LoC to UPSC: 23-yr-old Kupwara girl in J&K list of 16

SRINAGAR: A 23-year-old from remote village of Punzwa — 30 km from the Line of Control (LOC) in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district — is the only girl among 16 candidates from Jammu & Kashmir to have cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam.
Nadia Beigh, who has completed her bachelors in economics from Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia university, secured an all-India rank of 350 in the 2019 exam, the results of which were declared Tuesday.
This was her second attempt. “In 2018 exams, I did not even qualify preliminary exams but that only strengthened my resolve to join the administrative services,” said Beigh, who completed her grade 12 from a government school in her village. She is also the first person in her village to clear UPSC exams.
“As a child, I was influenced by Michelle Obama and how the first African-American first lady had fought racism,” said Beigh, who mostly relied on self-study but took coaching for optional subjects.
Beigh, who returned to Kashmir in May this year, recalled how internet services and phone lines snapped soon after revocation of Article 370 last year. “I couldn’t get in touch with my parents for 25 days… But Kashmir is a part of India and that's the future of the valley. In fact, I would have loved to work in J&K but my rank may not allow me to do that,” said Beigh.
Majid Iqbal Khan from Anantnag — who secured a rank of 638 in the UPSC — and was preparing for his exam in Delhi also admitted that being unable to stay in touch with his parents when he was appearing for mains was the difficult part for him. “There was no connectivity last August so I could not talk to them, but their blessings were with me. I’m glad I passed with flying colours.”
Meanwhile, Aftab Rasool who also hails from a remote village called Trehgam in Kupwara district ranked 412 in the exams.
Topping the list of successful candidates from the union territory were Abhishek Augustsya from Jammu at rank 38 followed by Sunny Gupta (148) and Dev Ahuti (177), both residents of Jammu.
Others included Parth Gupta (240), Asrar Ahmad Kitchloo (248), Asif Yousuf Tantray (328), Namgyal Angmo (323), Sabzar Ahmad Ganie (628), Stanzin Wangyal (716), Rayees Hussain (747), Mohammed Nawas Sharaf Uddin Sharafuddin (778) and Syed Junaid Adil (822).