Meet Sreedhanya Suresh- first person from Kerala’s tribal community to clear UPSC

You don’t need a magic wand to become successful in life. All that you require is the willingness to succeed, the will to do things, the ability to move on and the perseverance to try even when there are many challenges ahead. Sreedhanya Suresh from Kerala’s Wayanad district can proudly say that she has all these aforementioned qualities.

The 22-year-old talent became the first tribal girl from the district to crack the civil service examinations. She came through with flying colours as she secured 410th rank in the examination.

Credits: Hindustan Times

While addressing the reporters, Sreedhanya had said that she belonged to the most backward district in the state. She said that though, there were quite many tribals living in the state, there were no tribal IAS officers from Wayanad. She also hoped that her selection would motivate future generations also to overcome the challenges.

Sreedhanya was born to Suresh and Kamala of the Ambalakkolly tribal settlement at Achooranam, located near Pozhuthana in the district. While her dad is a daily wage worker, her mom works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

Her mother told news agency IANS that they made sure there was no barrier in her journey to success. They are eventually happy that her hard work has been rewarded.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan was among the first politicians to take to his Facebook account to congratulate the 22-year-old girl.

“Sreedhanya fought the social backwardness and passed the civil services exam with flying colours. Her achievement will inspire other students in the future,” he wrote in his Facebook post.

Sreedhanya did her graduation and postgraduation in Zoology. While she did her graduation from St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri, Kozhikode, she also did her post-graduation in Applied Zoology at the University of Calicut, as reported by The Hindu.

She chose Malayalam literature as her optional subject for Mains and also received training from Fortune IAS Academy, Thiruvananthapuram. She told Hindu that the current Kozhikode collector Sreeram Sambasiva Rao inspired her in the best possible way to attend the Civil services exam.

“Bravo Ms.Sreedhanya Suresh for being the first woman from the Kurichya Tribe of Wayanad to clear UPSC exams with distinction. Kudos to Kerala Government for facilitating such progress of Tribal Communities,” Kamal Haasan tweeted.

“Ms Sreedhanya Suresh from Wayanad is the first tribal girl from Kerala to be selected for the civil service. Sreedhanya’s hard work & dedication have helped make her dream come true. I congratulate Sreedhanya and her family and wish her great success in her chosen career,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.