The results announced on Friday showed that Anuj Agnihotri, a 26-year-old MBBS graduate from AIIMS Jodhpur, secured first rank in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2025. Tamil Nadu’s Rajeshwari Suve M and Akansh Dhol from Panchkula secured second and third positions respectively.
According to a statement, the committee recommended appointing 958 candidates – 659 men and 299 women – for appointment in various services. This number is marginally lower than the recommended 1,009 last year and 1,016 the year before.
According to a UPSC statement, a total of 937,876 candidates appeared for the examination, with 576,793 candidates having already appeared for the preliminary examination on May 25, 2025. A total of 14,161 candidates qualified for the written main examination, of which 2,736 appeared for the personality test.
Agnihotri, from Ratabhatta in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan, qualified in his third attempt to study medical science as an elective subject. The MBBS (MBBS) graduate from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) – Jodhpur is currently on probation as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in Delhi after getting selected for the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) – Group B Civil Service – in 2025, and expressed disbelief at his achievement.
“I was home when the results were announced. I still haven’t digested it. I am from a place called Ratibhatta in Rajasthan. This was my third attempt. I completed my schooling in Rajasthan and later got my MBBS degree from AIIMS Jodhpur. I am on probation for DANICS batch of 2025-27. I saw the results and found my name at the top. I can’t describe my feelings,” he said.
His father, KP Agnihotri, a supervisor at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant, told news agency PTI that he attributed the success to his son’s continuous hard work, noting that Anuj had been excellent in his studies from the beginning.
Ranking second was Rajeshwari Suvi M. She is a graduate of B.Sc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Anna University, Chennai, and qualified in Sociology as her electives. She is currently Deputy Collector of Tamil Nadu after topping the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) in 2024.
Rajeshwari told news agency PTI that her journey to the top of the rankings was a marathon of perseverance that began soon after her graduation in 2017. “It has been a long journey for me. It had its own challenges, but I had to address the mistakes I had made in previous attempts,” she was quoted as saying.
“I did a SWOT analysis of my exams and performance. It takes perseverance, and family support has been the mainstay for me,” she added.
Akansh Dahl, a Bachelor of Commerce graduate from Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), secured third rank in Commerce and Accounting as his electives. Previously selected in 2023 and 2024, he was working in the Indian Audit and Accounts Service. Dhull got AIR 342 in his first attempt and AIR 295 in his second attempt.
Dhoul said he began preparing during his sophomore year in college, and said the journey was shaped by learning from early mistakes. “At first, I made technical mistakes in writing answers, and sometimes I became overly confident,” he said. “It took me time to improve my writing and reflect after each attempt.”
His previous attempt saw him score relatively lower on a personality test, which he described as a “huge setback”. “But I had a dream and I had to keep going,” he said.
The son of Krishan Dhoul, a former Haryana State Board of Child Welfare official and a government school principal, he credited his father for nurturing his dream of civil services early on.
The top 25 candidates include 11 women and 14 men, with educational qualifications ranging from engineering, humanities, science, commerce, law, medical sciences and media from leading institutions including IIT, NLU, AIIMS, DTU, Anna University, Delhi University and University of Mumbai.
Recommended candidates include 42 people with standard disabilities. The vacancies this year include 180 posts in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 55 posts in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and 150 posts in the Indian Police Service (IPS), with a total of 1,087 vacancies across Group A and B services.
With agency input
