Ira Singhal is an Indian Administrative Service officer and computer science engineer. She was the highest-scoring individual in the UPSC's

Civil Services Examination The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a standardized test in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of India, civil services in the Government of India, such as the All India Service ...

for the year 2014. She completed her BE from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, University of Delhi and

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from FMS, University of Delhi. Singhal topped the exam in her fourth attempt, to become the first

differently abled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

woman to top the civil services exam.

Early life and education

Singhal was born in

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

to Rajendra Singhal and Anita Singhal. Her father is an engineer and mother is an insurance advisor. She was among the toppers at Sophia Girls School, Meerut and Loreto Convent School, Delhi. Ira has

scoliosis Scoliosis (: scolioses) is a condition in which a person's Vertebral column, spine has an irregular curve in the coronal plane. The curve is usually S- or C-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others ...

, a spine-related disorder, which disrupts her arm movement. She completed her schooling from the

Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan The Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan is a public school located at Delhi Cantonment, Delhi (near Dhaula Kuan). It is operated under Indian Army supervision under the aegis of Indian Army welfare Education society (AWES). It is part of the chai ...

and studied BE in Computer Engineering from

Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT), formerly Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT) is a state university located in Dwarka, Delhi, India. In 2018, the institute was granted university status, changing its name to Netaji Subha ...

(now

Netaji Subhas University of Technology Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT), formerly Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT) is a state university located in Dwarka, Delhi, India. In 2018, the institute was granted university status, changing its name to Netaji Subha ...

) and received Dual MBA in Marketing & Finance from Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi. She scored 1,082 marks out of a total 2,025 and secured 53.43% in UPSC Exam 2014-2015.

Career

Despite clearing the exam in her very first attempt, Singhal was not allowed to take the position in office due to her physical disability as authorities cited her ''inability to push, pull and lift''. She was refused a posting because she has

. In 2012 she filed a case in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and won after four years, after which she was given a posting as Assistant Commissioner in

Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for tax collection, collecting and administering Direct tax, direct and indir ...

(C&CE). Singhal gave the civil service examination in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 and in the first three attempts she got

whereas in 2015 she got

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS). After MBA, before appearing for Civil Services Examination in 2010, she worked as a Strategy Manager in

Cadbury India Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods, Inc., Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest c ...

and as marketing intern at the Coca-Cola Company. She has also taught Spanish for a year. She is posted as Assistant Collector (trainee) in the

Government of Delhi The Government of Delhi, officially the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD; ISO: ) is the governing body of India's National Capital Territory of Delhi, whose urban area is the seat of the Government of India. It also ...

since June 2016. She is the Brand Ambassador for Department of Disability,

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is a Government of India Ministry (government department), ministry. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, social justice and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of soc ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. She is also one of the brand ambassadors for

Ministry of Women and Child Development The Ministry of Women and Child Development, a branch of the Government of India, is the apex body responsible for the formulation and administration of the rules, regulations, and laws relating to Women in India, women and Children in India, c ...

NITI Aayog The NITI Aayog (; abbreviation for National Institution for Transforming India) serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of the Republic of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and foste ...

and is on the National Panel for Accessible Elections,

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

. She has also been a part of the Designing of

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national-level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

(CBSE) Examination Policy with regard to children with disabilities. Her awards include

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

’s Woman of the Year 2015, President's Gold Medal for Topping the IAS Training, First Ladies of India Award by the

. She is also recorded in the

Limca Book of Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorised into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, adve ...

. She has been a speaker on wide-ranging issues like

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

gender issues Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other than ...

, skill development, career counselling, etc. at more than 500 international and national conferences, industry forums, universities, colleges and other top institutions of the country including IIMs and IITs. She has been working towards various social causes including empowerment of persons with disabilities, empowerment and promotion of Transgender community,

women empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, equal status in society, ...

, prevention of

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

and

child marriages Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative con ...

, prevention of illegal conversion of green lands, promoting green energy, skill development, promotion of mental health and promotion of

khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi as Swadeshi movement, ''swadeshi (of homeland)'' for the freedom struggle of India and the term is used throughout the Indian sub ...

and indigenous fabrics. She rescued around 340 child and bonded labourers and restored them to their families, within 1 year in her first posting as SDM (

Sub-Divisional Magistrate A sub-divisional magistrate, also known as assistant collector, sub collector, revenue divisional officer, or assistant commissioner, is the administrative head of a sub-division in an Indian district, exercising executive, revenue, and magist ...

), Alipur in

North Delhi district North Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Alipur is the administrative headquarters of this district. North Delhi is bounded by the Yamuna River and the district of Central Delhi on the eas ...

. She is also the first person to give a job to a

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

person full-time employment in a government office in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. She is currently serving as Special Secretary, Education, in Arunachal Pradesh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singhal, Ira Living people Indian civil servants Indian women activists People from Meerut Women from Uttar Pradesh 1983 births Faculty of Management Studies – University of Delhi alumni Delhi University alumni 20th-century Indian women 21st-century Indian women civil servants 21st-century Indian civil servants