Navjot Simi is a famous IPS officer.
She secured an all India rank of 735 in the UPSC CSE 2017.
Navjot Simi’s story of persevering despite failing to clear the Civil Services Exam twice and then, clearing the CSE 2017 is very inspiring.
So read on.
Introduction-
Navjot Simi was born on 21 December 1987.
She hails from a village in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
Her father, Hans Raj works as a branch manager of Union Bank and her mother is a housewife.
Navjot Simi has two siblings, a younger sister and a younger brother, Mohit Simi.
Schooling–
Navjot Simi did her schooling from a Punjab School Education Board school in Gurdaspur.
As she wanted to become a doctor since her childhood, she chose the medical stream in her 11th grade.
Navjot Simi studied in Gurdaspur until her 12th grade.
Studying BDS-
In 2005, Navjot Simi joined Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab to study for a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS).
She passed out from the college in July 2010 and during that time, she didn’t think of preparing for the Civil Services Examination (CSE).
Starting her career-
After completing her BDS, Navjot Simi started her career as a dentist in a dental clinic in Gurdaspur.
Attracted towards CSE-
While working as a dentist, Navjot Simi started facing societal pressure to get married and settle down.
But she wanted to achieve something big in her life before getting married.
During that time, Navjot Simi observed that few of her friends were preparing for the UPSC CSE and she too thought of preparing for it.
She was particularly attracted towards the Civil Services over the dentist profession because compared to her dentist profession, the Civil Services gives her an opportunity to observe and serve a wide area.
Preparation-
Navjot Simi took the Civil Services coaching from Vajiram & Ravi, Delhi.
As she hadn’t previously studied the subjects like politics, economy, sociology, geography, etc, she initially struggled to understand them but as she continued studying, she started grasping these subjects.
Navjot Simi referred to the Indian Polity book by M. Laxmikanth for polity and Sriram IAS book for economy.
Initially, it used to take her three hours to complete reading a newspaper but with practise, she has been able to bring it down to one hour.
An interesting fact-
Safin Hasan and Pradeep Singh also took coaching from Vajiram & Ravi in Delhi.
Optional subject-
Navjot Simi chose sociology as her optional subject for UPSC CSE.
Her mother always supported her through her journey and motivated her that she could crack the Civil Services Exam.
CSE attempts-
Navjot Simi attempted the UPSC CSE in 2015 but failed to clear the interview.
Unfortunately, she also failed to clear the interview in the UPSC CSE 2016.
So, Navjot Simi attended some mock interviews and took the feedback and improved herself.
Finally, she cracked the UPSC CSE 2017 and got a rank of 735.
An interesting fact-
Tanu Jain and Apala Mishra also studied BDS and then cleared the Civil Services Exam.
Becoming IPS-
Navjot Simi did rigorous physical training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad.
She was allotted the Bihar cadre and she completed her district training in Patna, Bihar.
In September 2021, Navjot Simi was given the charge as the ASP of Dehri Rohtas.
Prior to this, she worked as the DSP of Patna.
Navjot Simi is interested in working on women’s education and being a part of policy making.
Appreciated by Narendra Modi-
In a meeting in July 2021, Narendra Modi appreciated Navjot Simi for joining the police force and said that she would inspire other women to join the police.
Her hobbies-
Navjot Simi loves reading books and her favourite books are The Alchemist and India Unbound: from Independence to the Global Information age.
Her other hobbies are yoga and running.
Getting married-
On 14 February 2020, Navjot Simi got married to Tushar Singla, an IAS officer in the SDO office in West Bengal.
He hails from Chandigarh, Punjab and belongs to the 2015 West Bengal cadre.
So, how are you inspired by the success story of Navjot Simi?
Share with me in the comment section below.
About Author
Hello folks, I'm Naveen Reddy.
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