First Meo Woman Cracks RAS Exam

Shaista Hussain, 26, has become the first Mewati woman to get selected in the Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) in 62nd rank among the OBCs. She comes from Bharatpur district of Mewat region which lies across Haryana and Rajasthan states with nearly a million Muslims. The community is steeped in illiteracy and backwardness with only 50% literacy among rural women and 68% in urban women. She had done her graduation from Delhi University and MA from Jawaharlal Nehru University where she is still pursuing her M.Phil. She plans to even compete for Union Public civil Services Examination and is preparing for it. She is daughter of Zakir who is a JCB machine operator under the Delhi Municipal Council. They had shifted to Delhi from Dilang village of Kaman panchayat under Bharatpur district when she was only six years old. Her two brothers are also enrolled in various degree courses.