Beerappa Siddappa Doni, a youth from the Kuruba community from Amage village in neighbouring Maharashtra, got the 551st rank, as per the UPSC results that were announced on April 22, 2025.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

It was an occasion of unprecedented joy for the sheep-herding community of Nanavadi village in Belagavi district of Karnataka as one of them had cleared the civil services examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Beerappa Siddappa Doni from Amage village in Maharashtra was visiting his relatives in Nanavadi in Belagavi district for the holidays. On April 23, his relatives heard that he had cleared the UPSC examination. Within no time, they organised a celebration on the grasslands where they graze sheep every day.

Beerappa got the 551st rank, as per the UPSC results that were announced on April 22.

Named after the family deity, Beerappa is a B.Tech graduate. He wanted to join the Indian army, like his elder brother who is a soldier. But he could not attempt the officers’ recruitment examinations due to various reasons. Instead, he got a job in India Post. However, he quit after a few years and started preparing for the IAS examinations. He cleared the exams in his third attempt.

He hopes to join the Indian Police Service (IPS), based on his ranking, and his choice in the examination application form.

His father, Siddappa Doni, does not know much about the civil service examinations. But he knows that his third son is bright and hard-working. “Our well-wishers tell me Beerappa will become a senior police officer. I am sure that he will be happy, as he had aspired to become an army officer,” he said.

His uncle Yallappa Gaddi, who stays in Nanavadi, was very happy that his nephew had cleared ‘what is considered the highest examination in the country’.

“We want him to be a good officer and help poor people like us. His success will inspire other young men and women from our community to appear for such examinations,” Mr. Gaddi said.