Chambal dacoit's grandson cracks IIT, then UPSC to become a civil servant

Dev Prabhakar Singh Tomar, an IITian, has recounted in a Josh Talks address his journey from a village in Chambal to public service. After leaving a position in the Netherlands, he returned to India to prepare for the UPSC examination. His account traces the course of three generations of one family.(Image: Dev Prabhaker S/Linkedin)New Delhi,Sep 30, 2026 08:00 ISTThe sound of guns, long ravines and scattered settlements once defined Chambal. In one of its villages in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district, Dev Prabhakar Singh Tomar took a different path. Coming from a family with a history marked by dacoits and violence, he went on to become an IITian and later secured AIR 629 in the UPSC examination. His story is one of years of struggle, hard work and a haunted family legacy that was difficult to leave behind. Despite it all, Singh made his way forward.Tomar, an IIT Ropar graduate who once worked for Philips in the Netherlands, larboard his job to concoct for the UPSC Civil Services Examination.After several unsuccessful attempts, he affixed All India Rank 629 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025 and was selected for the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS). He is now serving in the Ministry of Railways.'MY STORY STARTS WITH MY GRANDFATHER’For Dev Prabhakar Singh Tomar, the story of his journey begins not with the UPSC examination, nor with IIT Ropar, but in the Chambal of his grandfather’s time. In a Josh Talks account, Tomar said his grandfather became a baaghi, or rebel, about 75 years ago following family difficulties and disputes with the authorities of that time. In the local usage, he explained, such a man was called a baaghi, though police records could describe him as a dacoit.The change brought hardship to the family. Tomar recalled that there were days when his family struggled to find enough food. His uncle, too, later became a baaghi. His father chose another road.HIS FATHER LEFT THE VILLAGETomar said his father wished to study, find salaried employment and make a life away from the village. He left for Gwalior without telling his elders and continued his education there. In time, he became a teacher.For the family, it was a change in direction. Tomar would follow that course, though his own destination lay much farther away.Tomar studied under the Madhya Pradesh Board for his first five years before moving to a CBSE school in Class 6. The new school brought a different language and a different environment. Coming from a rural background, he found the transition difficult.It was in Class 11 that he first began to consider the IITs. Students around him were preparing for engineering entrance examinations, and he decided to do the same.There was no question of going to Kota for coaching. His family could not afford it. Tomar prepared at home, using his books, and appeared for the entrance examination alongside his Class 12 examinations.He secured admission to IIT Ropar and studied Electrical Engineering.IIT ROPAR TO THE NETHERLANDSAfter IIT, Tomar sought employment outside the campus recruitment process. His search led him to Philips in the Netherlands, where he worked near Amsterdam and later received a pre-placement offer.The position gave him an opportunity to build a career abroad. Yet, as he later recalled, he began to feel that the life he was leading did not accord with what he wanted.The civil services examination had begun to occupy his thoughts.HE LEFT HIS JOB FOR UPSCTomar concluded that preparing seriously for the UPSC examination while holding a full-time job would be difficult. He resigned and returned to India.The first attempt ended with a failure in the preliminary examination. He missed the cut-off by 12.5 marks.The second attempt came closer. He missed the cut-off by 2.5 marks.Two failures altered his approach. Tomar went back to his earlier attempts and examined where he had gone wrong. He came to the conclusion that preparation required more than reading and accumulating material; he had to prepare with the examination itself in mind.He changed his method.FROM ANOTHER INTERVIEW TO ‘THERE WAS MY NAME’Tomar subsequently cleared the preliminary examination and the mains and reached the interview stage. But the final list brought another disappointment.He tried again.By then, he had begun working as a teacher in Delhi. His family urged him to continue with the examination. He did so while working, cleared the preliminary examination once more and reached the interview stage.Then came the wait for the result.On the day the result was expected, Tomar was at home with his wife. The result appeared at about 1.30 pm, according to his account. He opened the list and searched for his name.On earlier occasions, the search had ended in disappointment. This time, it did not.There was his name - Dev Prabhakar Singh Tomar.He had secured All India Rank 629 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025. He was subsequently selected for the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) and is currently serving in the Ministry of Railways.From a village in Morena, where his family history had once taken a different course, Tomar's own journey moved through a rural school, IIT Ropar, a job in the Netherlands, repeated attempts at the civil services examination and, finally, government service.Three generations, three choices: a grandfather who became a baaghi, a father who left the village for education, and a grandson who entered the civil service.- Ends