The Hindu, in association with Shankar IAS Academy and Arul Anandar College (Autonomous) organised a Union Public Service Commission Aspirants’ Meet in Madurai on Thursday.

Inaugurating the UPSC aspirants club, Madurai Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar told the students that without discipline, dedication and self control one could not succeed in any competitive examination.

You can dream of anything you want to become, even about scaling Mount Everest. But, you should have discipline in order to achieve it, he said, adding that education was an important tool in achieving the dream and overcoming any difficulties.

Usually people associate mobile phones and the internet with addiction. However, they can be great teachers. This was where self control was very important and also played a major role. You have to pick the right materials that were required to prepare for the competitive examination and not get distracted, he told the students.

District Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar speaking at the UPSC Aspirants Club inauguration at Arul Anandar College, organised by The Hindu, in Madurai on Thursday.
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R. ASHOK

Sharing his experience on his preparation for the examination, he said self assessment was very important. You have to follow the previous year papers, other materials, solve and learn from them.

There were several myths regarding the UPSC examinations. Some of them were that only a topper can succeed or someone from an urban area, who spends a lot of money on coaching or someone who studied in a big school and with English knowledge could crack it.

Logo of The Hindu Civil Services Aspirants Club with Shankar IAS Academy.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

However, none of this was true. There were several examples of people who studied in their mother tongue, government schools, people who had prepared from their homes in the village who have cracked the examination. Even the UPSC interview, you could give in your mother tongue, he said. He also told the students to make good use of the library.

Rev.Dr. Basil Xavier, Rev.Dr. Antonysamy A SJ, Rev.Dr. Anbarasu M SJ of Arul Anandar College, Shankar IAS Academy Branch Head Arjun Nathan and Senior Manager S&D of The Hindu group S. Narayanan were present.