Anuj Agnihotri had a perfectly good career waiting for him. An MBBS degree from AIIMS Jodhpur — one of India's most elite medical institutions — practically guarantees a life of prestige and comfort. He walked away from it anyway.

During his medical studies, Anuj realised that to create larger societal change, he needed a platform like the civil services. So while most MBBS graduates were building clinical careers, he was quietly building something else — a relentless, self-driven preparation machine.

He never once consulted a coaching centre. His father put it simply: it was all his own hard work and dedication, with roughly 13 hours of study every single day.

 Anuj credits his mother as his lifelong inspiration — someone who always pushed him to serve people and bring change to their surroundings. That sense of purpose kept him going through two failed attempts before his third cracked it wide open.

In 2023, he cleared the Union Territories Civil Services exam on his very first attempt, and locked himself in his room to cry for half an hour out of sheer joy. But he wasn't done.

On March 6, 2026, UPSC declared him AIR 1 in the Civil Services Examination 2025 — and he told reporters he was still processing the news.