Having bagged rank 308 in the 2021 Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) exams, Aruna Mahalingappa will be an inspiration to children of farmers who are in debt due to price crashes and other issues.

After losing her father Mahalingappa — who ended his life over debts when she was in the second semester of BE Instrumentation Technology at Siddaganga Institute of Technology in Tumakuru — she took up the UPSC as a challenge. Since she wrote the examination under the general merit quota, she is likely to get IRS and is content.

Aruna had to face many odds, with health issues becoming a hindrance thrice while writing the mains, and the COVID third wave affecting her last attempt. During her seven to eight years of efforts, she became an expert in UPSC and launched a training academy two months ago to guide aspirants. "I lost my father to debt as silk cocoon prices crashed, and it hit our source of income. Through all this, he educated his four daughters and son. Now I want to see smiles on the faces of farmers, and tell them not to take this extreme step," she told TNIE.

The family overcame the shock of her father's suicide, with her mother Vimalakshi, who studied SSLC, taking up agriculture and shouldering the family responsibility. The family also lost one daughter who was studying MBBS, to health issues.

Aruna hails from remote Tadakaluru village in Sira taluk, on the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border, which has no proper mode of transportation.