UPSC rank holder Poorva Choudhary, who secured AIR 533 in UPSC Civil Services exam, lands in controversy due to…., father says…

Poorva Choudhary obtained 771 marks in the written examination and 165 marks in the personality test. Overall, she achieved a total of 936 marks.

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is one of the toughest examinations in the country. Every year, thousands of candidates appear for this competitive exam; those who qualify the preliminary stage move on to the mains examination, followed by the interview round. Recently, UPSC declared the Civil Services(Main) Examination 2024 final result. Poorva Choudhary secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 533 in the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination 2024.

Poorva Choudhary obtained 771 marks in the written examination and 165 marks in the personality test. Overall, she achieved a total of 936 marks. However, Poorva Choudhary has found herself at the center of an online controversy, with several social media users questioning her eligibility under the Other Backward Class (OBC) Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) quota. In response to these allegations, her father has issued a statement addressing the concerns.

Refuting the allegations, Poorva Choudhary’s father, Omprakash Saharan, a Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer currently serving as the Additional District Collector in Kotputli, stated that many people making such claims lacked a proper understanding of the applicable rules and regulations.

In an interview with India Today,  Poorva Choudhary’s father, Omprakash Saharan stated, “In the case of direct RAS recruitment before the age of 40, the OBC NCL benefit does not apply. I became an RAS officer at 44. So, the claim that my daughter misused the certificate is completely untrue.”

Furthermore, Saharan explained that the same guideline applies to promotions or appointments to Class I positions—if such a promotion occurs before the age of 40, the child becomes ineligible for the OBC NCL quota. “That’s not my case,” he clarified dismissing the claims.

Highlighting the rapid spread of misinformation on social media, Saharan remarked,“People follow herd mentality. UPSC is a trending topic right now, and many use it to gain views and followers.”

The controversy was sparked after Poorva Choudhary’s sister, Navya Saharan, shared a celebratory video on Instagram following the UPSC results. The reel, which included several pictures of Poorva—one of them taken outside the UPSC building—was captioned: “✨ Sibling goals? One cracked the most difficult exam in our country. The other’s writing this caption!!!😌😚”

“The video features several pictures of Poorva Choudhary, including one taken in front of the UPSC building, possibly on the day of her personality test (interview). The video is set to the background music of ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram from the Bollywood movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The comment section is filled with congratulatory messages.”

However, the tone of the conversation changed after social media users spotted “OBC” mentioned in the official results, sparking speculation about Poorva’s eligibility—particularly in light of her father’s current senior position.

According to government guidelines, children of Group A officers who are promoted after the age of 40 remain eligible for reservation benefits, as long as the family’s annual income—excluding income from agriculture—does not exceed ₹8 lakh.