Delhi: The inspiring story of Ummul Kher, a 28-year-old fragile girl who defeated all odds to achieve her dream. Ummul Kher was born in a Muslim conservative family that belonged to Marwar, Rajasthan. She faced several hardships to reach her goal. She fought a disease called Fragile Bone Disorder from childhood which caused her 16 fractures and underwent 8 surgeries. But that couldn’t break her determination of becoming an IAS officer.
Ummul was five when she migrated to Delhi with her parents and lived in the slums of Nizamuddin, Delhi. Her father was a street vendor. Their family was displaced when the slums of Nizamuddin were demolished and moved to the slums of Trilokpuri.
Ummul Kher went to Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Institute for the Physically Handicapped for schooling till 5th Class and continued her education till 8th in a Government-run Charitable Organisation Trust, Amar Jyoti. Much to her dismay, her family forced her to discontinue her studies after 8th but Ummul decided to move out of her parent’s home and continue her education and started living alone in Jhuggi Jhopri(JJ) cluster, Trilokpuri. She started giving tuitions to slum children to support her living who paid her not much than rs 50-100.
Unfazed, She completed her graduation from Gargi College, Delhi, and got admission to JNU for Masters in International studies. She secured Junior Research Fellowship at JNU which helped her in getting a stipend of Rs 25,000 per month. To serve as an IAS was a dream of Ummul Kher that’s why despite pursuing a Ph.D. she appeared in the UPSC exam and cracked it in her first attempt and bagged All India rank 420.
She Got the posting in IRS Indian Revenue services, where she was posted as the DC, i.e Deputy Commissioner in Indian Revenue Service.
Highlights:
- UmmulKher lived alone after 8th std due to her family disowning her for education. During this time, it was Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust that financed her education and also funded her tuition for classes IX and X.
- In class XII, Kher achieved 91% and secured admission into a prestigious Delhi University college, Gargi College.
- She continued to take tuitions to fund her college education. She also got much-needed money by winning debate competitions in college. She graduated in Psychology (Hons).
- Tragedy struck in 2012 when a small accident confined her to a wheelchair for one year.
- After completing graduation, Ummul Kher cleared an entrance exam for a master’s in International Studies at JNU. This gave her sufficient money which meant that she no longer had to give tuition.
- In 2013, she secured a Junior Research Fellowship at JNU under which she started getting a stipend of Rs.25, 000 per month.
- Since September 2014, Ummul was working as a trainee at Duskin Leadership Training in Shunjuku, Japan.
- In 2016, She appeared for UPSC exam first time and cracked it with 420 AIR rank.
- In 2019 She was conferred with Delhi Women Commission’s DCWAward. The Award was handed over by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
