Meet IAS Varun Barnwal : Son of cycle mechanic who achieved 32nd rank in UPSC
Varun Barnwal
The story of Varun Barnwal is an inspiration to all those who leave their goals incomplete citing a lack of resources and facilities
Becoming an IAS officer is not easy. It requires a lot of strength and resilience. The story of Varun Barnwal is an inspiration to all those who leave their goals incomplete citing a lack of resources and facilities.
Varun, who hails from the Boisar area near Thane, Maharashtra, had secured 32nd rank in the civil services examination in the year 2013. Varun stood against all odds and did not give up on his dream and dealt with all the obstacles. As a result, he found the solution to all his problems and became an IAS officer.
Varun’s father had passed away after three days of him giving his class 10 examination. His father used to run a cycle repair shop. The family was suffering through the financial crisis and the little money the family had saved over the years was spent on his father’s treatment.
After this, the only source of income was the cycle repair shop but after the death of Varun’s father, the question was who would sit at the shop now? In this situation, Varun had decided to take charge and take care of his family. In between all this, his 10th class results came in and he had topped his class.
Later, Varun’s mother took the responsibility for the shop and asked him to continue his studies further. But for Varun, obstacles never really took a backseat. When he wanted to take admission in class 11, he required a huge amount, which he did not have. But fortunately, the doctor who had treated his father decided to pay for his studies and immediately shelved ten thousand rupees.
For Varun, classes 11 and 12 were the most difficult because he used to attend school in the morning and later he used to teach tuition, then at night after seeing the accounts of the shop, he used to sleep. it was difficult for him to pay his school fees at this time but he was surrounded by good people and his teachers decided to help him and shelved a part of their salaries to pay his school fees.
Initially, Varun wanted to become a doctor but he eventually learned that it required a lot of money. After clearing school, he went on to sell his ancestral land and paid the fees for his college first year and topped as well. He got a scholarship for his other two years and other needs were taken by his friends.
After college, he got a job in a multinational company. Though his family wanted him to continue with his job, he wanted to go ahead with civil services but his family supported him in his decision. To prepare for the exam he got help from NGOs who provided books to him. Due to everyone’s help, he managed to crack the exam and became an IAS officer.
He is currently posted as the Regional Commissioner of Municipality in Rajkot. The story of his journey has also been shown by the Ministry of Steel through a film.
