UPSC Success: Porter’s Journey to IAS Through Free Railway Wi-Fi

From carrying luggage to cracking India’s toughest exam, this inspiring story highlights how free Wi-Fi at a railway station helped a porter prepare and succeed in the UPSC exam, proving that determination knows no bounds.

A railway porter who passed the UPSC Civil Services Examination and fulfilled his dream of becoming an IAS, that too not with the help of any coaching or book but with the help of free Wi-Fi at the railway station. The way Srinath K achieved success with hard work while facing financial constraints is an example in itself.

Srinath K.'s story shows that if you have the passion to do something, then no difficulty can stop you. He faced poverty and difficult circumstances, but never gave up. While working as a porter at the railway station, he studied using free Wi-Fi and passed the UPSC Civil Services Examination to become an IAS. This is an amazing example of how anyone can change their life by using technology properly.

In the year 2018, Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal congratulated Srinath on his achievement. His story was also shared by Google India. Here is the success story of Srinath. How a porter working at a railway station became an IAS officer.

Srinath is a resident of Munnar in Kerala. His story shows that if a person wants, he can defeat difficulties. He was the only earning member of his family and worked as a porter in Ernakulam. He used to earn 400-500 rupees a day but even in this difficult life, he dreamed of serving the country by becoming a civil servant.

Life changed in the year 2016

In the year 2016, RailTel and Google started free Wi-Fi service at many railway stations in India. Srinath was working at Mumbai Central Railway Station at this time and he took advantage of this free WiFi and downloaded audio books and videos. For this, he arranged a phone with earphones for himself and continued studying while working as a porter at Mumbai station itself. While working at the station, he used to watch online lectures from his smartphone.

First passed the Kerala Public Service Commission exam

Sreenath, who started preparing for competitive exams at the age of 27, first passed the state-level civil service exam conducted by the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC). This gave him a government job. But he was not satisfied with this. He wanted to achieve an even bigger goal.

Sreenath's journey to success in UPSC was not easy. He gave the UPSC exam several times, but did not succeed. Finally, Srinath's hard work paid off in the fourth attempt and he fulfilled his dream of becoming an IAS officer by securing a good rank. His story tells us that success does not depend only on our circumstances or the things we have but on our courage and our dedication towards the goal.