There is more of SAIL in lives of 2 UPSC qualifiers

(By Abhishek Sonkar) New Delhi,  (PTI) ‘There’s a little bit of SAIL in everybody’s life’ – the popular tagline of the domestic steel giant could not be more true in case of Sanjita Mohapatra and Simi Karan, who have made it to the 2019 Civil Service Examination qualifiers’ list.
For Mohapatra and Karan, it was domestic steel giant SAIL that gave them steely resolve to crack one of the toughest examinations – Indian Civil Services – with flying colours, according to them. Both Mohapatra, 29, and 22-year-old Karan say there is not a bit of SAIL but more of it in their lives and the steel PSU stood by their side in times of need.
The results for 2019 civil services examination were announced on Tuesday this week by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in which Mohapatra, who hails from Rourkela in Odisha, bagged 10th rank, while Karan from Bhilai, secured 31st position. Mohapatra is a former employee of SAIL while Karan’s father works at Bhilai Steel Plant. Speaking to PTI over the phone, the qualifiers said their emotions are attached with the company and narrated the role that SAIL has played in their lives. Both expressed their desire to serve the country’s largest steelmaker in future.
The two have also received appreciation from Union Minister of Steel Dharmendra Pradhan who said it is a proud moment for everyone who is associated with the steel sector.
‘I wish each one of them immense success in taking development to the grassroots and in building a better and stronger India,’ he said.
SAIL Chairman Anil Kumar Chaudhary, said, “SAIL family is a storehouse of talent and the entire SAIL collective is very enthused with the success achieved by Mohapatra and Karan.
‘SAIL family has been providing a platform for decades for nurturing talent in the areas of education, sports, arts and culture, public administration etc. We not only make steel but also foster valuable human resources for building the nation.’ Mohapatra, who has studied from Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Rourkela, said financial stability came into her life when she got an opportunity to work at SAIL Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). It was her first job.
She was 22 when she cracked a SAIL examination to become a junior manager in 2013 at the company after completing her engineering from the College of Engineering and Technology (CET), Bhubaneswar.
‘I must say we were not financially strong. Managing finances remained an issue for us. It was when I joined SAIL, my problems started reducing.
‘My father once did everything possible to educate me and my elder sister. My father and mother are living happily now in Rourkela. At SAIL, I got extreme support from my colleagues. SAIL is like a family for me,’ an emotional Mohapatra said from Mumbai, where she lives with her husband who is a manager at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

SAIL provided me with a ‘financial backbone’, she said, adding that she would not hesitate to serve the organisation if she gets a chance in future.At SAIL RSP, she worked as an Assistant Manager at the New Plate Mill (NPM). Mohapatra said her work included field maintenance in which she was supposed to work in shifts and take work from people who were double of her age. She resigned from the company in 2018 to pursue the civil services examination. ‘In my new role as a civil servant, I will be utilising my professional skills which I got to learn while working at RSP,’ she said.

Karan, who completed her schooling from DPS Bhilai, said she has a lot of childhood memories attached to the Bhilai steel township. She was speaking from Bhilai. Karan said these days she is utilising time by motivating students of the township to go for civil services examination and addressing their queries with respect to preparation etc. ‘My entire childhood has been spent in Bhilai township. I did schooling from here. I used to play games at the grounds in township. Me and my younger sister learnt swimming at the Bhilai Club. I have most of my childhood friends living here whose parents also work at BSP,’ she said. Karan, who cleared the exam in her first attempt, completed her electrical engineering from IIT-Bombay in 2019. Speaking further on her association with SAIL, she said her father is a general manager in the finance department at BSP.

She said in 2017, SAIL also provided her with an internship opportunity at SAIL BSP and it was during this time that she thought of giving civil services examination.Karan said while interning at BSP, a SAIL official motivated her to go for the examination.Karan also expressed her desire to serve SAIL in future. ‘Yes, of course! SAIL is like a family for me. I got schooling here, my father works here, I made friends here, spent childhood here,’ Karan said. PTI

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