Among this year’s 759 winners of Civil Service Examination, Sreedhanya, the 410th rank holder, is in the limelight for several reasons. The 26-year-old Dhanya is the first woman from Wayanad Adivasi community to have met with success.

She was a girl from a family which even had to borrow money to send their child to a Civil Services coaching class. Thus she is not only a pride for Adivasi community but also for the whole of Kerala.

Her parents also deserve special honour for sending their daughter far away from their home to pursue her dream, even though they had to do menial jobs to find money for it. In all sense, her victory was the one she achieved through fighting against all odds.

Sreedhanya is the daughter of Suresh and Kamala of the Ambalakkolly tribal settlement at Achooranam, near Pozhuthana in Wayanad district, secured 410th rank in the examination. She was born and brought up in a Kurichiya tribal hamlet. Her father is a daily wage worker and mother is a worker under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Sreedhanya is an alumnus of Thariyodu Government Higher Secondary School. She did her post-graduation in Applied Zoology at the University of Calicut after graduating in Zoology from St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri, Kozhikode.

Though Sreedhanya won the exam in the second chance, when one considers her living condition, the achievement is no mean. Sreeedhanya’s victory was the one that could earn good name and fame for her community when her perseverance and strong will power blended together.

Adivasis are people who are even now forced to live far away from the mainstream life of society. Even the tenth graders are very less in their community. They are yet to gain access to the benefits of modernity and education. Though Adivasi welfare is an important agenda of all governments, many deaths happen due to starvation even today. A good portion of the fund allotted for their welfare are looted by some persons.

Even Sreedhanya doesn’t have a good house to live. She climbed the ladder of success from her dilapidated house.

This year’s civil service topper in India is Kanishak Kataria, who also belongs to SC category. Like last several years, this year also many winners are the natives of Kerala. The 29th rank holder at national level is Ernakulam Aluva Kadungallur native Sreelaksmi. About 30 Keralities have appeared among the list of first 500 rank holders.

Though passing Civil Services exam is not easy, preparing for the exam will help candidates take other exams with ease. Most of the winners are candidates who got coaching from training centres in the State. Most winners are ones who passed the exam in second or third chance. Systematic training, wide reading and consistent spirit are the secrets of the success. The proud achievement of the winners would certainly be an inspiration for coming generations of civil service aspirants.