Geopsychological Quagmire

Approach & tips for Geography (Mains Examination)

Now with CSAT coming into picture from 2011 & optionals being phased out, its irrelevant to delve upon strategy followed in Geography during prelims. Straight away getting to orientation for Mains exam

· I referred the following material for Geography (Did not take any coaching; just got the Xerox material from Xerox shop whose address I’ve already mentioned elsewhere)

1. Direction’s (Neetu Singh’s) Class Notes for Geography Mains

2. Alok Ranjan’s Class Notes for Geography.

3. Physical Geography – Savindra Singh

4. Geographical Thought – Majid Hussain

5. Comprehensive Geography of India by Khullar

6. Geographical Map Entries – Majid Hussain

7. NCERT (XI & XII)

8. Oxford Atlas (You could also buy Orient or TTK, I followed Oxford)

· Only the above mentioned material was referred. I found it more than sufficient. Infact the three books mentioned were used mostly for reference & actual coverage was done from the class notes.

· I used to compare the coverage of a topic from both Direction’s & Alok Ranjan’s Notes & used to cover it from the source where I found it more satisfactory. For e.g. If plate tectonics was better covered in Alok Ranjan than in Direction’s notes then I would cover it from Alok Ranjan or vice versa. Sometimes if used to find a diagram or paragraph better in NCERT or any other source I used to get it Xeroxed & paste it at the place from where I was covering that particular topic (Do this exercise in time so that you don’t waste time when Mains exam is a month away or so; consolidate your material well in advance).

· Draw lots of diagrams. Diagrams fetch you marks. For e.g. in 2009 Mains exam Paper I, I drew 4-5 world maps (E.g. in Food production regions; Cultural regions etc…whereas many don’t do it) & in Paper II around 10-12 Maps of India. Diagrams should be drawn even if it is tangential to the topic. I used to draw the diagram with black pen instead of pencil as it looks more prominent (But one has to master the diagrams as one can’t erase it).

· Map entries are critical in getting edge. Every coming year the entries are getting obscure & sometimes makes an aspirant wonder if he/she has seen an atlas at all in his/her life!!!!. But don’t loose heart. Practice with a focused approach pays. I’ve identified the following areas where exhaustive coverage should be done.

Focus Areas	Examples
Islands	Butcher Island, Pirotan Island (Try covering all possible islands you can find)
Places in News	Lavasa, Baltel
New Oil Field/Mining Town	Mangala, Kalakot, Kulti
Abbreviations	NIO
Logical Guesses	Kuala Terengganu (City in Malaysia….linked to Kuala Lumpur), Vana Tivu (Link to Katchativu…..I bluffed this & got it right)
Rivers	Ken, Rangit (Try covering rivers in greater detail)
Waterfalls	Kutralam Falls (Try covering all waterfalls which you come across in Atlas)
Longitude Idea	For Time Zone in World Map (For the first time this was asked in 2009 paper…..A good approach could be using a ruler to measure distance from the prime meridian on each side & thereby making calculations)

· Source of Map Entries:

1. Direction’s material has previous map entries solved from 1970 till date; also try to cover their Class practice maps (Twenty sheets in all).

2. Try making your maps on other important entries

3. Good Atlas (Oxford, Orient Blackswan or TTK).

4. Geographical Map Entries by Majid Hussain

5. Try to secure material on map entries from as many different institutes as possible.

6. Its not possible to cover explanation for all map entries whose location one covers (Logical guesses come to one’s rescue).

7. For e.g. in 2008 attempt there was a map entry called Mount Harriet. I just knew that it was located in Andaman & Nicobar island group. But I used other logical inferences like the region receives more than 200 cm of rainfall, moist evergreen type of vegetation (also mentioned some tree types from this type of forest). Annual range of temperature is low. Climate has monsoon affectivities. Now its always better to know & write exact pertinent details about the map entry asked but many times aspirants are short of facts. In such cases providing some logical information is better than writing nothing.

· Answer Writing Style: I used to give a brief introduction (not more than once paragraph of 4-5 lines) & then switch directly to the question at hand. Answer the question asked & don’t beat about the bush. Come straight to the point. Conclusion also used to be of one paragraph in the end (on a constructive note if the question demanded deliberation on any problem). I’ll try to upload the scanned copy of the two mock test I wrote last year.

· I would suggest aspirants to write two full length mocks sometime in September on Paper I & Paper II & get detailed feedback from the teacher/professor. The best way to improve your answer writing style is to take the Xerox of the topper’s (Topper in the mock test) copy & analyze what areas require improvement. This really helps. Just two mocks, one for each paper are sufficient in case of optionals. If you feel less confident then take full battery of mocks (But I would recommend that in case of General studies……Still the aspirant is the best judge).

· The latest trend shows that selective coverage can get you in trap (For e.g. in 2009 Paper I the first question had three sub-questions (20 x 3) & there was no choice. Moreover it touched less asked areas like rejuvenation (second cycle of erosion) & L. C. King’s cycle. Many aspirants couldn’t deal with this question satisfactorily as they did not cover the syllabus exhaustively. I don’t recommend 100 % coverage but around 80% coverage is a must now….especially after seeing 2009 paper.

Approach & Tips for Psychology

Psychology as an optional has remained abstruse to many. Even I share some of the sentiments. In my first attempt when I was grossly under-prepared I secured 323 marks in Mains. OTOH in second attempt despite better coverage, my score dropped to 296. Anyways, I relied on the material mentioned below as I didn’t take any classroom coaching.

1. Mukul Pathak’s Class Notes (Just got the material Xeroxed)

2. Mukul Pathak’s Support Material (Or Printed Material)

3. NCERT XI & XII Textbooks

4. Morgan & King, Baron’s Introduction to Psychology (Used for reference only).

· Mukul Pathak’s Class notes are more than sufficient. When I scored 323 in first attempt I had not even looked at NCERT or any other book (including Morgan King, Baron). Only in my 3^rd attempt I integrated diagrams & research studies from NCERT in the class notes of Mukul Pathak.

· I used lots of illustrations & diagrams (I remember reproducing diagram from NCERT in actual paper, cover diagrams from other books if they can be reproduced easily in exams).

· The trend in Psychology is getting increasingly difficult to decipher. Questions are being asked from obscure areas (Sperling test, Bernoulli blah blah blah). One should cover around 90 % syllabus to be able to answer five questions out of eight.

· Most of the questions ask for relevant research studies & experimental evidences to support one’s answer. So try to cover as many as possible from standard books.

· Not many institutes conduct test series in this. Try taking the mock taken by Mukul Pathak Sir himself sometime in August-September. The downside is that he doesn’t cover all chapters but then there are not many good options available here. (If you approach Shoubhik Sen, he will ask you to deposit 8-10 thousand & join his some sort of a crash course……Not needed at all in my opinion. Still if you have money to splurge, please be my guest).

· Most of the long questions have 3-4 parts. One should be careful lest one misses any particular sub-part & loose marks Read the question very carefully. The extra time spent in re-reading a question is worth the extra time spent. I’ve seen many missing a particular sub question & regretting later for not having read the question properly.

Will share other details once the Final Marksheet for interviewed candidates is out.....Good Luck.

Gyan Continued....

Civils Exam Strategy Part II

A few areas remained untouched in my earlier post, which I am covering here.

I. Which Subject to choose?

This is the most common query I receive & off course there are no easy answers. The average marks for all candidates who did not qualify in Mains 2009 is given below.

Optionals	Total Students	Average
LIT. OF DOGRI LANG	2	298
LIT.OF PUNJABI LANG	18	292
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY & VET.SC.	57	279
LIT.OF GUJ. LANG.	42	278
LIT.OF BENG. LANG.	2	274
LIT. OF MAITHILI LANG	25	270
LIT.OF MALAYALAM LANG	65	269
LIT.OF URDU LANG	30	264
MANAGEMENT	16	260
LIT.OF ASSAME.LANG.	5	260
LIT.OF TAMIL LANG	134	260
AGRICULTURE	138	257
LIT.OF ORIYA LANG.	11	255
LAW	266	254
LIT.OF MANIPURI LANG.	31	251
MEDICAL SC.	77	249
LIT.OF TELUGU LANG	102	242
HISTORY	2777	242
LIT.OF MARATHI LANG.	35	238
SOCIOLOGY	1302	233
PUBLIC ADMIN.	3067	232
BOTANY	230	230
LIT.OF HINDI LANG.	647	226
CIVIL ENG.	36	225
LIT.OF SANSKRIT LANG.	69	225
GEOGRAPHY	3190	221
COMM.& ACCOUNTANCY	256	220
POL. SC. & INT.REL.	1079	218
CHEMISTRY	97	217
LIT.OF KANNAD. LANG.	64	217
ANTHROPOLOGY	290	217
ECONOMICS	249	214
PHILOSOPHY	1476	213
LIT.OF ENGL.LANG.	33	210
PSYCHOLOGY	895	210
LIT.OF PALI LANG.	263	208
GEOLOGY	19	203
STATISTICS	11	199
ZOOLOGY	400	192
PHYSICS	146	188
MECHANICAL ENG.	91	182
ELECTRICAL ENG.	73	159
MATHEMATICS	234	155

I’ve seen similar trend in the last 3-4 years. So I’ll not give ambiguous answers. If you are good in any regional literature like (Punjabi, Kannada, Urdu etc) you should take it up. Literature of regional language comes first in my recommendation list. Second is subjects like Public Administration & Sociology. Pub Ad + Sociology combination is the best bet if you ask me (I know I am highly generalizing but If were to appear again in Civils exam for the first time then I would take up this combination though I am a Delhi University Gold medalist in Geography honours). Pub Ad has been consistently producing better average than geography for the last 2-3 years despite the sample size being almost same (In final result of 2008, the gap of average was more than 30 marks…..It made me think whether there is a scaling process in place at all or not?). Third comes semi scientific subjects like geography & psychology. If you want to really fight against odds then take up physics, Maths, electrical engineering etc. But science subjects like agriculture, Veterinary science, Medical science typically produce good results & can be taken up. Hence my take on optionals is in following order (descending order of priority)

1. Literature of regional language (Its your best bet if you can take up one)
2. Subjects like Public Administration & Socio (Medical Science, Vet, Agriculture, Law also come in this bracket)
3. Semi Scientific subjects like Geography & Psychology
4. Physics, Maths, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering (the worse of the lot).

Again I would like to emphasize that this is a personal opinion. If you are exceptional then you can do wonders with any optional. Also many engineering students raise this query “Whether they can manage humanities subjects”. The answer is offcourse “Yes”. I have seen many engineers taking up humanities subjects & making it to IAS (Many of them had taken up physics or maths as one of their optionals in first attempt, only to be dropped later). A friend of mine named Amit Khatri (AIR-269 this year) had Chemistry as optional in his first attempt & scored badly; he changed it to Pub Ad & has cleared it this year.

Also If I’ve not covered the ranking order (or preference order) of any subject please refer the average list mentioned above & take your call.

II. How to secure material?

Many outstation students face the problem of securing study material as they cannot take coaching due to personal reasons. I referred the following Xerox notes

• Vajiram’s Class Notes for General Studies (All Subjects).
• Mukul Pathak’s Notes for Psychology
• Direction’s (Neetu Singh) material & Alok Ranjan’s Material for Geography.

The Xerox of all of them is available at following locations in Delhi

1. Xerox Shop opposite Aggarwal Sweets in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi.
2. Kumar Book Shop at Patel Chest, North Delhi. (Near Khalsa College).
3. Jawahar Book Depot, Ber Sarai, South Delhi.
4. Will also be available at various Xerox shops in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi.

III. Issue of Studying while working

Many queries are related to this issue. Let me tell you that it is possible but difficult. I was working with Kotak Life Insurance & resigned after getting selected into Indian Revenue Service in 2008 attempt. Took the exam again with full time & energy & got into IAS in 2009. I got two months leave during 2008 attempt mains.

Now If you can afford leaving job, I would recommend that you do. Job definitely is a drag on your preparation. Leave it if you have other means to support yourself & can take up the risk. If you are working in Government entities like BSNL, CDOT etc where liberal leave is granted for long durations (I’ve heard 8 months leave in a year!!!) then you can continue your job & manage.

Still if can’t leave job coz of any reason then try studying 4-5 hours daily after job & make sure you get atleast 2 months leave during mains from your employer. Also one would need another 1-2 weeks leave during prelims. Take your call.

IV. The raging issue of CSAT?

CSAT is giving tough time to all. First it is something new & second there is no clarity on the subject. If I would be taking exam for the first time in 2011 then I would do the following.

1. Study for General Studies Paper till December (Till now many candidates used to clear Prelims exam because of strong optionals but now it will no longer be the same. General Studies will become very important). Next year there would be cut throat competition in General Studies, so focus on it till December 2010 & complete the syllabus. By then the notification for Prelims 2011 will come out & clarity would emerge.

2. Regarding CSAT, my limited understanding is that the reasoning & quantitative questions being asked presently in the General Studies paper will be moved to this paper (& the number of questions would be increased too). Apart from that moral or ethical reasoning questions would be added (they are currently asked in Delhi University Law Faculty entrance exam). But largely clarity will come in notification (or Earlier if coaching institute get some insider information before the notification).

Overall the take is to focus on General Studies & master it before the notification is out.

Rest I am preparing tips on Psychology & Geography which I shall update in the coming week. Drop your comments & queries & I'll try to get back which posts like this again. Also drop our email id if you have not done earlier as I'll be sending out emails on two markers & some sample notes, I am not able to post download links here. Good Luck.

Just Another Gyan

Approach towards Civils Exam

Before the syllabus of UPSC becomes alien to me & the jargons of psychology & geography start to baffle, I decided to pen down my preparation strategy. Hope future aspirants find it useful. Overall I feel that many unsuccessful aspirants are more competent than the selected ones but the strategy & approach makes the difference. I had my own share of pitfalls but I tried to tweak my strategy in every successive attempt & finally secured AIR-25 in my 3^rd attempt in 2009 (Had secured AIR-277 earlier in 2008 attempt & did not clear mains (score was 930) in first attempt taken in 2006). I did not take any coaching for Prelims or Mains examination. Not that I was opposed to it but I was working with Kotak Life Insurance from 2006 to 2009 & resigned from it only after getting IRS (IT) in 2008 attempt. But I joined test series & mock interviews at various places. As I didn’t join any classroom coaching, I got Xeroxed the following material

• Vajiram’s Class Notes for General Studies (All Subjects).
• Mukul Pathak’s Notes for Psychology
• Direction’s (Neetu Singh) material & Alok Ranjan’s Material for Geography.

Someone once said “If I am given twenty hours to chop down a tree, I’ll spend first eighteen hours sharpening the axe”. Personally I feel that to a large extent this is very much true for civil services examination. Not clearing civils is not a failure of memory or intellectual competence but probably the efforts don’t get channelized in the right direction (This is purely a personal opinion).

General Studies for Prelims (The Do’s)

• Focus should be on current affairs as it is the area which gives you the highest return per minute spent.
• Try making your own notes especially for information that can be categorized (E.g. Awards, Committees, PM/President, Persons in news etc can easily be tabulated). Those who have cleared prelims in their previous attempts can avoid this & rely directly on source material (mentioned below).
• Source Material which I referred for GS prelims was News & Events Magazine, Civil Services Chronicle Magazine (Used to make personal notes from these two sources & it does not take more than 2 weeks to cover them all, provided you give 8-10 hrs daily). Also I used to go through magazines brought out by Vajiram & Ravi (but only after brushing up my personal notes; in fact once it was done there was only 10-20 % extra to be found in Vajiram magazines. Moreover the organization of information in Vajiram magazines leaves a lot to be desired).
• History for Prelims: Focus should be on modern India as it is in trend (though sometimes medieval India & ancient India are also asked). Spectrum’s publishers “A brief history of Modern India” is a good source. I referred it both for prelims as well as mains exam (& spectrum was the only source I referred for covering history for Mains examination apart from two markers).
• Geography for Prelims: I didn’t focus on it as geography was my first optional. But NCERT XI & XII textbooks are a good source. Focus should be on Geography of India. Also refer a good atlas – Oxford, TTK, Orient Black swan. I largely relied on Oxford.
• Polity for Prelims: Used to skim through Vajiram Class notes on Polity. The same source was used for Mains examination.
• Economy for Prelims: No special preparation. Just went through Vajiram Class notes. Mostly questions in prelims related to economy are current affairs oriented & covered under current affairs.
• Science for Prelims: This section troubles many. Focus should be on Biology & especially selected areas like Genetics, Blood groups, Hormones, Vitamins etc. Just go through previous year question papers (esp. the one categorized by subject) & figure out trends. Good source for it is Lucent’s General Knowledge (cheap & good book for ready reference).

General Studies for Prelims (The Don’ts)

• Don’t study from too many sources. I’ve seen a lot of aspirants getting in love with all sorts of books. They will study NCERT books from 6^th to 12^th standard, Bipin Chandra, Mishra & Puri for economics, Savindra Singh for geography (that too for GS!!!!), DD Basu & Subhash Kashyap for Polity…..n the list is endless. There is no problem in reading all this provided one is able to remember which usually not the case is. I’ve seen many aspirants taking up extensive studies (good enough to do PhD on that subject), but when prelims is one month away, they panic & get bogged down by the information that is to be remembered. I just referred NCERT of XI & XII (More specifically for Modern India in History & Geography of India only). Please study less but study effective.
• Many aspirants cover India Year Book from cover to cover. I never did it. Infact I never read it for Prelims but selectively referred it for Mains exam only. Selective for me meant I finished it in one day, skimming some possible two markers.
• Economic Survey should also be skimmed. Don’t get into minor details. Just get a feel. That too for Mains exam. I never referred Eco Survey for Prelims.

General Studies for Mains Examination

• I would recommend aspirants to join atleast one test series. Joining test series in optionals is not that important but in case of General Studies it is pretty useful (again a personal opinion). The contribution of test series in improving performance is less because of improvement in knowledge & more because of better time management. Many & yes many (including myself in my first attempt) are not able to complete GS paper because they mismanage time. Joining test series will help one time his/her performance & also help one to write the answers around the word limit range.
• I took test series at Shriram’s IAS in 2008 attempt & at Expert Brains (Ajit Sinha) in 2009 attempt. Both are good. The model answers of Shriram are better as they are crisp. The downside of Shriram’s test series was that it covers usually only one subject at a time & full length mocks in the end, so one might loose touch with the subject. Ajit Sinha on the other hand, covers multiple subjects (history, polity, social issues etc) in a single mock. But I liked the model answers of Shriram’s IAS more. Take your call but would recommend you join one. It’s almost a must for those writing Mains examination for the first time.
• Focus on Two markers because usually you know or don’t know them. Write 3-4 points in two markers (offcourse if you know it). You can separate the information bits by semicolons to pack information.
• Write answers pointwise. One can provide more information by writing the answers pointwise with an introduction & conclusion of 1-2 lines. Not all answers can be attempted pointwise though (For e.g. in 2009 attempt G.S. paper I, the questions from history were based on quotations & one has to answer them paragraph wise).
• Reading Newspaper regularly has become a must with the changing trend (In 2009 attempt I could answer questions like “Whereabouts” clause of WADA, Extra Vehicular Activity, Plural Society etc just because I remembered information from Newspaper). Hindu Newspaper is your best bet followed by Times of India. I read both.
• Try to give multi-dimensional perspective.
• History for Mains Exam: Spectrum Publisher’s “A brief history of modern India”. Referred Bipin Chandra for 2-3 topics (the rise of the left wing, Indian capitalists & the national movement, long term strategy of the national movement…chapters which I couldn’t find in Spectrum). Even if you don’t read Bipin Chandra it will do. Spectrum is a good source.
• Polity for Mains Exam: Vajiram’s Class notes
• Geography for Mains Exam: It was my optional so I didn’t focus. NCERT of XI, XII should suffice. Don’t know whether Vajiram’s Class notes are good in this area or not. Please check yourself.
• National & Social Issues: Vajiram’s Class Notes
• Science & Technology: Vajiram’s Class Notes. Focus on “Emerging Technologies” like Graphene etc. Also make sure you cover areas which got Nobel Prize (E.g. Spintronics & question on Green Fluorescent Proteins in the last two years were asked as Nobel was awarded in that field). Track technology in News (E.g. Hubble Telescope was asked as 5^th mission went for it in 2009).
• Economy for Mains Exam: Vajiram’s Class Notes. Try tracking some major indices like Global competitive Index etc as sometime direct question is asked.
• Current & International Issues: Current Affairs Classroom notes of Vajiram (conducted in September every year).
• Statistics: Spectrum’s Book on Statistics. If you have Vajiram’s Yellow book on Statistics (That will also do). But practice a lot as time management is very important.

Some More Pointers for General Studies in Mains Examination:

• Don’t Bluff. If you don’t have any clue to any two markers or long question, just leave it. If you answer it, you are just satisfying yourself. The examiner will most probably give you a zero & it also spoils impression. Moreover you might not have time for later questions which you could have answered properly.
• In Paper II especially don’t bluff at all. Last year I left two 10 markers completely & saved time for Stats. I actually saved 45 minutes for stats & managed to attempt for 31 out of 35 marks. Moreover if you complete stats & still have time, you can always revisit the question you left in the first go.
• In statistics, attempt the numerical question first & the graphical questions later as it saves time (Provided you are equally comfortable with both).
• Events that have completed silver, golden, platinum jubilee are important (E.g. Television completed fifty years & was asked in 2009 attempt. In 2010 mains possible questions could be on RBI as it celebrates Platinum Jubilee etc & many more). While studying for prelims mark out such topics for studying later during mains.
• Yojana Magazine is a must. Last year I could answer the question on “Integrated Energy Policy” as it was as it is mentioned in Yojana.
• Refer Important National & International Award winners (E.g. Deep Joshi & Satya Vrat Shastri were asked in 2009 attempt).
• I covered two markers from many different sources. Will post my personally typed two markers soon.

Will be posting details on Geography & Psychology soon…….Will also post some two markers later. If I am not able to post the link of two markers & other materials then I'll email it to you. Please drop your email id in the comments section. I’ll mail the material to you. Thanks for bearing me till this point. Godspeed.

Deja Vu...Not Desirable Anymore.

So here I was about to face UPSC interview for the second time. The board was that of Former Defense Secretary Mr. Vijay Singh, an IAS Officer of 1970 batch, who was earlier the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh.

Many candidates who are already in service usually tend to be more confident (sometimes even cocky) while facing the interview for second time. I decided otherwise & played low key. This was based on my observation in the academy that the candidates who have scored the highest interview marks are not the ones with the best communication skill or confidence levels. Most of the 200 plus candidates I met had average communication skill but a humble approach towards life. May be honesty & humility is very much needed for getting into the top 5 percentile. Atleast that’s what I thought. In Civil Services exam, you know nothing for sure but keep on experimenting with strategies till you hit the sweet spot. I would still call it probability than luck.

My Interview lasted about 30-35 minutes. I was the fourth candidate to be interviewed so I had enough time to go through newspapers & chat around with fellows who were soon be on the gallows!! Here’s what I remember from my tête-à-tête with the board members.

Chairman: So you are from Rajasthan?
Yes Sir.

You have completed your entire education from Delhi…I See Kirori Mal College? Then he started looking at me.
No Sir. I’ve just done my graduation from Delhi. I have completed my entire schooling in Rajasthan itself.

I see you completed your MBA in 2006. What have you done during the intervening period?
Sir, after my MBA, I got campus placement. I was working with Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual life Insurance till last year, when I cleared civils and got Indian Revenue Service (IT). Then I left the job & went to the academy. But now I have taken Extra Ordinary Leave (EOL) from the academy

Where is the academy?
Sir it is in Nagpur…..National Academy of Direct Taxes. (I wondered why it was asked…Was it some sort of a deliberate attempt or whether Mr. Vijay Singh was not aware of it).

He said…yes yes….Nagpur. NADT is a very famous place.

How long is this EOL?
Sir, it is for one year period. I’ll be joining my training in December this year.

The Chairman then signals to the member sitting to my immediate left to ask question.

Why have you taken EOL?
Sir, I had to take EOL as I wanted to improve upon my service. Our Course Director said that if you join the academy, you will not be allowed to take Civil Services Exam again. Those who want to reappear, have to take EOL.

Is this EOL, leave without pay?
Yes sir it is.

So you don’t know much about Taxation. Did you go to the academy?
Yes sir, I don’t know much. I went to the academy just for one week and came back.

What is your service preference order.
Sir IAS, IPS, IFS (Now IFS I knew was ruled out but still I mentioned to avoid any possible bouncers on foreign policy or any related issue like why not IFS)

Why do you want to leave Indian Revenue Service & join IAS? Don’t you appreciate the contribution of Indian Revenue Service to country’s development?
Sir, I very much appreciate the contribution of Revenue Services. Infact because of the massive Direct Tax Collections & Indirect Tax Collections, the Government has been able to significantly increase its funding for the social sector schemes. We have reached a point where we are collecting Rs. 1000 crore per day. The Direct tax collections for last year were around 3.4 lakh crore & this year we are targeting a collection of 4 lakh crores this year.
As far as my preference for IAS, IPS goes, I would say that my preference order was the same last year. I prefer IAS because of its profile. You get exposure in various domains like Education, Healthcare, implementing social schemes etc. Moreover there is people to people contact which adds to job satisfaction.

So you want to become DM?
Yes Sir

What will be your top priorities as a DM.
Sir my top priorities would include making myself accessible to the public at large. Currently the public perception is that the District Collector is out of bounds for the common man. Next my full focus would be on implementing various social sector schemes like NREGA among others efficiently. For this I’ll conduct regular meetings and track the progress – on papers as well as on ground. Moreover I’ll try my level best to minimize corruption in implementation of various schemes.

Why is Tax Collection going up? Is it the assessment by the officer or the booming economy?
Sir the tax collections are going up because of both the factors. After liberalization of the economy the private sector has done extremely well. Corporate incomes have gone up & also the salary of the employees. Moreover the income tax department has introduced various measures to facilitate tax collections like increased transparency, e-filing of returns etc.

What is the date of filing tax returns.
Sir the date of filing advanced tax is 15 days prior to every quarter end.

No…No…I’m asking what is the last date of filing returns.
Sir, If I remember it right the last date of filing income tax returns for an individual is upto 30th June.

What about the filing of return….Lets say period of April to December….Blah Blah Blah…
I couldn’t understand his question & said “Sorry Sir”. (Sorry is the panacea…the Elixir without which nobody can manage).

Although you have not joined the academy, you must be aware of Direct Tax Code as part of your Civil Services Preparation. What are the provisions & your views.
Sir, the Direct Tax Code (DTC) is a positive step in reforming the tax laws. Under DTC the tax slabs have been given a very liberal upwards revision. Under it 30 % tax will be charged only on incomes exceeding 25 lakhs. So it’s a significant revision in the slab. Another major change is that the savings limit has been increased to 3 lakhs from 1 lakh at present. This will help us boost the Savings to GDP ratio which is very necessary for us to sustain high growth rate. Third important provision is that we will be moving from EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) regime to EET (Exempt-Exempt-Tax) regime.

The member interrupted and asked me that why is the EET regime being opposed.
Sir the opposition to EET regime has logical grounds. Today if I as a tax saver want to save money through ELSS (Equity Linked Saving Scheme) or any other instrument, I don’t have to pay taxes during withdrawal. Once the EET regime sets in, I’ll be taxed at withdrawal stage. This will reduce my effective return on investment. Hence it is being opposed.

The member elaborated that in EET even the Provident Fund savings…EPF, PPF will be taxed which is not good (It seemed he personally was against this proposition though globally income tax savings are taxed atleast at one stage be it TEE, ETE or EET regime).

He signaled the Lady Member to continue

You seemed to have specialized in Finance….I can see from your summary sheet.
No Madam. I have specialized in Marketing, though I have studied finance to as part of my MBA curriculum

So you are more comfortable with marketing.
Yes Madam

Neways I’ll ask you a finance question. Have you heard to technical analysis?
Yes madam, I have heard to technical analysis, it is used in analysis of stock prices & index movement.

Yes…But it is used elsewhere too. How will you use it in a scheme?
Madam as far as my knowledge goes; we can use technical analysis for figuring out the past trends & projecting for the future. Critical ratios can be calculated to see how the scheme is functioning.

What is fundamental analysis?
(I had definitely heard the term but had not expected even in my dreams that such terms would be thrown at me….Still the financial analyst in me, tried to bluff my way through)…Madam fundamental analysis with respect to analyzing a company’s performance rests on checking out the key figures like Turnover, operating profit etc to figure out how the company is performing.

If given a choice will you prefer technical analysis or fundamental analysis?
Madam If I am to choose between the two then I’ll choose fundamental analysis (I was hardly sure but here I was speaking with the confidence of a CFO or Market Analyst) because technical analysis is based on previous projections & it might not hold true for future. The reason is that a change in operating environment could result in technical analysis going wrong, while fundamental analysis can be a better predictor in such cases.

Why does the stock market index does not react to environmental changes or policy changes the way it should?
(At last a more tangible & direct question….A Civil Services aspirant can speak for hours on government policies on various issues but what one studied during MBA or Engineering is mostly a spoiler). Madam there are various factors at play which determine index’s value. The FII can pull in & pull out resulting in a change. Moreover sometimes the change expected out of recent policy shift is already built in. Like the recent hike in Repo & Reverse repo rates by RBI did not impact the sensex as probably the market forces were already anticipating such a policy announcement, so it was already accounted for. Moreover index also depends on “Psychology of Investor” which always does not work on rational considerations. (I felt like stating RBI Governor’s Mr Subbarao’s quote - You can’t define financial stability. It’s like pornography, you can’t define it but when you see, you know it…………But I sacrificed my instincts in anticipation of service upgradation)

It is said that Direct Taxes are progressive & Indirect Taxes hit the poor most. How do you explain this.
Madam, as direct taxes are progressive it leads to rich people paying up more taxes. On the other hand in case of indirect taxes people pay the same tax irrespective of their income levels. For e.g. If today I go to buy a sachet of Shampoo, I pay the same indirect tax as a poor person would do if he or she buys the same product. So Indirect taxes hit the poor most.

She signals next member to take lead.

I see you have worked in insurance industry. Have you hear of agricultural insurance. Presently what crops are being covered?
Sir Agricultural insurance was introduced in India in 1985 when the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme was started but it was a loss making venture & government replaced it with National Agricultural Insurance Scheme. Under it various forms of agricultural insurance scheme is provided like Rain bases insurance which covers incase of monsoon failure….weather based insurance which cover the losses incurred due to temperature fluctuating beyond a particular range

As far as the issue of crops covered goes, a total of 27 crops are being covered if I remember it right. (Actually it is 35 crops during Kharif & 30 crops during Rabi….But pretty close)

Why are farmers not buying Agricultural Insurance? What is the actual issue.
Sir the reason is that most of the farmers who are buying agricultural insurance at present are being forced by the bank from where they take loan to buy it.

The member intervened and said “Yes that I know….It is being done for safety cover of loans if the crop fails but what are the other reasons”.
Sir the other reasons remain very low level of awareness among the farmers about agricultural insurance. Also the premium rates are high in certain cases.

How are premium rates determined?
Sir the premium rates are determined on the basis of Claims ratio. The historical claim ratio is studied & on the basis of that the premium is determined.

There are issues of claims being repudiated or there is a considerable time taken in Claims settlement. What is the reason?
Yes sir….we have considerable time lag in settling claims. The major reason for this is that the agricultural insurance market in not of perfect market in terms of information. The farmer always has a better knowledge of the possible risks. So when insurance companies operate in such an environment either the premiums are high or the claims settlement is low. Worldwide wherever government has gone into the business of agricultural insurance it has suffered losses because of the imperfect information available. Even in India the government is relying on Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) data for fixing premiums. There is no customized data available for regional areas to customize the premium rates.

The country is facing numerous law & order problems. There are riots, communal disturbances & this new problem of naxalism is spreading across many states? What will you do to curb Naxalism.
Sir do you want me to answer on all issues or just naxalism.

He said only Naxalism.
I replied that for tackling naxalism a two pronged strategy should be adopted. One should be action by armed forces against the naxal rebels who have taken up arms against the state & are blowing schools, railway tracks etc…On the other hand the government should implement all the social sector schemes properly. The politicians should better understand regional aspirations & be sensitive to the problems of the people. If proper development takes place the naxals will not be able to sustain support among the masses.

But this is already done by the government. What is lacking then.
Yes sir the government is following this approach. As far as tackling the naxals through the armed forces is concerned we are on track but as far as delivering development & inclusive growth to the people, we are way off the target. There is a wide gap between what is desired & what is being delivered by the government on development & social sector schemes implementation.

Still, What exact steps will you take as the administrator.
Sir, a lot of initiative on personal front can be taken. For E.g. there was a DM in my district by the name Mr. Rajiv Thakur. He took a lot of innovative steps like
• Organizing numerous camps in tehsils & villages, solving the issues of the masses.
• Making his mobile number available to public at large through local dailies.
• Installing a Postal Box outside his Office so that if any person comes with a complaint to his office while he is on tour, the same can be taken up later.
• Introducing a Slip System, whereby every person would be meeting the DC in particular order according to slip number. This was done to ensure that influential person do not bypass the poor people while meeting the DM.

Like this a lot of reforms can be taken at personal level to improve efficiency in administration.

Next member is asked to continue

What is the status on Tax Arrears?
(I invoked the “Brahmastra” once more)….Sorry sir, I am not aware of it.

You talked about tackling corruption. How is tackling corruption different in Revenue Service & Administrative service?
Sir in Revenue Service, I’ll be dealing with corporates & big businessmen who maintain their accounts on computers with sophisticated softwares. To unravel accounting fraud in such places you need to be expert at “Digital Forensics” which is a new field as well as understand the operation of the accounting software as accounts are no longer maintained through ledger books.

In administration, I’ll try to curb corruption through periodical inspection of work done on the field to ensure that the projects are actually being implemented & not just progressing on papers.

There is a lot of political pressure in Civil Services….esp. on IAS, IPS. Why don’t you prefer Revenue Service then in which there is little or no political interference.
Sir there is political pressure & that makes these services even more challenging (He nodded & looked satisfied making it redundant for me to elaborate)

Back to the Chairman.

A lot of divide in the name of class, caste, region is taking place. How will you control this? He elaborated by citing the examples of Maharashtra where Shiv Sena is threatening Shah Rukh khan or in M.P where the CM does not want Bihari’s to secure jobs. How will you prevent this.
(I understood the issue but was unsure as to how I can prevent it in my capacity as DM or Police Commissioner…So I expressed my predicament) Sir how can I as the DM or SP prevent the political parties from playing petty politics by dividing people on caste/class/region basis.

The Chairman explained that as implementer of laws you can provide protection to the affected parties. For e.g. providing adequate security cover to cinemas operator in case a movie is involved in controversy.
I said “I agree with you sir”. Dividing people on various lines like class, caste, region for gaining political mileage is bad. If I am in control of the area, then I’ll try my level best to provide security to the concerned party. Moreover under Article 311 of the Indian Constitution a Civil Servant is totally secured & he or she can only be transferred if any action is taken against the interest of the political party.

Godhra….Lets not talk about it but it seems that the administrative machinery has crumbled under political pressure. The machinery of IAS/IPS has failed to deliver justice to the common person. Increased political interference has blunted the efficiency of administrative mechanism. How do we prevent this?
Yes sir I agree that political interference has caused a lot of interference n the functioning of administrative setup. We need reforms in these areas so that politics does not come in the way of a civil servant performing his or her duty. There are a lot of examples of upright IAS, IPS officers who are carrying out their duty with utmost honesty & integrity.

The recent Police reforms which talk about fixed tenure of two years for Police Head in the state is a positive step in this regard. Fixed tenure will ensure that the police does not play into the hands of politicians. We need more reforms on these lines to limit the influence of Politicians on Civil Servants.

With this the interview was over.

The Chairman said “Thank you Ghanshyam, it was a pleasure talking to you”. I thanked the members & walked out. Overall the board was extremely cordial & discussion went on a very constructive note. Let’s see what’s in store.