After earning a bachelors degree in agriculture, IAS Hemant Pareek began to vigorously prepare for UPSC exams, but the lack of money and resources made it quite difficult.
UPSC Success Story: The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) is one of the toughest recruitment test in the country and only the very best of academic minds, and those with iron-willed dedication manage to clear it. One such inspirational story is the heartwarming tale of IAS Hemant Pareek, who witnessed how crippling poverty can be a humiliating experience for the poor, and decided to change his station in life by clearing the UPSC CSE and becoming an IAS officer.
Who is IAS Hemant Pareek?
Born in financially-weak family tiny village in Rajasthan, Hemant Pareek faced a tough childhood due to the family’s poverty. Pareek’s father was a priest at a local temple, while his mother worked as a daily wage labourer in MNREGA projects to support the family. Additionally, Hemant Pareek suffers from a disability in one of his hands, making him unfit for manual work.
Thus, Pareek’s mother shouldered the responsibility of raising the children, paying for their education as well as putting food on the table, because his father and sister were plagued by health issues.
How one incident changed Hemant Pareek’s life?
As their financial condition worsened, the family moved to Haryana in search of better opportunities, where his mother continued to work as a MNREGA labourer, often working the fields in the evening after toiling hard during the day, to make ends meet.
While his mother was working as a MNREGA labourer, an incident changed the course of Hemant Pareek’s life when he witnessed how poverty can be a humiliating experience.
A local MNREGA contractor had withheld his mother daily wages of Rs 220, and when Hemant came to demand the payment, the man mocked him asking whether he was “the Collector” of the town. This one incident set Pareek on his path to become an IAS officer as he made clearing the UPSC CSE his singular goal in life.
From poverty to IAS
Hemant recalled that during college, his senior and peers would often make fun of his “childish dream” of becoming an IAS officer because he lacked fluency in the English language. But instead of being disillusioned, the sneers strengthened his resolve and he started working harder and harder.
After earning a bachelors degree in agriculture, Hemant Pareek began to vigorously prepare for UPSC exams, but the lack of money and resources made it quite difficult.
He applied for a scholarship but could not get it, and this led him take extreme measures to fund his studies, even going hungry on Sundays to save money, because the college mess was closed.
Ultimately, after a year of hard work and rigorous preparation regimen, Hemant Pareek achieved success, clearing the UPSC CSE in his very first attempt in 2023 with an impressive All-India Rank (AIR) of 884.
Currently, IAS Hemant Pareek is posted as the Municipal Commissioner of Dharamshala Municipal Corporation and CEO of the Waqf Board.
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