UPSC Interview :- Prashant Patil ( IAS) PART III

MEMBER 5:( lady member)

Q1) Which places you have visited?

Sir I have been to Fatehpur sikri, Jaipur, Elephanta caves near Mumbai, Ajanta Ellora world heritage sites and forts in Shahyadris.

Q2) what is heritage site? How it is selected by UNESCO?

Heritage site means structures, monuments created by man that reflect human culture. Sir I know few criteria of selection that are: site must be man made and must be of at lest medieval origin. Site must have cultural importance for human civilization.

Q3) how do you see India on global tourism industry?

India being country with varied geographical terrain India has huge tourism potential. But India lacks good tourism infrastructure like road connectivity, star hotels at all tourist sites, air connectivity that is available in South East Asia, Europe.

Dr. Purushotam Agarwal( chairman):

Q1) why civil engineers are murdered in government job?

( I was completely puzzled ..n after 5/6 seconds I said..) sir civil engineers in public works department are involved with process of tenders of infrastructure projects worth crores of rupees. There are vested interests of contracters and politicians and because of politican-beaurocratic nexus corrupt practices are rampant in awarding tenders and execution of these projects.

Q2) have you heard Dubey?

Yes sir. He was civil engineer with National Highways Authority of India. He was murdered because he wrote a letter to Prime Minister exposing corruption in construction of National Highway near Gaya in Bihar.

Q3) how will you control corruption in government?

Sir one of the way is implementing e-governance in offices. For example e-tendering can help eliminate the malpractices like rigging of tenders. Also there is need to imbibe ethics and values of honesty and integrity in civil servants along with strong Lokpal for vigilance.

   Chairman then said prashant now you can go. Then I got up from chair and greeted panel thank you sir and madam and have a good day.

# some do’s and dont’s in interview:

1.     never fake or tell lies in interview. If you don’t know answer please tell panel that you are unaware of answer.

2.     do not look in between the shoulders or heads of the members of panel. Maintain proper eye contact with all the members of panel and do not look to only one member who has asked you question.

3.      be in proper formal attire. Colour of your dress should be sober. For gentleman plain shirt preferably with tie and trouser with shoes. gentleman should be clean shaven with haircut. For ladies it can b saree with sandals.

4.     work upon feedback given in mock interviews seriously.

5.     before starting any answer take short pause of 2 to 3 seconds.

6.     consciously practice voice modulation. Your voice should be sufficiently audible, don’t be excited to give answer if you know it perfectly nor don’t get dejected when you don’t know answer.

7.     read about biodata of upsc members on upsc website so that you know the background of your chairman of panel.

# interview preparation:

Start preparation for interview at lest in January with bio data. For biodata preparation generate as many questions as possible on each entry that you have filled in upsc mains form. Write down precise answers in notebook for important questions. Preparation can be divided into following broad topics like biodata, current national and international events, economic events, regional/ events related to your state, hobby.

Appear for 3 to 4 mock interviews. Take one mock as early as possible so that you can work upon the feedback to improve your lacunae. I would recommend all aspiring candidates to take mock interview at YASHDA if you are preparing in pune and at Maharashtra sadan if you are preparing in delhi.

We all read extensively for interview but I would suggest  you to focus upon speech articulation so that you can answer questions in short, precise and forcefull manner so that you can bring home the point in shortest time. This shows your effective communication power and clarity of thought.

# on the day interview:

 Remain calm and be natural what you are . don’t try to pretend what you don’t know. Don’t get carried away by the reactions of previous candidates before you. Donot form any biases/ prejudices about panels. Feel confidant and tell your self that its your day and you will make it. Believe in the goodness of panel because they are there to bring out the best in you. Remember its personality test and not the test of your knowledge.

Some reading material for interview:

1.     Read 2 newspapers  preferably Hindu and Times of India. Because I feel except we aspirants , upsc members may not be regularly reading Hindu. They often read Times of India, Indian Express.

2.     a monthly magazine : Chronicle., yojana.

Please go through Frontline magazine so that  atlest you know important issues.

At last there is no success formula. Believe in your self and believe in almighty god. Enjoy the preparation , success is yours. All the best for your interview.