Who Is Taruni Pandey? A Jharkhand Girl Uses YouTube To Her Advantage To Pass The UPSC CSE Exam On Her First Attempt

Success Story: A decade ago, Taruni Pandey wouldn't have listed being a civil servant among her goals. She has always wanted to be a doctor, and she has signed her name as "Dr. Taruni Pandey" since she was in third grade. Today, however, Taruni became an IAS officer after passing the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Exam (CSE) in 2021 without any coaching. 

32-year-old Taruni Pandey grew up in Chittaranjan, West Bengal, and had her education there before moving on to Jamtara, Jharkhand. She studied at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for her bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature. Taruni had nurtured a childhood dream of becoming a doctor ever since she was in the third grade. Her job aspirations remained unwavering over the years. Taruni initially intended to pursue an MBBS degree, but she was forced to stop her studies in the second year owing to health issues. She studied for the UPSC civil services exam nonetheless, as she was still keen to pursue other options.

After her brother-in-law passed away, Taruni was forced to accompany her sister to various government offices, where she interacted with a number of politicians and officials. Taruni discovered a new purpose for her life during this time. She was motivated by this event and became aware of the systemic change that one person can effect.

Taruni Pandey desired to take the 2020 UPSC preliminary examinations. But just four days before the exam, she became ill with COVID-19, throwing her plans for the future into disarray. Despite knowing it would be her final attempt because she was getting close to the age limit for candidates in the general category, she was unfazed and took the exam in 2021. For candidates in the general category, the UPSC CSE age limit is 32.

The UPSC CSE test she took in 2021 saw her obtain an amazing rank of 14. Without receiving any coaching, Taruni had an extraordinary UPSC performance. She used online resources like YouTube and her own self-made study materials as substitutes. Even with such a short amount of time to study for her UPSC prelims, Taruni came up with a clever plan to ace the civil service exam. In addition to using textbooks, she also watched YouTube videos to compile her study notes. According to her, she developed a plan to get rid of the wrong answers. She claims that her class 1–10 schooling was very beneficial to her for the mains.