Who is Sreedhanya Suresh - the FIRST tribal woman from Kerala to clear UPSC exam?

A day after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the results for UPSC civil services examination, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday congratulated Sreedhanya Suresh, the first tribal woman from Kerala to clear the prestigious exam. Twenty-two-year-old Sreedhanya, a resident of Wayanad, bagged the 410th rank in the Civil Services Examination, 2018, the results of which were made available at the official website of the UPSC i.e. upsc.gov.in on Friday.

Taking to Twitter, Gandhi wrote, "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".

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 successs in her chosen career.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 6, 2019

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also extended his best wishes to Sreedhanya and spoke to her over the phone. In a Facebook post, Vijayan said, "Sreedhanya fought social backwardness and passed the civil services exam with flying colours. Her achievement will inspire other students in the future".

"The dropout level among tribal students is the highest. I hope to change that. There are so many other issues - land rights, women's safety, problems of unwed mothers. But I wouldn't focus my work on a single community, I'd deal with the problems of every community," Vijayan added.

Being asked about her future course of action, Sreedhanya told The News Minute, "Only, I expected a better rank. But 410 is fine, I hope it should get me IAS, as has been the pattern in previous years".

"Our happiness is sky high... We stretched to the maximum to ensure that she studies well. We ensured that nothing becomes a barrier for her studies and now her hard work has been rewarded," IANS quoted Sreedhanya's mother Kamala.

Sreedhanya, who is the daughter of daily wage labourers Suresh and Kamala, belongs to the Kurichiya tribe. Talking about her educational qualifications, she graduated in B.Sc. in Zoology from Devagiri St Joseph's College in Kozhikode and completed her Post Graduation in Applied Zoology at the University of Calicut.  

Apart from Sreedhanya, 28 more Keralites have cleared the Uttar Pradesh Civil Services Examination, 2018.

A total of 759 candidates, out of which 577 men and 182 women, have been recommended for appointment to posts of IAS, IPS etc. While Kanishak Kataria topped the examination all over India, Srushti Jayant Deshmukh came first among women.