[Official] Interview Transcripts of UPSC (CSE) 2019 - CSE & IFoS At One Place

Board - pk joshi

Date 18th Feb. Afternoon

Chairman-

Worked in infosys - why u left. 

Different types of educational Board apart from cbse. 

Compare two states on various parameters

Human development Index

M2

Chilika lake how tropical cyclone affects it and what u can do it to protect it. 

Saura tribe in parlakhemudi. 

Tribal issue of odisha

Naxal issue of odisha

M3

Infosys mysore learning centre

How you managed everything with tight training schedule

4 years gone after you left your job don't you feel exhausted. 

Women in army

Women reservation needed

Internet protection

Sarba shiksha abhiyaan

M4

Migration taking place from odisha what will you u do as dm. 

Construction activity vs agriculture

Technology use in administration and how to deal with unproductive employees

M5

Airforce stations where your father served. 

IAF- Assam station which station name it and which fighter aircraft it has. 

Bihar migrants from Assam what you will do as an district admin. 

Qualities of your FATHER and what u learnt from him. 

Name the eminent personality who has contributed a lot in republic of India and his father was in British army (br ambedkar) - gave two hints but was not able to answer. 

What u have learnt from br ambedkar

Chairman- your interview is over. 

Thank you@upsc2020 !

Brief Details:

Sainik School Goaplara (Assam), NIT Jamshedpur

State: Bihar

Work: Decision Scientist in Mu Sigma, Bengaluru for almost 2 years

Optional: Geography

Sports: Basketball

(Other details were not touched upon. NCC A certificate, debating, award during employment, etc fall in this category)

Board: PK Joshi

Brief assessment: Extremely cordial board. I have heard negative reviews about the Board but I'd like to humbly disagree with those reviews. My experience suggests otherwise.

C: You did your schooling in Sainik School, then went to Guru Gobind Singh School, then NIT Jamshedpur and finally pursued a job in My Sigma in Bengaluru. Is that right?

S: Yes sir

C: so how often do you go to Bihar?

S: sir mostly during annual vacations.

C: so what was your job as a decision scientist?

S: sir it combines the profile of a business analyst and a data scientist. The idea is to solve business problems and take business decisions based on data rather than intuition.

C: Okay. So after 2015 you have been preparing. Where have you been living?

S: Sir I've been living in Patel Nagar in Delhi.

C: you've lived for a long time in Patel Nagar now. What are the issues in this area?

S: sir from the perspective of a student high rent is one issue. Apart from that there is an increased pressure on local infrastructure including transport infra. Also, bye laws are flouted frequently by coaching institutes and shops in the area as they run commercial operations in residential buildings.

C: okay. So if you get posted as SDM in this area how will you solve the problem?

S: Sir the first attempt would be at decongesting the area by spreading out the institutes a bit. Second, it is increasingly being realised that urban areas should actually see the coexistence of commercial and residential uses of buildings do as to reduce time spent on travel and reduce pollution. So I'd also like to tweak the bye laws a bit to accommodate that. At the same time I'll take due care that safety norms are not compromised.

C: You have studied in Sainik School. Then why did you not join armed forces?

S: Sir I have given both NDA and CDS exams. But I suffer from Eosinophilia and army does not allow entry of people suffering from it.

C: Okay. Pointed towards M2.

M2: So I see that you have lived a lot in eastern India. Born and brought up in Bihar. Then a lot in Jharkhand. Tell me why do you think there is an issue of development in eastern India while western parts like Gujarat and Maharashtra have developed well?

S: sir the reasons are multifarious. Historically while Bombay presidency did well Bihar and Odisha suffered during British rule. Second would be political where, say my state Bihar has suffered long duration of poor governance. And third would be social - caste divide continues to be deep which hampers development. When it becomes easy to garner votes based on caste identities developmental agenda takes a back seat.

M2: but these regions are resources-rich. And there are industries like Tata flourishing. Then why is the issue?

S: sir the industries in this region are capital intensive and not labour intensive. So compared to Punjab and Haryana where textile industry has generated a lot of jobs the steel industry hasn't done so in Jharkhand. An example is Jamshedpur itself. If you come to Jamshedpur you'll see a good standard of life but the same is not reflected in areas around the city. There's also the issue of what we can call quote-unquote resource curse. The region has largely been seen as one that can provide resources. The participation of tribals and their development hasn't been on agenda equally.

M2: I see you've lived a lot in Bihar and Jharkhand. Where would you say you're from?

S: Sir I'd say Bihar.

M2: okay. Tell me despite separation of Jharkhand why has it not flourished?

S: Sir Jharkhand was separated in the interest of tribal population. But the population of tribals in the state is still around 30-35% only. This has been coupled with a lot of political instability. In the first 9 years of formation Jharkhand saw 5 ch

ief ministers.

becomes difficult to grow in these conditions.

M2: okay. So you have worked in analytics. Did that involve behaviour of people?

S: yes sir. Though it's a part of overall data analytics, nonetheless it's an important one.

M2: then tell me this - using this data when an advertisement company issues a misleading advertisement on TV that you can grow tall or become slim using some product, do you think that should be banned?

S: sir actually tv advertising does not involve analytics much. The profiling is done for cases where targeting can be done. For example if you open Facebook the advertisement shown to you depends on your age, gender, location, what time of the day you are, etc. Backend profiling is done for it. In case of tv such segregation can't be done. Nonetheless, as far as misleading advertisements are concerned, they amount to cheating people directly and thus should be banned whether on TV, or social media.

M2: okay. (Nodded towards chairman)

M3 (lady): So you are from Bihar. We see there are so many good officers coming out of poor states like Bihar. And yet the state hasn't done well. What do you think is the problem? Is public service irrelevant?

S: Ma'am public service is definitely relevant as it provides institutional memory, thus helping in policy formulation and execution. However, it's not sufficient. For example in my district there is a vacancy of 52 doctors in the district hospital but only 8 doctors are working. This is because the salary given to them is Rs 44,000 only - which is not attractive for them at all. In these situations a District Magistrate becomes helpless. So whole of the government will have to be improved.

M3: Okay. There was a recent policy in Bihar on prohibition. What is the status? Has it succeeded?

S: Ma'am initially the law has done well and people's, particularly women's, response was spectacular. But lately there have been many implementation issues. First, bootlegging is becoming common, second, trafficking of both liquor and drugs has increased lately, and third in the recent raids by Bihar police in their own police stations many policemen were caught using alcohol. There have been increasing reports of women complaining that now they're losing out even more as the liquor available in black market is more costly. So no income is left with the household.

M3: And what about the impact on Scheduled castes and tribes? There is an increasing number of them in the jails?

S: yes ma'am. They were employed in the alcohol industry in large numbers and have been rendered jobless due to the ban. Due to this many have been pushed into illegal manufacture and bootlegging. We actually need to liberalise the bail norms for them. (I realize I should have also talked about jobs for them, but I didn't)

M3: but then isn't it like creating a monster first and then trying to liberalise that? We are also spending a lot on the policing to enforce it.

S: ma'am the legislation continues to be for people's welfare. And that's what the state is for. So yes there have been losses. The state has lost rs 4000 crore per annum in revenue too. But such expenses have to be taken up if welfare of people is involved.

M3: but don't you think it should be left to people to decide what they or should not do? We are in a society that is increasingly becoming educated. It should be people's choice.

S: Ma'am ideally, yes. The prohibition law is definitely like a Victorian moral legislation imposed on people. However, we need to see the social context within which the law came. The biggest stakeholders - women - came out to vote for the incumbent CM in large numbers because he had announced prohibition. They continue to be the biggest stakeholders and they support the move.

M3: but the mentality of men hasn't changed. Gender issue remains.

S: ma'am it's like looking at means and ends. If I could take another analogy to explain. If one argues that guns shouldn't be banned in US to curb violence but the reliance should solely be on social cohesion, it doesn't make sense. Both the things have to be pu

Board : Sujata mehta

Degree:B.Sc Agriculture 

Optional:Political Science 

Work experience:Working in Agri  department 

State: Tamilnadu 

Chairman:

1)Introduce yourself to the board 

2)Tel me about your work nature..

3)What is E-Governance

4)Do we have network connectivity all over India

and follow up questions on Internet connectivity 

M1

1) Differnce between presidential and parliamentary form of government 

which one is best for India 

2)India is moving towards USA does it mean we r moving away from Russia

3)What is End of Ideology thesis and multipolarity

4)In what way social media helps the government 

5)What about fake news

6)How will you address privacy

M2

1)Tell me the leadership qualities 

2)You want to be a Leader or Boss

3) when a higher official puts pressure on you to do something which is against the law what will you do..

4) Communism or capitalism which one is best and why

M3

1) If you are a Tourism secretary how will you promote Tourism in the country

2)What is the controversy  between periyar and Rajini

3)Asked about Cine stars entering politics and hero workship culture of India...

4)whether the present generation youth has come out of it or not

 4) About GM crops and health impacts associated with that

 5)Turkey and Malaysia speaking against India,What India should do?Whether India's reply is inadequate or we need to do more

M4

1) Tell me the Israel Model of Agriculture 

2)Can we replicate the same in India

3)Climate smart agriculture and follow up questions on the same topic

4)Is cooperative farming possible in India

 5)Whatever measures we take corruption prevails in the country...How we should address Corruption..

 Chairman:You want us to ask any area 

Thank you

Few questions I forgot

Overall cordial board ..

...rsued in

l.

M3: big smile. Passes the buck.

M4: You have lived in Bihar, Bengaluru and now Delhi. How have you seen these places change in last 5 years? May be you have not visited Bengaluru lately. But you can talk about Bihar and Delhi.

S: Sir I'll start from Bihar. There are small to large changes. For example in my own district there was a long standing demand for a flyover as a railway gate disrupted the traffic heavily on a daily basis. Now that has been constructed by the railway ministry. There have been other infrastructural developments as well. Some cities of Bihar have progressed really well. Patna has seen large infrastructural improvements. TCS has recently opened an office in Patna. This will be helpful for students from Bihar who go out in large numbers to other states to study. Many of them want to come back but lack of jobs in IT sector hampers that. This can improve in future. Coming to Bengaluru, I have not been there recently but I do have friends there with whom I talk. Sadly I have heard more negative news about the city. There is some positive work in expansion of metro. But multiple issues have cropped up. Traffic congestion, water stress and haphazard peri-urban development are some of them. I lived in whitefield which is at one edge of the city. And already a lot of construction was taking place beyond it which was not planned well. Also, Bengaluru has one of the best weathers of the country. But slowly that is also getting compromised. Coming to Delhi, my surrounding does look the same as it was. But I can vouch for one thing. My cook has two sons. And she tells me that while earlier she was embarrassed of the fact that they studied in government school now she feels proud that they study in government schools.

M4: So you mean to say that the quality of life has gone up. Why do you think so?

S: Sir the focus on health and education by the govt has been extensive. There are the two most fundamental pillars on which quality of life is based. There are some other debatable schemes too which are populist in nature. Free water, electricity, bus rides, etc for which people should actually pay. Yet they have also helped in bringing down the cost of living for the people.

M4: Okay. You also talked about water stress. What should be done for that?

S: Sir water is increasingly becoming scarce in the country. Even a state like Bihar that has large rivers flowing through it has become water stressed. To counter this we need both local dispersed as well as large projects. Small water harvesting structures can help a lot. This can improve local resource augmentation. Take Delhi for example. It's dependent on rivers from other states. But as their own needs increase the chances of conflict for water between states will increase. So Delhi needs to augment its resources but water harvesting is yet to become common here. At the same time for large areas like Bundelkhand we need canals and dams too. We cannot make this region green only through water harvesting. Also, we will have to change lifestyle to make it less water intensive. For example in USA hand sanitizers are quite common. But rely on water for everything. Such reliance has to reduce.

M4: Okay. Passed the buck. [he had kept smiling throughout the conversation with him]

M1 (probably from NE, I found it a bit difficult to understand him): So how far is Khagaria from Motihari?

S: Sir Motihari is in North West Bihar while Khagaria is South east relative to center. So there is a good distance.

M1: Are you aware of a famous writer born in Motihari?

S: No sir (I am not aware of any writer anyway, so)

M1: He has written some famous books like...[names]..have you read any of them?

S: No sir I have not.

M1: His name is George (I'm not sure if this is the name he took). Okay, so you have written basketball. Recently a famous basketball personality died. He also had a blot on his career regarding issues related to women. Can you tell me something about him?

S: Yes sir. Kobe Bryant has died recently in a helicopter crash. As far as basketball is concerned he isy one of the undisputed legends. However, he does carry a blot of alleged sexual harassment in his career.

M1: Okay. You have lived in whitefield. There are issues of land grabbing there by powerful politicians of the state. If you are posted there as an administrator what will you do to tackle this?

S: Sir between political and permanent executives political executives hold an edge when it comes to power. But their accountability lies with people and they are afraid of people only. So I will try to bring it to the notice of the people as to who is grabbing land illegally. This can put pressure on them. Apart from that law also has to be enforced (I started thinking how to do that)....if I could take a moment to think...

M1: Sure, take your time.

S: Long pause

M1: It's okay. In my experience of 40 years as an administrator I have not found an answer to this question. I just thought you might have one. 

[M4 started laughing, the whole Board started laughing and I laughed along]

C: Thank you. Your interview is over.

After the cancellation of upsc interview from monday. Found out latest interview transcript here 

https://www.viharastudyhall.com/post/upsc-interview-transcript-2020-part-i