INNER WORDS OF KAS TOPPER : MOHIT RAINA

He was failed twice but in year 2012, he topped the KAS. Even though, Mohit Raina, says he was not even sure that he would make it to the list. “I was stuck the moment I heard I am the topper,” he says “but finally it is the hard work that pays.”

Mohit Raina

He failed twice in his endeavour, but finally become a topper in the recently declared KAS (Kashmir Administrative Service) results. Mohit Raina was not even sure that he would make it to the list. But not only he made it to the list, but topped the exams as well.

“I was not even sure that I will qualify it,” he says with a smile.

His determination kept him going despite the odds. Working hard meant focusing on his goal to get the things done for him.

Mohit says when he heard that he had topped the exams he was stuck. “But finally it is the hard work that pays.”

Hailing from Sunderbani hamlet of district Rajouri, Mohit Raina, topped the KAS exams this year with 1452 marks. Far away from his own subject, he chooses Geography and Management as optional. His next target is to clear the IAS.

Raina, first time appeared in KAS in 2009, but could only make it to the interview. And in second attempt 2010, he did not even make it to the mains. “Both these chances I was discouraged. As I was about to stop thinking about it, my parents motivated me and always appreciated what i was trying to do.” In 2009 he also tried his luck in IAS(Indian Administrative Services) but of no avail.

His dreams of becoming a KAS officer become reality only after six years of hard labor. It was in his mid engineering career that he decided to start preparing for KAS exams.

After completing his degree in electronics and communications from MBS Jammu he did not go for job. Instead went on pursuing his dream. He says, “Since from that I started preparing for it.”

Despite odds he never gave up. Preparation period was not too easy. Initially he faced problems from many facets, but once he got familiar with it then things started getting easy for him. He also believes the secret behind success is disciplined study. “My plans for study were different for both prelims and mains. For prelims I studied two subjects a day and while for mains I studied one subject for first three days of week and second for other three days,” he said while talking to Kashmir Life.

For study, Mohit says, many people read varied books on a single topic. But he did not pick that habit and instead focused on one. “My teacher advised me to stick only to NCERT books. So did me,” he said.

For aspirants, he suggests, do not read but understand the topics and concepts. Having knowledge about current events and international issues and study their impact on India, he says, plays a vital role in qualifying the exam.

He credits his success to parents, teachers and friends. He says, they had faith in him when he had not faith in himself. At tough times, during preparations in order to minimize the pressure, Mohit watched comedy movies especially of Mr Bean. He says that helped him a lot to reduce the pressure.

Raina is the only one male candidate in top 10 list of which 9 are girls. Pooja Rasgotra from Nanak Nagar Jammu got the second rank, followed by Anissa Nabi from srinagar at the third spot. Anissa is married and is also having one year old baby.

The General Administration Department had referred 142 vacancies of different gazetted services to the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) last year.

The JKPSC conducted the preliminary examination in September 2011. Of the 21,414 candidates appeared, 3,555 qualified for the mains. He said 503 candidates qualified for the interview and commission selected 142 among them.