[UPSC Interview 2024] – Transcript #36: Suman Sharma Board, Anthropology Optional, Tamil Nadu Home State, MBBS

Date of Interview: 25/03/2025
Board: Suman Sharma
Optional: Anthropology
Home State: Tamil Nadu
Background: MBBS
DAF: MBBS, Tamil Nadu, Anthropology
Hobbies: Skipped

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Chairman

Suman Mam smiled first , Then asked You are a doctor ? I told her yes mam. Within 2 secs mam asked me

1) “ Why India is known as pharmacy of the world ?” I answered but fumbled in the initial moments. Then mam , told me to take some time and then answer. Even after that I didn’t answer it well.

2) Commercialisation of space ; militarisation monopoly of space services Positives and negatives. I forgot the name“Starlink “ ( I told mam , Elon Musk’s Satellite internet Company) Then mam told the name Starlink.
And mentioned their Positives and negatives.

Member 1

1)Asked me “ are you confident ? Can I ask you questions from India-China relation. I said “ Yes”. India – China standoffs in the past…
2)Why India crossed Doklam ? ( I didn’t answered )
3)Why there is Sub standard Medicine in India and its exports?
4)Whats Is Generic medicine ? Is it a low quality, compared to Patented drugs ?
5)Have you heard about Pfizer drugs ?
6)What is the issue in Generic medicines ? I mentioned Regulatory checks and poor pharmacovigilance.

Member 2

1) JAC on Delimitation by States of different government ( Tamil Nadu CM hosted the meeting in Chennai) . Long monologue about Delimitation. And asked my stand ?
2)Again asked Question from Delimitation and long monologue. I answered every possible aspect and at the end arrived at “ Consultative Approach “
3)3rd Question from Delimitation – At this point Suman Mam, interrupted and advised to go for another topic.
4)Nobel prize in Medicine- “ I don’t know sir”
5)Bryan Johnson and reversing of age. Why Longevity is important? Or quality of life is Important?
6)Why government is spending so much in Curative Health care eventough we knew that we have to put more focus on Preventive care ?

Member 3

1)What is the current issue between India and Srilanka ( mentioned Chinese presence, 13th amendment…totally forgot the fishermen issue)
2)Srilanka is a sovereign country , they can choose their own relation. Why we have to bother about it ?
Our policy of non-reciprocal aid to Srilanka is working or not ?
3)One question from Anthropology ( After 1 to 2 million years which part of human body will disappear ? I said – Hair ( Youngsters especially Males are facing Hair loss ) , 3rd Molar -Willi Due to highly cooked food , juices, supplements and voluntary removal of molar. Sir added Appendix which I forgot to add.
4)Lack of doctor to population in India .Quality issues in FMG( Foreign Medical Graduates ). Do We just filling medical sector with low quality people ,because of lack of standards in Foreign universities. ? I said there are mechanism available such as Screening tests for FMG , NEET-PG for quality checks.

Member 4

– Unable to hear Sir’s voice. I leaned forward and focused each word with some difficulty.

1)Which profession is Noble ?
Doctor or Civil Service?
2)What is nanomedicine ?
Issues in NEET examinations. I mentioned frequesnt Postponement of counselling in NEET PG. Then Sir mentioned Exam malpractices in NEET-UG.
3)How you utilise knowledge about Health in administration?
I said “ Mandatory Health Assessment for Govt officers at all levels , to improve their Productivity which will improve governance and reach grassroot level.
Preventive and Promotive Health care ( Yoga , Ayurveda) to reduce disease burden.
Suman Mam with smiling face said ” Your interview is over ”

Disclaimer: These questions are very contextual and dynamic. I may missed some of the questions and not in a correct order.

Got nervous initially ( 4-5 mins ) but after able pickup myself. Unable to maintain eye contact with everyone as we used to practice in mock interview. Members sometimes check candidate’s awareness to fact check the information.

Institutes I went for mock : Aram IAS , Manidhaneyam IAS , Samkalp , Shankar IAS , Vision IAS , etc….

Relevance of mock:
1)Gives us avenue to express ourself
2)To practice smiling for unknown and factual questions
3)To construct our answers in a respectful way

However we have to be conscious whether we have to Update our knowledge or expressions . Some mocks I under performed which helped me to study more( Reality check).

Peer group discussion with my friends for the past 3 months helped a lot to develop answers in a spontaneous way.

Thank you for all who have uploaded their transcripts which helped me to cover the topics in a targeted manner.