IAS 2006 Interview Transcripts #24

25. Gaurav Pundir

MOdinagar UP

my interview on 2nd april-part1

Hii all there!

My interview cum personality test was on 2nd April morning session.Board was f Dr. Bhure Lal.

I went in around 11:55 am

Chairman(CM):Welcome Gaurav.Plz sit

Me:Thank you sir.

CM: How u are feeling?

Me: Sir I am feeling great.

(There was some confusion regarding my title Pundir.And one member and CM talks abt it among themselves not with me.)

CM: How is Ghaziabad(My home distt.)

Me: Sir, GZB is fine.

CM: So ur optional is Hindi.

(I think he was looking for my presence of mind.hindi is my indian language paper.)

Me: No sir.That is my indian language paper.

CM: Till what level u read Hindi?

Me: Sir, upto class 10th only.

CM: Oh! You actually belong to aligarh.

(Again he was testing my presence of mind or was there an actual goof up...I don't know...)

Me: No sir.My home town is Modinagar.Aligarh is my mother's native place.

CM: How is Varanasi?

(Since I graduated from IT-BHU so that question I was expecting.)

Me: Sir, VNS is also fine.

CM: What for VNS is famous.

ME: Ganges, ghats and BHU and KV temple.

(I missed banarasi sareers...)

CM:Morning scene at ghats.

(I described scenic beauty but then he himself was interested in the pollution in the river.)

CM: ur optional is maths.

ME: yes sir.

CM: So u must be good in maths.Let me ask one question.Write 2 three times so as to generate highest no.

ME: i bluntly said 222.

(there was a goof up by me here)

CM: what do u think about 2 raise to power 22.

(then he laughed aloud and said that don't worry this question was not for marks.I also smiled on my goof up but remained composed.)

CM:How Tsunami occur?

(Optional Geography)

ME: I described the whole process.

CM: there was a tsunami in dec 2004 and another one a month later.Why there was a big difference

in the extent of damage done by them?The earthquake was of same intensity in both cases.

ME:Sir, Difference was due to extent of coastline.

CM: No.

ME: Sir , the areas would have been differently populated.

CM: I think u are not able to reach the exact point.

(I tried to hazard lot f guesses.And he kept on similing.)

CM: actually one was deep sea earthquake and another shallow.

(Since i was not thru with tsuanmi so i couldn't reply satisfactorily.)

(At this stage, he commented that "feel at home at take your time".May be he might be thinking that I am under stress.)

Mem-1:How earthquake occurs.Number of tectonic plates.

Mem-1: What if a earthquake occurs in Delhi?

ME: Sir, it ll lead to extensive loss of life and property.

Mem-1: Why?

Me- there is lot of congestion in the city.

Mem-1: What is congestion doing here?

ME: Well sir,majority of the buildings in the city are not designed in conformity with the

earthquake standards.That ld be the reason of damage.

(He appeared satisfied on the reply.)

Mem-1: Ground water pollution and ground water management.

Mem-1: what do u think is the issue-ground water shortage or management.

Me:Sir, i think it is the management not shortage as such.

Mem-1:You are given 2 options:Block the sewarage and contamination of gnd water VS dumping the sewarage into river.

ME: sir, I think both options are not viable.Neither we can afford to contaminate our gnd water nor we can pollute the river. We should go for the middle way.

Mem-1: What is the middle way.

ME: Sir, We should ensure that our effluent/sewarage be treated 100%.

Mem-1: You spent considerable time in Calcutta.What is typical pollution problem in the city.

(I had no clue f the answer.)

Me- Sir, I couldn't recall exactly.

Mem-1: It is arsenic pollution.Do you have any idea why it occur?

Me- No sir.

Mem-2: Tell us about cyber crimes.....steps to prevent them.

Mem-2: e-commerce, e-banking, e-procurement.

Mem-2: Your hooby is diary writing.Have u read anybody else's diary?

Me: No madam.

Mem-2: why?

Me: Madam, I cultivated it as a very personal hobby and never felt like getting inspiration from anyone else.

Mem-2:What do you think about this year's budget?Is it anti-poor or anti-rich.

Me: I don't think that it is anti-poor in any way.Outlays for all the flagship program f UPA govt

have been increased.Scholarships/SSA etc.

Mem-3: Tell us about SSA(Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan).

Mem-3: Green revolution.

Mem-3: EDUSAT.

Mem-3: two terms used in it. SIT and ROT.What r they?

Me: Sir, I couldn't recall.

Mem-3: Ok. I ll expand them for you. Satellite Interactive terminal and recieve only terminal.

(Then I explained them out of my wisdom.)

Mem-3: public speaking is your hobby.what r the qualities f good public speakers?\

Me: mobilisation and motivation of masses.

Mem-3: Hw do u motivate?it is a difficult task these days.

ME: Sir, I harp on the gains that the other persons would accrue after associating or listening to me.

Mem-4: Well Gaurav, country has spent lot f money on ur education and it is now ur turn to pay back.What is ur vision for the nation?

Me:Sir, I wanted to give a meaning ful contribution to society.

(I was deliberately measured in my response to this very open question.)

Mem-4: But what is that meaningful contribution.You have any specific agenda in hand?

Me: I harped on e-governance and my edge in the field as a technocrat.

(He appeared satisfied.)

Mem-5:There are lot of terrorist activities in the country.What do u think can be done to curb them?

Me:Sir, intelligence beef-up.Formation of core group at centre with wide powers to tackle such issues on exclusive basis.Better coordination among all agencies.

Mem-5:No, but what as an administrator u can do?

(I don't know.Earlier he asked about what can be done.Then next he said i asked what u can do?A deliberate goof-up to test my wits.?)

Me- Sir, it has been observed that the terrorists use the vicinty of the area to stay and acclaimatise.So i ld ensure that there better survellience and steps like tenant verification on a massive scale and regular basis.

CM: Thank you Gaurav.You may go.

ME: Thank you sirs.