Rajasthan painter’s son tops Class 12 with 99.80%; now aims to become IAS officer

The son of a daily-wage labourer from a remote village in Rajasthan has scored 99.80 per cent in his Class 12 examinations, fulfilling his father’s biggest dream. Sonu Mehra, who hails from Badagaon in Rajasthan’s Tonk district, has topped the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) Class 12 Science exam.

Sonu’s father, Vinod Mehra, who could not clear his own Class 10 exams and now works as a painter, always wanted to provide his son with a quality education.

"I could not study myself, but I worked day and night to ensure my children get the best education. Some months, I barely get 20 days of work," Mehra was quoted as saying by NDTV.

‘Fulfilled my biggest dream’

Due to financial constraints, Sonu switched his education from a private to a government school after Class 8, and continued to work hard.

"I was confident he would top in Class 10, but achieving 99.80% in Class 12 has fulfilled my biggest dream," he added.

Sonu stated that he wants to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and now aims to crack the UPSC.

"My priority will be to implement an education system that ensures every underprivileged child gets access to quality learning," Sonu told NDTV.

Over 8.5 lakh students appeared for the exams this year. Girls secured the top positions in two streams — Arts and Science — while boys recorded a higher pass percentage in Commerce.

The RBSE recorded an overall pass percentage of 97.54 per cent in Arts, 93.64 per cent in Commerce, and 97.52 per cent in Science for the 2026 academic session.

Toppers list

Here is the list of toppers from both the Science and Arts streams, for RBSE Class 12:

Science:

Deepika Rani

Sonu Mehra

Divya Bhadu

Nikita

Rishita

The toppers in the Science stream secured 99.8%.

Arts:

Navya

Meena

Narpat

The toppers in the Arts stream scored 99.6%.

Commerce:

In the Commerce stream, a girl student topped with 99.2% in the RBSE class 12 results.

Scooty scheme for meritorious girls

Meanwhile, girls who have secured a minimum of 65 per cent marks under RBSE or 75 per cent under CBSE will be eligible for the Kalibai Bhil Medhavi Chatra Scooty Yojana, under which free scooters are distributed to meritorious female students.

The scheme is open to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), minorities, and economically backward classes (EBC) within the general category.