Beauty queen left Miss India dream to crack UPSC, failed three times, father got hospitalised. How did she clear prelims and mains in her 4th attempt?

Once, Taskeen Khan had stars in her eyes and had dreams of becoming Miss India. However, the girl, who was crowned Miss Dehradun and Miss Uttarakhand in 2016 and 2017, found her Miss India dreams cut short due to circumstances. She sacrificed her long-cherished dream in 2020 and moved to Delhi to receive training from Jamia Millia Islamia. According to a Moneycontrol report, she finally managed to clear the UPSC on her fourth attempt in 2022; she secured an All India Rank in 736. In an interview with Akhlaque Sk for The Hindustan Gazette, the beauty queen turned civil servant shared her journey.

Destruction Of NIT Dream

Taskeen attended the Kendriya Vidyalaya Ordinance Factory in Dehradun to study science from first to twelfth grade. She received a 92% in the tenth grade in 2013 and a 93% in science in the twelfth grade in 2015. Taskeen was eligible for NIT, but because of her father's low pay as a Group D worker at the Ordinance Factory, it was extremely challenging to pay for the dormitory. She then earned a 75% on her BSc from Dayanand Brijendra Swarup College in Dehradun in 2018.

Beginning Of Her UPSC Journey

After her father retired from service, he requested her to focus on studies, and she decided to change careers. As per a post shared by Nalini Unagar, she failed her prelims in UPSC in the first three attempts. In 2022, during the prelims and mains, her father had to be hospitalised for nearly four months due to neurological issues. Every two days she travelled from Delhi to Meerut.


As per Moneycontrol, Taskeen, who was a seasoned basketball player and a debater, decided to be resilient despite the failures. In her fourth and final attempt, she secured a score of 756 on the written exam and cleared both prelims and mains as per the Moneycontrol report. She received 171 points for facing the interview panel with the same composure that once adorned the stage. She achieved an All-India Rank of 736 with a total score of 927.

According to a Siasat.com report, she was first employed as Indian Railway Management Service. Today, she is employed as a Divisional Finance Manager in Bhopal.

Taskeen Khan’s journey to success shows that although failures are inevitable, we should never back down even when we feel discouraged by setbacks and should continue to persevere and give an initiative our best shot. Her story also proves that a beauty can also have a beautiful mind. While most of her peers in the glamour industry would choose lights, camera and action and fanfare as the final destination, she chose to serve the nation. We salute her.