "We are proud of him," Chintamani, Raju's mother, said.