Hyderabad: The recently declared results of the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025 have once again highlighted the impact of mentorship in India’s most competitive examination, with a remarkable number of successful candidates having received guidance from senior Telangana IPS officer Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat.
Sharing the development on social media, Bhagwat noted that over 320 aspirants mentored for the Preliminary Test stage were among the candidates who cleared it, while a large number of aspirants guided by him and his team also made it to the final selection list. The UPSC announced 958 candidates recommended for appointment to various civil services, including IAS, IPS, IFS and other central services.
According to Bhagwat, around 300 candidates mentored by his team successfully figured in the final merit list, including several top rankers and 37 candidates within the top 100 ranks.
Mentorship Beyond Official Duty
Bhagwat, a 1995-batch IPS officer currently serving in Telangana, is widely recognised for his voluntary mentorship programme for civil services aspirants. Apart from his policing responsibilities, he has been guiding students preparing for the UPSC examination for nearly a decade.
The mentorship initiative primarily focuses on Personality Test (Interview) preparation, a crucial stage in the civil services selection process. Aspirants are trained through mock interviews, discussions based on their Detailed Application Forms (DAF), and guidance on governance, public policy and administration.
Since 2015, Bhagwat and a team of senior civil servants, academics and professionals have been conducting free online and offline mentoring sessions, enabling aspirants from across India to access high-quality guidance regardless of financial background.
Over the years, the initiative has helped thousands of candidates prepare for UPSC interviews, with many securing top ranks and joining prestigious services. The mentoring network has also extended its guidance to aspirants of the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) examinations.
Success Stories from the 2025 Batch
Among those mentored by Bhagwat for the 2025 examination were several high-ranking candidates. Reports indicate that Tejaswini Singh (Rank 62) and other successful aspirants benefited from the interview guidance provided by the mentoring group.
Notably, two Telangana DSP trainees-Gudelli Srujana (Rank 55) and Dainempalli Praveen (Rank 793)-also credited Bhagwat’s guidance during their interview preparation.
Many aspirants say the mentorship programme helps them develop clarity in answering questions related to governance, public administration and real-world policy issues during the interview stage.
A Model of Public Service Mentorship
Beyond his professional policing career, Bhagwat is known for his work in anti-human trafficking initiatives and community policing, for which he has received several national and international recognitions, including the Trafficking in Persons Report Heroes Award from the US State Department.
His mentoring initiative has increasingly been seen as a model of how experienced civil servants can contribute to nurturing the next generation of administrators.
With hundreds of aspirants benefiting each year, the programme continues to underline how voluntary guidance and collaborative mentorship within the civil services ecosystem can significantly strengthen India’s administrative leadership pipeline.