PTI 
  
New Delhi, May 9: Mona Pruthi, an Indian Revenue Service officer from Faridabad in Haryana, topped the Civil Services Examination, 2005, while Gurneet Tej hailing from Sahibabad in UP was ranked second in the results declared on Monday.

Pruthi, who is posted with the Customs and Excise Department, said she always wanted to be in the civil services. She is a graduate from Lady Shri Ram College and topped the M-Phil course from the Delhi University.

A graduate from Sri Ram College of Commerce and a post graduate from Delhi School of Economics, Archana Nair who stood seventh, worked for a year in American Express branch in Gurgaon as a management trainee.

"Civil Services was always at the back of my mind but I was not prepared for it earlier," she told PTI.

On private sector beong more lucrative, she said "money is not everything. The civil services provide unparalleled combination of serving your country with good career prospects as also diversity in the job," Nair, who will be joining the Indian Foreign Service, said.

"The Civil Services in a kind of blend no other avenue provides," she said.

On why she had opted for the IFS, she said "it is very challenging and dynamic." Seven women figure among the top 20 successful candidates, according to the results announced by UPSC here.

A total number of 425 candidates recommended for appointment include 210 General, 117 Other Backward Classes, 57 Scheduled Castes and 41 Scheduled Tribes candidates.