[UPSC Interview 2022] – Transcript #81 : Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla Board, Haryana Home State, listening Hobby

Date of Interview: 2 Feb, afternoon, last to go (35 mins)
Board: Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla (Retd.)
Home State: Haryana
Service: IRPS 2018
Hobbies: listening to non-fiction audiobooks + 2

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Chairman

1. You must be happy to get grants for Railways, what will you do with it?
2. Vande Bharat is high speed train? (I corrected semi-high speed). How different from conventional trains? Do all these run on separate tracks?
3. Who is your role model? (Some follow up)
4. Have women broken the glass ceiling in corporate? (Talking of Indira Nooyi), why not?
5. Is government better in being inclusive gender wise ?
6. (Monologue) Is China wrong in its aggression when west is poking it so much?

Member 1

1. What kind of leader are you? (I said I lead from back, give direction and give space to my team)
2. Would you call Zelensky a good leader in this aspect?
3. How is Railway reforming itself as an institution?
4. On one side we are talking about specialisation, on other IRMS recruitment is promoting generalist. Why?

Member 2

1. What is pegasus? What are the ethical and legal issues in it? Why is it unethical when national security is at stake? What are the legal provisions to violate privacy?
2. (Talked about women safety with chairman) How will you make Delhi safe for women?
3. Why do you think a 24 year old is put as SDM if they have to lead from back? What can they bring in?

Member 3

1. It’s been 2 years of Taliban’s takeover on Afghanistan. What does it tell about global state of affairs?
2. Why was US not able to handle the Taliban?
3. Can we say US has been defeated militarily?
4. Why is US not able to instruct Pakistan to stop training terrorists?
5. What can India do in situation for females in Afghanistan?
6. Isn’t it a waste to allocate funds to Afghanistan? (I had mentioned budget allocation to Afghanistan)
7. Why do you like audiobooks and not read it? What are some of the books that you have recently gone through?
8. What is the message of EF Schumacher? (I mentioned small is beautiful)
9. Why is it essential to read books? (I said for consistent learning)
10. Do you think bureaucrats think they need to stop learning after they are placed in their position? He said I think bureaucracy is the point of stagnation in the era of fast economic and tech growth.

Member 4

1. (Monologue) What long term solution is required for improving the women issues?

   Thank you.
   Overall felt like a conversation.