From Police Clerk To IAS Officer: Meet Kerala Girl Who Braved All Odds To Emerge As A Winner

In the past few years, the number of women officers in the civil services have gone up considerably. Women are passing out with flying colours, setting an example for others despite all odds.

One such example is Kerala's Minnu PM who cleared civil services exams as it was her and her late father's wish. She worked a full time job and studied for civil services examination, all the same time. She secured All India Rank 150.

Minnu PM joined the Kerala Police as a clerk at its headquarters on compassionate grounds following her father's death, but she knew it wasn't the job she was going to do for the rest of her life. Her late father, a policeman, who had died while in service, had already shown her the path -- civil services -- and Minnu was determined to put in the hard work to achieve it.

minnu PM IAS

Her story

When Minnu PM got the clerical job in the police department under the die-in-harness scheme in 2012, she had already made her mind to pursue some bigger dreams. She wanted to crack the civil services examination. It was not the stature of the clerk¡¯s job that made her chase bigger ambitions. Instead, she felt the job that she got after her father died in harness could not be called her job.

¡°It was his job, not mine. I did not clear the examinations to get it. So I¡¯ve to earn my job,¡± she always believed. On Friday, the Kariavattom native achieved her ambition of cracking the much coveted exam as she bagged 150th rank. Minnu, who lost her father when she was in class XII, always excelled in academics. She had completed the masters in biochemistry from the Kerala University with a second rank.

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Her IAS journey

Minnu started her real civil service preparations in 2015 and two years later managed to clear the mains exam. However, she fumbled in the interviews and was 13 marks short of making it to the list. The 30-year-old, who is now working in the Police Headquarters, said it was her dedication to studies that made her crack the exams.

Luckily for her, she was placed at the police headquarters in the capital, where scores of former civil services rank holders are employed. And Minnu, who hold a postgraduate degree in Biochemistry, found the moral support she had sought from the police top brass there.

minnu PM IAS

Besides, IPS officers also supported her and motivated her. ¡°Former DGP Loknath Behera, ADGP Manoj Abraham and other IPS officers in the headquarters helped me a lot,¡± she said. Minnu¡¯s husband Joshy DJ is an ISRO employee and they have a son who is studying in Class II.