UPSC Interview Transcript of Sumeet Panda (AIR 251, 2017)
Once I entered the precincts of UPSC, Dholpur House, it dawned upon me, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for ever since I began my preparation for the Civil Services Exam. The opportunity to be in there was somewhere more exciting than the final result. I’ve always found the journey to be more enriching than the destination.
The moment finally came when I was invited and got to know that I was to be interviewed by B. S. Bassi board. All the nerves during the build-up to the event slowly calmed down. I was upbeat now. I carried no particular predilections towards any board.
As I was ushered in, I noticed that it was just like any other office space in government buildings. The Board members were sitting around a circular desk, all eyes glued on me. There were 5 members in all, including the Chairman. One of them was a lady member.
I greeted the Chairman and each one of the members individually. The Chairman asked me to take the seat and thus the formal interview began.
…
Chairman: (Going through my DAF) So you’ve worked in HMEL?
Me: Yes Sir. (Rather loudly) (All the members suddenly looked up at me. Realized I must tone it down a bit)
Chairman: What is HMEL?
Me: (Gave a brief description)
Chairman: (Rummaging further through my DAF) So you’ve interest in International Relations? Any IR?
Me: Sir, mostly India’s relations with other countries.
Chairman: (Abruptly) So tell me about Zimbabwe? What are the developments there?
Me: (Unfazed) Sir, recently the long-standing President Robert Mugabe was ousted by internal factions in his own party. The army took to the streets and took control before handing it over to the new government.
Chairman: Do you know which external power was behind the siege?
Me: (I was thinking on the lines of China but I didn’t want to delve any further there) I’m not sure.
….
M1: Have you seen the oath of ministers? Can you tell me what it is?
Me: (Didn’t remember it verbatim) Sir, I can tell you the gist.
M1: Sure, go ahead.
Me: Sir, there are two oaths, an oath of office and an oath of secrecy. The oath of office is in regards to working of the ministers in accordance with the Constitution without fear or favour. The oath of secrecy pertains to not divulging any state secrets or classified information. (Could have added better details)
M1: What do you understand by ‘Last straw on the camel’s back’?
Me: (As a matter of fact) Sir, it refers to an inflexion point. In other words, the last act which seals the fate.
M1: (Probing further) What do you understand by ‘Devil in the details’?
Me: Sir, it means that one often overlooks the finer details while looking through documents, etc. The actual substance lies within when you rummage through the details, read between the lines.
M1: Tell me about the Mahanadi issue. (Home-state related question)
Me: Sir, recently the Supreme Court directed the Central govt. to constitute a Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal on the basis of a petition filed by the Odisha govt. This is a festering issue between Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Odisha govt. claims that Chhattisgarh has been diverting the waters of Mahanadi towards irrigation purposes and constructing barrages etc. against the ethos of river water distribution between riparian states.
M1: Which river bifurcates Odisha into 2 halves?
Me: It’s the Mahanadi river.
M1: Tell me the origin and end of Mahanadi.
Me: (I fumbled a bit here) Sir, the origin of Mahanadi is in Chhattisgarh. It’s Siha…plateau.(Sihawa mountain actually) Mahanadi drains in the Bay of Bengal.
M1: Which is the last city it passes by?
Me: Sir, Cuttack is the last major city. (I don’t know what else he was looking for as the distributaries of Mahanadi pass through many towns)
M1: What are the 3 challenges facing Odisha?
Me: Sir, firstly, Odisha has about 22% tribal population including PVTGs. They suffer from inadequate access to healthcare and education. Their geographical isolation, shyness of contact is hindering their progress.
Secondly, Odisha suffers from inadequate healthcare facilities which is evident from high IMR and MMR as compared to national indicators.
Thirdly, industrial backwardness is also a challenge as industry is primarily limited to coal and steel. Further, even frontier areas like tourism which have huge potential are not tapped to their potential.
(Missed a huge point by not mentioning agricultural backwardness and lack of irrigation reach)
M1: (Taking cue from inadequate healthcare facilities) Do you know about the recent incident of a husband carrying the dead body of his wife? Throw some light on it.
Me: (I didn’t know what else to say here) Yes Sir. He had to carry the dead body for some distance for the lack of a morgue.
M1: (Sudden change of topic) What are the 8Ps of marketing?
Me: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical evidence. Sir, I don’t remember the 8th P. (Admitting frankly)
….
M2: What is cloud computing?
Me: (Gave a vague answer here, not to the point)
M2: How is cloud computing different from grid computing?
Me: (Again wasn’t sure, but tried) Sir, cloud computing refers to common storage of data whereas grid computing refers to distributed storage. Cloud computing is done within an organization while grid computing interconnects different organizations in a mesh model.
M2: Have you heard of IoT?
Me: (This was right up my alley) Yes Sir, Internet of Things. It refers to M2M, i.e., machine to machine connectivity via internet. It becomes a network of physical devices, home appliances, vehicles, etc. in a seamless manner so that they connect with each other and it renders in ease of living.
M2: What is Web 2.0?
Me: (Didn’t ring a bell) I’m sorry Sir, I don’t know.
….
M3(Lady Member): Do you see the application of behavioral economics in marketing? (Cue: MBA Marketing)
Me: (By now I was well settled) Certainly Ma’am. There is a field of marketing known as consumer behavior which has application of behavioral economics. Various models and patterns are created using behavioral economics for predictive analysis of the consumer behavior. One of the major proponents in this field is Richard Thaler.
M3: Is there any product which may not sell despite marketing?
Me: (Although a ‘marketing genius’ would beg to differ) Ma’am, there is a category of products called ‘unsought products’ which may not sell despite marketing. For eg, insurance products.
M3: How can you use marketing in governance?
Me: Marketing can be an effective aid in promoting good governance. For instance, as a DM, if I am overseeing the construction of a stretch of road, I’ll make sure there’s a proper signage which informs the citizens not only of the expenditure incurred but also the length of the road to be constructed and the funds disbursed for the same purpose. It leads to participative governance.
For flagship schemes of the govt. IEC campaigns are required to increase the awareness at the local level. This can be done through pamphlet distribution, radio news, etc.
M3: (Interjected) How about promotion of tourism?
Me: Definitely, Ma’am. Marketing has a pivotal role there.
M3: How do you see ‘data wealth as the new wealth’?
Me: Ma’am, ‘data is the new oil’ in today’s time. A country like India generates vast amount of data. This data can be utilized for a number of applications like demand management, assessing consumer behavior, even for internal security purposes. Therefore, big data analytics is required for good governance.
(This was presumably a smooth phase of the interview)
….
M4: (Jumping straight to my hobbies) So, you’ve played both cricket and tennis. What is the similarity between the two?
Me: Sir, both cricket and tennis are stop-and-start games unlike many other sports.
M4: (Interjected) There is something else.
Me: Sir, cricket is a team game. Tennis used to be an individual/doubles game but with the advent of Davis Cup, even tennis has become a team game.
M4: There is something else.
Me: (Now I was out of sorts. Can’t say tennis ball now) Sir, maybe the pull shot of cricket is similar to forehand crosscourt shot in tennis. (He smiled but far from convinced)
M4: Okay, leave it. Here it says you’ve managed events during your MBA.
Me: Indeed, Sir.
M4: So how long did you take to plan any event? What was the duration of the event?
Me: Sir, it took about 3–4 days to plan an event which was a day-long affair.
M4: What if I ask you to plan an event of 3–4 days and give you time to plan for it in a day, using the same manpower?
Me: (There, now comes a challenge) (Took a pause) Sir, although time is a constraint here, but the logistics is not a constraint as similar equipment are going to be used throughout the length of the event. The set-up would be the same whether it’s a 3-day or a 1-day event. I just have to motivate my team to work that much harder and see to it that every detail is planned.
M4: What is an MEZ?
Me: (A couple of acronyms crossed my mind but then I didn't want to hazard a guess) I’m sorry Sir, I don’t know.
…. (Chairman threw the floor open for anyone to ask Qs)
M2: Tell me about the White revolution.
Me: (Answered) (Wrongly addressed Dr. Verghese Kurien as ‘Mr.’)
M2: What about the Blue Revolution?
Me: (Answered)
M2: Red revolution?
Me: (Couldn’t recall it at that moment) I’m sorry Sir, I’m unable to recall.
M2: Yellow revolution consists of ?
Me: Oilseeds like mustard.
M1: (Jumps in) What about cultural revolution?
Me: (I couldn’t place it exactly) Sir, it was started by Sri Aurobindo Ghosh at the time of freedom struggle. (Referring to ‘cultural nationalism’)
M2: (Corrects me) No, no, tell me about the one in China?
Me: (Thankfully) Yes Sir. Cultural Revolution began in China during the rule of Mao Zedong. It was also known as Jasmine Revolution(Shouldn’t have said this here).
The aim of Mao Zedong was to ensure that the populace abides by the single party rule, that is the Communist rule.
….
Chairman: Which country is the biggest headache for India?
Me: Sir, looking at the current geopolitical scenario, China seems to be the biggest headache. (I paused) Sir, should I expand?
Chairman: Go ahead. You have 2 minutes.
Me: (Now, this was my opportunity to hit the ball out of the park) To begin with, there are a lot of festering issues with China such as border dispute both at Aksai Chin region and Arunachal Pradesh. To add to that, the issue of stapled visa for residents of Arunachal Pradesh by China. The recent Doklam stand-off soured our ties even further. Although there hasn’t been exchange of fire, but there have been frequent territorial incursions by Chinese troops.
Moreover, at the multilateral level, China has been blocking India’s quest to join the NSG as well as India’s entry to the UN Security Council. China also scuttles our proposals to declare Masood Azhar as a terrorist on technical grounds.
The CPEC impedes upon our territorial integrity and sovereignty as construction projects in Gilgit-Baltistan region legitimizes Pakistan’s occupation. China is also threatening India with a ‘string of pearls’ which is enhancing its presence in the IOR by creating ports and naval bases. It has naval base in Djibouti. It is creating ports in Gwadar, Hambantota, Kyaupku (Myanmar) and the Maldives, encircling India.
India is also at odds with China over the South China Sea dispute as it professes a rules-based order with free navigation, trade and overflight in the region.
Chairman: What is India’s interest in the South China Sea?
Me: Sir, South China Sea is rich in oil and mineral reserves. India and Vietnam are exploring rigs in the Paracel Islands.
Chairman: What do you understand by the ‘String of Pearls’?
Me: It is a theory which proposes that China is trying for ‘strategic encirclement’ of India in the IOR by shoring up its presence there through port development and other projects.
Chairman: Who proposed the theory?
Me: It was proposed by Western theorists.
Chairman: Do you know who?
Me: No Sir, I don’t.
Chairman: Ok thank you, your interview is over.
Me: Thank you Sir. (Got up and greeted everyone)
….
Remarks and Takeaways:
It was a rather long interview which lasted for about 45–50min. I got up feeling that I’d done my bit given the kind of questions. In the back of my mind, though, those questions were playing where I could have done better. There’s always room for improvement.
- The board members were very cordial throughout.
- The questions were a mix of factual and situational, though tending more towards the former.
- Questions mostly stem from the DAF, which means one must ‘own the DAF’.
- I got 168/275 which corroborates the fact that there is room for improvement.
