Farmer’s son surmounts odds to scale the summit

Srikakulam: “During my childhood my family was ostracized by local village elders as our parents had food with a weaker section family. The humiliation faced by my family instilled in me an ambition to achieve a good position by succeeding in UPSC examination” says civil services third ranker Ronanki Gopala Krishna.

He achieved this distinction by appearing for the mains and the interview in Telugu language. “Most of them attempted to dissuade and discourage me from taking up the UPSC exam in Telugu language. But, undeterred, I went ahead with self confidence and succeeded,” Gopala Krishna recalled.

“I was interviewed by Sujatha Mehtha and I answered all questions in Telugu through a translator. They asked me about my family background and my teaching profession. At the conclusion of the interview I sung a patriotic song which was appreciated by board chairperson Sujatha Mehatha” he said.

Gopala Krishna hailing from Parasamba, a remote area situated at out skirts of Palasa town, is the second son of farm workers, AppaRao and Rukmini. His parents have a small holding of 56 cents of land. His brother is working in SBI. Like any other student Gopala Krishna finished elementary, high school and college education at local government institutions and did his B.Sc from Andhra University (AU) through distance mode.

He completed D.Ed in a government college in West Godavari and started working as secondary grade teacher (SGT) at Regulapadu government school in Palasa mandal. After three attempts, Gopal Krishna not only succeeded but also achieved the top honours and bagging the all India third position. Gopal Krishna also emerged as the topper in the two Telugu speaking states.

He wrote main examinations in Telugu - his optional subject was also Telugu literature - and attempted oral test also in Telugu language which is a record in UPSC history. He had been preparing for the UPSC examinations for the last 11 years.

“Our son always worked hard to achieve his ambition of passing the civil services exams. He spent most of his time in a small room in our house and faced number of problems,” says Gopal Krishna’s parents. “We suggested our son to serve the poor people and work towards their development and progress,” they said.
Palasa division Kalinga Samkshema Sangham members also felicitated parents of Gopalakrishna on Thursday evening for his achievement. Ministers, K.Kala Venkata Rao, K.Atchannaidu, TDP MP, K.Rammohan Naidu, government whip, Kuna Ravi Kumar, TDP district president G.Sirisha congratulated.

By Chowdari Lakshmana Rao