Meet Sreedhanya Suresh, first tribal woman from Kerala to crack UPSC

A 26-year-old Adivasi woman from Wayanad district in Kerala has written history by making to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) after the results were announced on Friday.

Sreedhanya Suresh belonging to the Kurichiya tribal community cleared the civil services examination ranking 410 out of 759 candidates. She is the first woman from her community to hold such a prestigious victory.

A resident of MES Colony at Idiyamvayal in Pozhuthana village of Wayanad, Sreedhanya has passed the civil services exam in her third attempt. After completing her studies in 2016, she worked as a project assistant in the state's tribal department for some time. She was earlier selected as a police constable but rejected the offer.

"I am from the most backward district in the state. There are no tribal IAS officers from here even though there is a considerably large tribal population. I hope this will be an inspiration and motivation to the future generations," Sreedhanya said, reports TOI.

Her father is a daily wage worker and mother works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The Indian National Congress (INC) president Rahul Gandhi congratulated her from his official Twitter handle saying, "Ms Sreedhanya Suresh from Wayanad, is the first tribal girl from Kerala to be selected for the civil service. Sreedhanya's hard work & dedication have helped make her dream come true. I congratulate Sreedhanya and her family and wish her great success in her chosen career."

An alumnus of Thariyodu Government Higher Secondary School, she did her post-graduation in Applied Zoology at the University of Calicut after graduating in Zoology from St. Joseph's College in Devagiri, Kozhikode.