Lost Eyesight at 6, Still Cracked UPSC Twice: How Pranjal Patil became India's first visually impaired IAS Officer

Meet Pranjal Patil: Lost Eyesight at 6, Still Cracked UPSC Twice

Life can change in a moment. For a little girl named Pranjal in Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra, that moment came when she was just seven years old. She lost her eyesight. Many people thought her world had become small and dark. But Pranjal decided something different. She decided that her world would be built not by what she could see, but by what she could dream.

Growing up, Pranjal learned to listen—really listen. She attended the Kamala Mehta School for the Blind in Mumbai, where her fingers danced over Braille and her mind absorbed every lesson. She didn’t just want to get by; she wanted to excel. And excel she did. She went on to study Political Science at the famous St. Xavier’s College, and then International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. With a sharp mind and a fearless heart, she even began her M.Phil and PhD.

But Pranjal had a bigger dream, one that many call the "toughest dream" in India—to become an IAS officer. The UPSC exam is known to break the spirit of many bright students. For Pranjal, the challenge was even greater. She couldn’t read the usual books or notes. How would she prepare?

Pranjal had a unique tool: her ears and her courage. She used special software on her computer that read books out loud to her. Where others used their eyes, Pranjal used her powerful sense of hearing and her incredible memory. She turned every spoken word into a building block for her future. She didn’t join any expensive coaching classes. Her classroom was her own willpower.

In 2016, she appeared for the UPSC exam for the first time and secured an All India Rank of 744. It was a good rank, but not enough for the IAS. A weaker person might have stopped there, but Pranjal was just warming up. She tried again the very next year. In 2017, the results announced her victory—she had achieved an All India Rank of 124! She had done it. Pranjal Patil became India’s first visually impaired woman to join the Indian Administrative Service.

Her journey to this victory wasn’t smooth. Before this, she had faced rejection. The Indian Railways had denied her a job because of her visual impairment. They saw a limitation, but Pranjal saw it as just another obstacle to overcome. She didn’t get angry; she became more determined.

In 2018, she started her service as the Assistant Collector in Ernakulam, Kerala. Today, she serves as the Sub-Collector of Thiruvananthapuram, working for the people and proving every single day that ability is about what you can do, not what others think you can’t.

Pranjal’s story is not about a rank or a title. It is a simple, powerful lesson: Your biggest weakness can become your greatest strength if you dare to believe in yourself. She didn’t have sight, but she had vision. She listened to books, but she followed her heart. And in doing so, she taught an entire nation to see possibilities where others see a closed door.

She is a reminder that no barrier is too high, and no dream is too far, as long as you are willing to take the first step, and then the next, without ever giving up.