In 1999, UPSC made its historical blunder. The mistake was uncovered after a handwritten letter and an internal investigation, ranking a child from 277 to 26.
Then UPSC Chairperson Lt. Gen. Surender Nath ensured transparency by ordering a recheck, proving that institutional credibility lies in valuing every candidate’s hard work.
The correction not only secured Agnihotri’s IAS posting in the Assam cadre but also became a rare case in UPSC history, inspiring aspirants about persistence, honesty, and faith in the system.
The story of a young man named Ashu Agnihotri from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh is a fascinating account of a massive blunder done by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) wherein the commission made an error in giving the correct rank to Ashu Agnihotri - who sat for the UPSC examination in the 1999 batch. His dream of becoming an IAS officer shattered temporarily. Ashu got to know about the discrepancy when he saw the marksheet and observed that he had been granted very few marks in the second paper. Ashu fought back against this injustice.
It was the time when the internet was not easily accessible by everyone at home. One of his friends called to inform him of the bittersweet news that he cleared the exam but was ranked at 277, quite low to get a seat for IAS or IPS. His dream of joining the most respected service seemed to be slipping as there were only 55 seats for the IAS and 36 for IPS. There was a possibility of getting into the Indian Defence Account Service with his rank.
The fact that it was not his first time attempting UPSC made him even more anxious. The first time he attempted and cleared the mains was in 1966 where he missed his prelims due to some reason. He was quite disheartened but decided to join the training of UP Police Service in Moradabad. As he was selected, the young man went for the training to test himself as he had no intention of joining the service.
In the meantime, he got a call from his father who informed him about his marks. The UPSC marksheet was out and his overall marks added up to 1261. He scored quite good in all the papers but the second one showed a glitch with 70 out of 300 which was painfully low. Mr. Agnihotri was quite sure. So, he had his doubts of that low a score not being his marks.
He came back home on a break and consulted an uncle. He wrote a handwritten letter addressed to the UPSC Secretary without knowing if it would take him anywhere. He specified in the letter about how he has scored around 160 on all the papers except one. He urged for a thorough check into the matter and a rechecking for his paper to make sure there was no mistake.
Time passed and a week later, there was a headline ‘UPSC mystery deepens’ in the newspaper pointing towards a possible mistake. Everything seemed to be going as it is until 1st September. He received a call from his father informing him that he was ranked 26th and there was indeed an error. The newspaper carried the news which seemed impossible.
Mr. Ashu Agnihotri got posted to Delhi two decades later. He then decided to meet the then UPSC chairperson and thank him for his consideration. He asked around and got to know that the Chairperson was Lieutenant General Surender Nath. He got his address and then went to meet him carrying the gratitude he felt over the years.
The retired Chairperson almost instantly remembered him thanks to his unusual handwritten letter. He said that he asked the secretary to verify the query on receiving the letter. The secretary confirmed the claim to be true two days later. Then, a proper investigation was carried out, the paper rechecked. And after confirming everything, he informed people from the government and on getting a green signal was all set to own up the mistake and correct it.
He chose to act on the issue rather than covering it up respecting the responsibility that he held with his position. He said “I could have ignored it, but credibility comes from valuing a student’s hard work. If we ignore one child’s effort, how can anyone trust the institution? There was an option to stay silent after the investigation, but if even one person in my office knew the truth, what would they think of me” The words left a lasting impact on Agnihotri, so much so that he later documented the whole thing in a book.
There were talks that all the appointment letters were kept on hold because of the matter. Owing to the issue, the foundation course which was originally set to begin on 6th September, 1999 was postponed to 20th September, 1999. He joined it and went on to become an officer. His batchmates still joke about the two week’s delay in their salary. Many assumed him to have a powerful background with connections but he was just a regular boy from a middle class family who dreamt big and acted on it.
The story emphasizes on persistence, honesty and the power of one’s confidence that was rightfully held by the system. One handwritten letter changed a possible future taking him from rank 277 to rank 26. It proved that principles uphold justice. [Rh/SY]
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