IAS officer quits job to teach underprivileged UPSC aspirants | Video

Former IAS officer Arun Kumar quit his government job to take free UPSC classes (Image credit: screengrab from video tweeted by @ErikSolheim)

An IAS officer quit his prestigious job to teach underprivileged UPSC aspirants in Bihar’s Patna, earning praise and appreciation on social media.

An IAS officer of the 1994 batch, Arun Kumar runs free coaching classes for students who cannot afford the exorbitant fee charged by most UPSC coaching centres, according to The Better India.

Kumar was inspired by the social work of his wife Ritu Jaiswal when he started these open-air classes on the banks of River Ganga. He believes that one’s financial status should not become a barrier in cracking the UPSC civil services exam - considered to be one of the world’s toughest exams.

Indeed, for an IAS officer to quit his job is in itself a rare thing, considering the amount of preparation and hard work that goes into cracking the exam. Kumar, who self-prepared for the UPSC exam, decided to hold open-air classes to save on infrastructure costs.

Norwegian diplomat Erik Solheim was among those who praised Kumar. Solheim shared a video of the former IAS officer teaching aspirants and wrote: “Bravo! Around 3,500 aspirants get free coaching on the banks of the GangaGhat in Patna, Bihar thanks to former IAS Officer Arun Kumar. He left his job to take classes for those who cannot afford expensive coaching to prepare for the exams.”

Bravo! Around 3,500 aspirants get free coaching on the banks of the GangaGhat in Patna, Bihar, India thanks to former IAS Officer Arun Kumar. He left his job to take classes for those who can not afford expensive coaching to prepare for the exams.

pic.twitter.com/kgJ3cSw8oi — Erik Solheim (@ErikSolheim) July 29, 2022

According to The Better India, many of Kumar’s students have successfully cleared the exam.

On Twitter, many applauded Kumar after watching the video.