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On 15 July, Asha learned that she cleared the Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) examination and ranked 728th. She will soon be posted as a deputy collector.
Asha is a single mother to her son and a daughter. Her five-year-long marriage ended when she separated from her husband. Asha comes from the Valmiki caste, one of the most backward castes in our society which has suffered centuries of discrimination, which made her journey even more difficult.
The idea of getting into the state civil services stuck on with her, as people mocked her and asked if she was a collector. It was then that she googled the meaning of the word ‘collector’ and decided to get into civil services.
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Asha appeared for the RAS entrance test three years ago, but 12 days after the exam, she got a job as a cleaner with the Jodhpur Municipal Corporation. She took the job of keeping the city streets clean while she waited for the results.
As per the rules of the Jodhpur civic body, Asha had to be on job from 6 am to 2 pm every day. Her salary was Rs. 12,500, the only means of feeding her kids.
Asha used to wake up at 5 am and studied after duty hours. “From using mobile online applications to getting notes from wherever I could, I studied as hard as my circumstances permitted,” She also said that her two children helped her a great deal in preparing for the exams.
Asha’s 21-year-old daughter Pallavi is a now student of final year graduation and her 19-year old son Rishabh is studying in his second year of college.
Asha asserted, “Though it was a tough journey and I suffered a lot. I, now, consider myself in a position where I wish to do something for the underprivileged and those subjected to injustice.”