Every year lakhs of students appear for the UPSC exam out of which only a few pass the exams with flying colors.
Today we are sharing the story of Maniram Sharma who is an IAS. His story is telling as his journey of IAS is not easy. Even after clearing UPSC, his trouble did not subside, as he was returned saying that he was deaf. That means- he is completely incapable of hearing.
He first passed the civil services examination in 2005, but was sent home by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) without allotting him any service, because he was 100% deaf. He said that 100% handicapped candidates are not eligible to appear in the examination, it is for partial disability. Maniram took the exam again in 2006, again he passed and was sent home by UPSC again.
Maniram said “At the age of 5, I started losing the ability to hear. By the age of 9, he became completely deaf. “It is a genetic problem. My mother, grandmother and many of their family members were deaf. Among my siblings, both my sisters are deaf. Only my younger brother can hear.” Both his parents are illiterate and work in the fields to make a living for the family.
Furthermore he said “Whether it was sunny or raining, I had to travel 5 kilometers to go to school. I had secured a good rank at state level in 12th. But this rank did not matter to my parents, they only knew if they passed or failed. Parents wanted to get a job. The idea of a job in my village was limited – masterji, patwari, compounder or doctor.”
Maniram could not hear, so he thought that the easiest way to get a job was to become a teacher. “Anyway, he was already teaching young students of his village to earn some money.” Teaching children was quite a challenge for a hearing impaired teacher. But he did not give up and faced this problem firmly. Whatever questions the children had to ask, he used to ask them in writing, and solve their problems.
After completing his PhD, Maniram entered the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS), where he came in contact with several IAS and IPS officers for the first time in his life. Now his dream was to become an IAS officer.
Once an officer even said that your son is not even fit to become a peon. The son took his father’s insult to the heart proved his worth after becoming an IAS.
Maniram’s IAS saga began in 1995 when he failed in his first attempt to clear the preliminary exam. He was 100% deaf then. Since then he has cleared the exam thrice – in 2005, 2006 and 2009. In 2006, he was told that he could not be allotted IAS as only partially deaf were eligible, not a completely deaf person like him. Therefore, they were allotted post and telegraph accounts and finance services.