Archive · 25 Sep 2026
From Lantern Study to IPS Officer After Leaving Lucrative Job
Sharan Gopinath Kamble grew up in a poor family in Maharashtra.
His parents worked as daily-wage labourers and sold vegetables.
His house did not have electricity until he was in Class 11, so he studied with a kerosene lantern.
He traveled far each day to attend school.
Kamble later earned engineering degrees from Walchand College of Engineering and IISc Bengaluru.
He gave up a private job paying about Rs 20 lakh a year to prepare for public-service examinations.
He passed several competitive examinations and became an IPS officer.
Later, he worked against drug trafficking and received a DGP Disc for his efforts.
Sharan Gopinath Kamble grew up in Tadwale, Maharashtra, in a family of daily-wage labourers and vegetable sellers.
He studied under a kerosene lantern and traveled nearly 12 kilometres daily for Classes 11 and 12.
After completing a BTech and an MTech, Kamble declined a private-sector offer worth about Rs 20 lakh annually.
He secured AIR 8 in the 2019 UPSC CAPF examination and AIR 542 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2020.
As a Rajasthan-cadre IPS officer, he received the DGP Disc for work against drug trafficking and narcotics abuse.
- Who
- Sharan Gopinath Kamble, the son of daily-wage labourers and vegetable sellers.
- What
- He became a Rajasthan-cadre IPS officer after leaving a private-sector job offer and clearing multiple UPSC examinations.
- When
- He secured AIR 8 in the 2019 UPSC CAPF examination and cleared the Civil Services Examination in 2020; he is a 2021-batch IPS officer.
- Where
- Kamble was born in Tadwale village in Solapur district, studied in Maharashtra and Bengaluru, prepared in Delhi, and later served in Sanchore, Jalore district, Rajasthan.
- Why
- He chose public service over a lucrative private-sector career and worked against drug trafficking and narcotics abuse.
- UPSC CAPF result
- AIR 8 in 2019
- Civil Services result
- AIR 542 in the 2020 examination
- Indian Forest Service result
- Rank 127
- Private-sector offer
- Approximately Rs 20 lakh annually
- Preparation support
- A Maharashtra government scholarship of Rs 12,000 per month for eight months
- IPS cadre
- Rajasthan, 2021 batch
- Recognition
- DGP Disc on Republic Day for work against drug trafficking and narcotics abuse