Bisma Bhat
Srinagar: A random check-up of a man who had applied cow dung on his wound in a remote Doda village prompted Dr Asrar Ahmad Kichloo to crack civil services in a bid to serve the poor and needy in the remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
The 27-year-old doctor is among 14 candidates from Jammu and Kashmir who have cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil service exam-2019.
“During my internship, I was shocked to see that a patient had applied cow dung on his wound in a remote village. He was not aware that this will cause septic. In the entire Jammu, we have only one medical college, and people from remote areas had to travel for 24 hours to reach the hospital. Many such incidents happened during my internship which pushed me to go for civil services,” said Dr. Asrar.
Hailing from Bhaderwah town of Doda district, he completed MBBS from GMC Jammu and wanted to do post-graduation in orthopaedics but after his internship, Dr Asrar changed his mind and decided to give civil services a try.
“Both of my parents were happy to learn about my success. My mother is a veterinarian and my father is a retired animal husbandry officer,” he said.
It was nothing short of a pleasant surprise when he received the news about his success. “At first I thought it was a fake PDF. I did not believe that the result has been declared. Later my friends and relatives started sending me congratulatory messages. I again logged on to the official website to be doubly sure,” Dr Asrar said.
More than 400 kilometres away at Punzwa Villgam village in Kupwara, phones have not stopped ringing at the house of 23-year old Nadia Beig. She has become the first girl from the remote village to have qualified civil service examination securing 350th rank.
A graduate in economics honours from Jamia Milia Islamia, she has been preparing hard for the civil services since her college. “I had a little concept of civil services in my higher secondary. When I was in university, my interest started growing in civil services. I took coaching for sociology from the residential academy of Jamia Millia,” Nadia said.
It was Nadia’s second attempt at the civil services. She tried her luck in 2018 but did not succeed.
“Both of my parents are in the teaching profession. My two young sisters are studying MBBS in SKIMS and my brother has done BBA. When I was away from home last year, I wanted to talk to my parents but could not due to the communication gag. I dedicate my success to my parents and my siblings who always stood by me,” she said.
