How a Labourer’s Son Built a Bookstall in Patna That Shaped Thousands of IAS & IPS Officers

When a poor farm-labourer’s son sold books from a tiny roadside kiosk… little did anyone know his stall would one day shape generations of IAS, IPS, and PCS officers.

Back in 1986, in Patna — near the old Moin-ul-Haq stadium, a young man named Anil Kumar arrived chasing a dream: to become a civil servant. But years of attempts at UPSC and BPSC didn’t bear fruit. Still, he kept his fire alive.

With just Rs 2,000 pooled from friends, Anil opened a little kiosk: a humble book stall behind the stadium, close to the hostel area for students.

Students began to pause. His stall became their first safe stop. Drawing from his own failed attempts, Anil showed them what and how to study.

Word spread. The kiosk became Kumar Book Centre — KBC. Quietly, it turned into a lifeline for civil services aspirants in Patna. If you were preparing seriously, you would have ended up here sooner or later.

Life came full circle when Anil’s own children walked the path he once dreamed of. His son Ashish Bharti became an IPS officer. His daughter cleared PCS. His daughter-in-law cracked UPSC to become an IAS officer.

From a Patna bookstall, KBC's legacy expanded to Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar — a major coaching hub. The little kiosk had now become a national pit-stop for India’s future bureaucrats.

Today, KBC stocks nearly 4,000 titles and runs KBC IAS Academy — online and offline. And in the most poetic twist, his IPS son now teaches here, guiding the next generation.