Narkhed farmer’s boy who studied in municipal school tops IFS
| Date :21-Mar-2020 |
(From left) Vishal Khatri along with his mother Kiran, father Dinanath, niece Chhandita, and brother Sagar at his residence.
By Vikas Vaidya :
Vishal, son of a farmer studied in rural school of Narkhed Nagar Panchayat till Class X. Then he came to Nagpur’s Shivaji Science College and did specialised study to get berth in top engineering institution--Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Powai. After acquiring degree he got an opportunity to work on a project in Rajasthan. While working on that project, he felt if the same system applied in other sectors too, it will benefit masses. Who can do it? Of course somebody who is powerful. With this in mind he has decided to crack Union Public Service Examination (UPSC). And Vishal Dinanath Khatri, after a rigorous study of 8 to 10 hours daily, cleared examination and stood fifth in the country in Indian Forest Service (IFS). This is a big achievement for this boy-next-door. He has not only brought laurels to the school, to Narkhed, to Nagpur, but also to the whole country.
All those who topped are achievers but Vishal’s success is different in the sense the background from which he came. Of course, he answered every query of ‘The Hitavada’ in a sensible manner. Not for once, his background reflected during the conversation. Vishal stood fifth in IFS and he is awaiting for his result of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) and subsequent branches. If he clears the IAS, IPS then he would go for it. He would prefer either IAS, IPS if not then he would continue with IFS. “I did B.Tech from IIT and then started working with Boston Consultant Group (BCG) at Rajasthan on a project where lot of IAS and IPS were involved. Large scale working set up was there. There I witnessed how to deal with department of environment, forest etc.
I made up my mind then and there, resigned and returned to Narkhed,” revealed Vishal. Vishal came to Narkhed, told his parents that he wanted to crack UPSC. Normal parents expect their wards to complete study and take up the job, so initially his parents were too reluctant but then got convinced and cooperated. “UPSC is conducted in three stages -- Prelims, Mains and interview. At first I cleared prelims and mains but could not succeed in third phase. Next year I cleared all the phases. I had taken Forestry and Mathematics as optional subjects. There is no syllabus for UPSC. Nine to ten hours of consistent study helped me in cracking examination,” elaborated Vishal. What difference did Vishal witness when he came to urban atmosphere? “Not much. Difference is not about rural or urban.
It is of CBSE and State Board. Secondly, extra-curricular and sports activities make the major difference. English speaking, talking openly are some of the challenges I faced. My parents never read English books but they did read Hindi or Marathi books. I too had a habit of reading English novels since childhood that helped me when I appeared in UPSC examination,” stated Vishal Khatri. Vishal’s younger brother Sagar, who also studied in IIT, Powai is doing job in Singapore. Father Dinanath is farmer, mother Kiran is home-maker. All of them were so happy when Vishal achieved this huge success. He is probably the first from Narkhed to crack UPSC. Since he is supposed to join in September, Vishal is guiding youngsters from his own Narkhed town on how to study with proper plan and get admission to top institutes, prepare for UPSC. Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, President of Narkhed Municipal Council Abhijit Gupta, Salil Deshmukh have congratulated Vishal Khatri and his family.