Now Reading: Pankaj Kamboj, who lost father at 14, clears UPSC CAPF exam
-
01
Pankaj Kamboj, who lost father at 14, clears UPSC CAPF exam
Pankaj Kamboj, 25, from a farming family near the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border, has cleared the UPSC CAPF Assistant Commandant examination with an all-India rank of 196. He lost his father to a…
Pankaj Kamboj, 25, from a farming family near the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border, has cleared the UPSC CAPF Assistant Commandant examination with an all-India rank of 196. He lost his father to a heart attack when he was in Class 9, and his mother, who never attended school, supported his education. He graduated as the topper of his batch from Delhi University in 2023.
Kamboj failed the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination three times and faced multiple setbacks in the Services Selection Board process for defence exams. He shifted to Delhi in 2021 and relied on free online resources as he could not afford coaching. Despite relatives suggesting he return to his village, he persisted and cleared the CAPF exam on his fourth CSE prelims attempt.
He is set to join as an Assistant Commandant in the Central Armed Police Forces. Kamboj has also cleared the UPSC CSE Mains examination and continues to pursue his goal of becoming an IAS officer.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Kamboj's journey highlights the structural barriers facing first-generation aspirants from rural India. Unlike candidates with access to paid coaching and family networks, he self-studied using free resources. The UPSC's decision in 2023 to limit the number of attempts for general-category candidates to six adds urgency to such stories. For CAPF, the age limit for Assistant Commandant is 25, so Kamboj's selection came at the final year of eligibility in that stream. His fourth-time CSE Mains appearance is still pending results, which will determine whether he enters the civil services or the CAPF.
His achievement also underscores the gap between aspiration and support: his family's four-acre plot could not sustain coaching fees, and his mother's illiteracy meant no academic guidance at home.
Source: timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
