New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced on Tuesday that Shakti Dubey has secured the first rank in the prestigious civil services examination 2024, followed by Harshita Goyal and Dongre Archit Parag in second and third positions respectively.
In a remarkable achievement for gender representation, three women featured among the top five successful candidates this year, with Shah Margi Chirag and Aakash Garg completing the top five ranks.
Dubey, a 28-year-old native of Naini, Uttar Pradesh, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Allahabad and a Master of Science degree from Banaras Hindu University (BHU). She qualified the examination with political science and international relations as her optional subjects in her fifth attempt.
“My dissertation work focused on nanoparticle-based delivery of SI-RNA for cancer therapy,” Dubey noted in her profile shared by the UPSC. Besides her scientific pursuits, she also enjoys “writing poems and quotes”.
Second-ranked Harshita Goyal, 24, from Haryana, is a chartered accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Currently residing in Vadodara, Gujarat, Goyal cleared the examination in her third attempt, also choosing political science and international relations as her optional subjects. According to her profile, Goyal’s interests include volunteering at the “Believe Foundation” NGO and acrylic painting.
Dongre Archit Parag, who secured the third position, is a 26-year-old electrical and electronics engineering graduate from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Tamil Nadu. A native of Pune, Maharashtra, Parag cleared the examination in his third attempt with philosophy as his optional subject. His hobbies include practising meditation, playing squash, and weight training. Fourth-ranked Shah Margi Chirag, 26, holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in computer engineering from Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad. She qualified with sociology as her optional subject in her fifth attempt. According to UPSC records, her interests include reading western fiction and learning Spanish.
Delhi’s Aakash Garg, 24, secured the fifth position in his second attempt, also choosing sociology as his optional subject. A computer science graduate from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, Garg’s interests include “following developments in artificial intelligence and its social impact, watching science-fiction movies and Formula-1 racing.”
The UPSC has recommended a total of 1,009 candidates for appointment to various services, comprising 725 men and 284 women. The government has reported 1,129 vacancies — 180 in IAS, 55 in IFS, 147 in IPS, 605 posts in different central Group A services and 142 in Group B services — to be filled through the civil services examination 2024.
The breakdown of successful candidates by category includes 335 from general category, 109 from economically weaker sections, 318 from other backward classes, 160 from scheduled castes, and 87 from scheduled tribes.
The civil services examination 2024 witnessed participation from 9,92,599 applicants, of whom 5,83,213 appeared for the preliminary examination held on June 16, 2023. Subsequently, 14,627 candidates qualified for the main examination conducted in September 2024, with 2,845 making it to the personality test or interview stage held between January 7 and April 17, 2025.
The UPSC noted that the top 25 successful candidates represent diverse educational backgrounds from premier institutions across India, including IITs, NITs, VIT, JNU, University of Delhi, and University of Allahabad. Their qualifications span engineering, humanities, science, commerce, medical science, and architecture.
These candidates chose various optional subjects for the main examination, including anthropology, commerce and accountancy, geography, mathematics, philosophy, physics, political science and international relations, public administration, sociology, and Tamil literature.
The commission has also kept the candidature of 241 recommended candidates provisional, while withholding the result of one candidate. Additionally, 230 successful candidates have been placed on a reserve list.
In an inclusive development, 45 persons with benchmark disabilities have also been selected, comprising 12 with orthopaedic handicaps, eight with visual challenges, 16 with hearing impairments, and nine with multiple disabilities.
The complete results are available on the UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in), with individual marks expected to be accessible within 15 days of the result declaration. Candidates seeking additional information can contact the UPSC’s ‘Facilitation Counter’ near the examination hall on its Delhi campus on all working days between 10 am and 5 pm, either in person or by calling 23385271/23381125/23098543.
Last year’s civil services examination was topped by Aditya Srivastava, a trainee IPS officer. The other top rankers included Animesh Pradhan, Donuru Ananya Reddy, P K Sidharth Ramkumar, and Ruhani, who secured the second, third, fourth, and fifth positions, respectively.