Farmer's daughter first Muslim woman from J&K to crack IAS

Srinagar (J/K), May 15 (PTI) Failing twice to clear the
Indian Administrative Service examination did not deter Ovessa
Iqbal from trying again to break into the coveted civil
services as she felt it was the only way she could change the
lives of people of her state Jammu and Kashmir.
Iqbal, hailing from remote Chachoot village in Ladakh
region, is among the seven successful candidates from the
state to have cracked the Union Public Service Commission
examination this year and the first Muslim woman from the
state to make it the prestigious civil services list.
It was not an easy ride for 25-year-old Iqbal, whose
father is a farmer, as a big disadvantage was having been born
in Ladakh, a region which is gripped by intense cold for six
months of winter and remains cut off from rest of the world
due to heavy snowfall.
After finishing her Bachelor's Degree in Chemical
Engineering, she had the option of studying MBA like her
classmates at college in Chandigarh but the desire to serve
her own people pushed her to work towards the Civil Services
goal.
"I had options to either go for MBA or masters in
chemical engineering or go for the civil services. My
colleagues would often talk in campus about the financial
packages they would get after MBA but I was not interested in
it. I had a desire to do something different and made up
my mind to try for the civil services," Iqbal said soon after
the list was released.
Iqbal failed to even get past the preliminary round in
her first attempt in 2008. She worked hard and got through to
the mains the next year but could not cross the final hurdle.
In the meantime, she appeared in Kashmir Administrative
Service (KAS) examination last year and qualified. However,
she did not rest on her laurels and appeared at the national
level again last year.
"The credit for my success goes to my family as without
their efforts it would not have been possible for me to crack
the examination," said Iqbal.
She wants the youth of the state to follow her footsteps
and those of other successful candidates if they want to put
an end to injustices being meted out to them.
"To stop the exploitation of people, youth should come
forward to make a change through civil services," she said.