KOLLAM: Twenty-three-year-old S Sushree, a native of Kollam who was the youngest person to qualify in the UPSC exam in 2017, has joined Odisha cadre on Monday after completing her more than year-long training at Dehradun and National Police Academy at Hyderabad.
Daughter of a former Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, Sushree qualified the exam in her first attempt and secured 151st rank without the support of any coaching institute.Currently she is undergoing an eight-month field training in Bhubaneswar after which she will be appointed the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Odisha.
The 53-year-old father proudly says the father-daughter’s seven years of joint hard work has helped her achieve the biggest dreams of her life. Sushree’s father PT Sunil Kumar took voluntary retirement from service in CRPF to assist his daughter to achieve her dream.
Sunil Kumar was part of the Special Protection Group (SPG) between 2004 and 2010. He was also in the security team protecting former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In 2008, when Sushree was 14 years old, she once got an opportunity to present a bouquet of flowers to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gurcharan Kaur. In the same event, she also got a chance to interact with several higher officials, including IAS and IPS.
“That was a turning point. After that event, she started enquiring about civil service examination. My regular contacts and service with several civil servants ignited her passion to prepare for the exam. Then, I decided that I’ll go to any extent to help out my daughter,” said Sunil, who left his job in Delhi in 2010 and flew down to his home town of Anchal to help Sushree in her exams.
The ambitious father who was also her mentor prepared timetable and study plan for his daughter. “I prepared a time-table which she strictly followed. We did not send her for any coaching and wanted her to crack the exam in her first attempt,” he said.
The 23-year-old is a graduate in communicative English from St. John’s College in Anchal. She has a younger sister S Devisree who is currently doing her first-year graduation in the same college. Sushree’s mother S Sreekala is a Mathematics teacher with the Sabarigiri School in Anchal. The family hails from Thazhamel in Anchal.
Field training
Currently Sushree is undergoing an eight-month field training in Bhubaneswar after which she will be appointed the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Odisha.