UPSC Topper Success Stories: IAS Ramesh Gholap used to sell bangles with his mother for a living, secured 287th rank & became IAS

UPSC Topper Success Story:

A resident of Barshi taluka of Solapur district of Maharashtra, Amesh Gholap was known as Ramu in his village Mahagun. Ramesh was a brilliant child since childhood. His father Gorakh Gholap ran a bicycle repair shop, which was enough to provide an income for his family, but this business did not last long as his health continued to deteriorate.

For this reason, Ramesh's mother had to go door to door selling bangles and Ramesh and his elder brother used to go with their mother to sell bangles. However, this wall of poverty could not stop him from working hard and Ramesh changed himself and his situation by passing the UPSC exam. Let's know how IAS Amesh Gholap decided this challenging journey:

Ramesh had only primary school in the village, so he went to live with his uncle in Barsi for further studies. Shortly before the 12th board examination, his father passed away. At that time his financial condition was so weak that he did not have even two rupees to pay the bus fare to go back to the village from his uncle's house. Yet he somehow reached the village and went to take the examination just four days after his father's death. He secured 88.4% marks in the 12th examination.

Due to lack of money for fees, did D.Ed. Diploma:

Ramu took admission in D.Ed (Diploma in Education) despite scoring good marks in 12th as it was the cheapest course he could do to get a job as a teacher and support his family. He completed his D.Ed as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from an open university. He started working as a teacher in 2009. It was like a dream come true for his family.

Troubled by corruption, decided to appear in UPSC:

Ramu lived with his mother and brother in a small room provided by his aunt, who got his two-room house through a government scheme called Indira Awas Yojana. He had seen his mother making rounds of government offices to get a house under this scheme. But they could not find that house. Not only this, Ramesh says that instead of providing kerosene to needy families like him, the owner of the ration shop in his village used to sell it in the black market.

Ramesh wanted to work against the corruption happening with the poor and that's why he decided to take a leave from his job for 6 months and give UPSC and Maharashtra State Service exams.

Topped in MPSC exam, passed UPSC exam in second attempt

Ramesh gave the UPSC exam without taking any coaching. However, he failed in the first attempt. Along with this, he also gave the state service examination of MPSC. He topped the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam in 2012, scoring 1,244 out of 1,800. In the same year, he also cleared the UPSC exam and secured 287th rank.

After his success, Ramesh says, “Whenever I cancel the license of a PDS shop owner who has been doing black marketing of kerosene, I remember my days when I had to switch off the lantern for lack of kerosene. Was. Whenever I help a widow, I remember my mother begging for a house or her pension. Whenever I visit a government hospital, I am reminded of my father's words when he had given up drinking and wanted better treatment. 

He used to ask me to become a grown man and take me to a private hospital. Whenever I help a poor child, I remember myself, I remember Ramu.