Meet IAS Officer Who Turned Academic Failures Into Success Story- Failed In College But Still Cracked UPSC With Air...

Kumar Anurag is an IAS officer from Bihar who is currently serving as the commissioner of the municipal corporation in Gayaji district. His journey is marked by resilience, as he overcame repeated academic setbacks to ultimately secure an All India Rank (AIR) of 48 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination.

Anurag grew up in Katihar district. He used to study in Hindi medium language till class 8th, which was his comfort language. Then after 8th, he switched to an English-medium institution which was a major challenge due to the language barrier, but he worked hard to adapt and steadily improved his academic performance.

In his class 10th board exams, he performed really well and scored 90 per cent. But then, according to media reports he failed the mathematics pre-board exam in class 12th. He then worked tirelessly and scored 94 marks in Mathematics in the final board exams.

Even though he passed with first division, due to his poor performance in other subjects, he couldn’t fulfil his dream of becoming an IITian and enrolled himself into the Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Delhi University. He failed in the second year of his college which pushed him to take his studies seriously.

After completing his graduation, Kumar enrolled himself into the post graduation and with that he decided to start preparing for the UPSC. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is one of India’s toughest exams, held annually to select officers for top services like IAS, IPS, and IFS through three stages, Prelims, Mains, and Interview testing knowledge, skills, and personality.

In 2017, Anurag appeared for the UPSC exam for the first time and also cleared it gracefully with an AIR of 667. Even though it’s a huge achievement he was not satisfied because that was not his dream. His dream was to become an IAS so he started preparing again.

He worked harder this time and all his struggle paid off when he finally cleared one of the toughest exams of India, UPSC with All India Rank (AIR) 28 in 2018. And according to media reports, before taking up his IAS posting, he served in the Indian Economic Service as an Assistant Director from March to August 2019.

Anurag is an epitome of persistence. He teaches all the aspirants and students that failure doesn’t define you. He teaches us to let go of past failures and start from scratch all over again. Anurag is an inspiration for millions of UPSC civil aspirants, his story is a reminder that with hard work, patience, and the right strategy, dreams can indeed be turned into reality.

Kumar Anurag’s journey teaches us that setbacks are not the end but an opportunity to rebuild with greater strength. His story proves that consistency matters more than instant success, and every failure can become a stepping stone if one refuses to give up. For aspirants, the key takeaway is to stay patient, keep improving, and never let temporary obstacles define long-term goals.

(All photos credit: Instagram)