 Good morning Jayagruti. How are you? All set for your, what is the date of your interview? 10th of September sir. Oh so you have got just not too much of time no? Yes sir. Not very much of time. So you have specialized in electrical engineering and you worked for two years in BHEL you know? Yes sir. Two years you were there. What were you doing? Can you tell us a little bit about your experience in a public sector and you know? Sir in two years, first year was spent in training and induction program and when I was permanently posted there I worked as a purchase executor in material management for Transformers division. I see and what is your general view because you know these were all the Navratnas. What is your view of the public sector and are they really useful now with all the disinvestment going on? Have they lost their utilities? Is it better to go in for public-private partnership, monetize them, get the money for other development things or are they worth continuing in a limited way? What is your take on this whole public sector management and policy in India as a young executive? Sir in my opinion public sectors and strategic sectors which fulfill certain strategic national interests should be retained in public sector like rural electrification corporation. They have a social interest in them. Sir further in other sectors as the government has said that we will retain their minimum so that national interest dimension can be taken care of. Thus we can have disinvestment, we can invite private participation to improve our rate of return on investment. Our private sectors have immense capacity so we need to improve its utilization and I think privatization can help us leverage that. Also there will be challenges which we will have to address in that disinvestment. I see and what about you know what are the main motivations for you? Which attempt is this? Is this your second attempt? This is my second attempt sir. Yeah this is your second attempt. So what is the motivation for you to join the civil service? You are an engineer, BHEL is a good public sector job and what are the motivations and what do you foresee your role as an IAS officer and what do you think you can make a difference given your background? Sir my experiences at BHEL Bhopal gave me a better exposure to these public services in general. They offer us a platform to participate in decision making and to be a direct part of inclusive development in the country. They have a very diverse scope of their functioning so all the sectors I will be able to touch with my services in the sector. So further with my knowledge of electrical engineering and engineering in general I'll have a scientific attitude. I can also work with the engineering related sectors or power related sectors in general because the government is also focusing upon specialization nowadays. So I think my specialization can I can specifically contribute even in those sectors as well sir. Okay now you know I want to ask you about this long pending and this question of this women's reservation bill. It's been going on and on everybody seems to be for it but it's not being passed. What exactly is happening I mean or is it at all required? Is it really fair to the women to have a reservation in parliament on their own? We've had such women leaders who've come up. Is it required or is it not and why is it? What is this whole game that's going on in the name of this women's reservation bill? Sir women contribute towards half of the population of the country yet their political participation especially at the central legislation level it is very meager around 17 percent. Such reservations will ensure that women compulsorily form that at least 33 percent as it is being proposed at least that much participation will be guaranteed statutorily but at the same time such reservation will not be able to address the grassroots challenges because of which women have not been able to enter the political arena. So we will also have to address those challenges parallelly. Okay one last question on the civil services reform. You know now from the Prime Minister onwards everybody is very worried about the quality the lack of motivation the lack of delivery of the civil servants you would have heard about it. So now there is a new scheme so can you tell me about this new scheme that has come in you know this whole thing about you know that has come yeah could you tell me about it please? Sir a scheme Mission Karmiyogi has been launched by the government in order to redesign our civil services structure to meet the changing needs of the government or the changing needs of governance to be specific. They are moving from rules-based to rules-based approach more ground level training is being emphasised. Regular updation of knowledge with respect to technological upgradations and training for different kind of advancements that take place in the country. So it is a envisage to have a more dynamic system of public service in the country. What I would suggest to you is this is very important and this is a question that almost all these UPSC members will ask you because it is very current and very worrisome about the quality of the civil servants. What I would suggest to you is you must be knowing something about this you should thoroughly go into the DOPT website there is a PowerPoint presentation about 18 or 20 points there on this whole Mission Karmiyogi what is it wanting to do various you know online training it's all there. So you know a question like this comes you have to crack it you know you have to give the info this thing that you know this thoroughly so just an advice you just go through it and this is very useful and you know it'll be important yes I will hand it over to Professor Narasimha now to take chat please. Thank you sir you have studied sociology as one of your options right? Yes sir. Sociology okay so in sociology generally when people analyze the artifacts they talk about two categories etic and emic categories have you heard of these things what is etic and what is emic? Sir I'm unable to recall these terms sir. No sir could you please repeat it once again? Etic and emic etic and emic sir I'm unable to recall it sir. These are very two sociological and anthropological knowledge it's also probably used by anthropologists and also by sociologists these two categories are very important when you look at the cultures that for example cultural artifacts a particular culture has a number of artifacts so how do you probably categorize them and that's when these two categories come into play okay and I think you can read about this. I read on that sir. Right okay okay right and as a person from sociology I have at least taken as optional sociology how do you use your training or your knowledge in sociology to address a social tension in an area where you're going to work? Sir my knowledge of sociology has given me information about various background of social tensions that exist today so with that knowledge of background and the current dynamics so I'll be able to utilize that knowledge also sociology does not hold any prejudices towards any community the study is done in a very scientific manner so sir study would help me placate both the sections where tension is going on so I think without any prejudices I'll be able to handle the case on its merit and be able to focus on these tensions. As a sociologist how do you define culture? Sir culture is the set of practices sanctioned within a particular religion which frames the overall lifestyle of a particular community or a religious sect or denomination. It is related to religion only or is it a social thing? Sir it is a social and geographical concept but usually tied with religious values and notions. Not always see you talk about for example I don't know what you talk about in Madhya Pradesh but here we talk about Tamil culture and people talk about American culture it's not always tied to a religion it is something else. Yes sir yes sir I agree. Religion is also part of culture religion also included in the culture it's not culture is not nested in the religion but religion is nested in the culture. Yes sir I would like to correct myself and yes culture develops on its own based on social geographical and religion plays as the part of it. I agree with that sir. Yes and being a sociology student you must also understand what is known as ethnocentrism. Have you come across this term? Yes sir. That is the very very often that ethnocentrism is the major problem between the administrators and the common people. Yes ethnocentrism is one where one's allegiance to her ethnic identity is more important than one's allegiance to a wider national community or a wider community. Okay I think the most simpler is you judge based on your ethnic identity the others and that is actually the problem in many of the cases when you deal with from lower level to higher level administration anywhere not only here right even in the US it's the same issue in developed countries like US and other places. Okay and Madhya Pradesh is also a tribal state. Yes sir. Right in fact that's one of the richest state in India a tribal population and how do you address the issues of tribal in terms of modern development? The tribal population in Madhya Pradesh is in Madhya Pradesh in general or all the tribal populations. No in general Madhya Pradesh you come from Madhya Pradesh you should know your state situation. No sir tribal population in Madhya Pradesh is not homogeneous we need specific plans for specific tribal groups. Some have been sufficiently modernized like Raj Gones in Madhya Pradesh they have political presentation their literacy levels are better so there we need to integrate them with more technological advancements where they are lacking others like Saharya and Saur especially those who constitute particularly vulnerable tribal group we will have to work upon even the grassroots situations like education, health and then creating a niche for them in technological advancements at the local level itself. We can introduce technology for basic minor forest produce so that they gradually integrate with mainstream so we'll have to take different approaches for different groups. Please correct yourself the term minor forest produce is not currently in work they are called non timber forest produce. Yes sir non timber forest produce. So it's an old British term but they are no more minor now they are in fact they are the major revenue source for any of the forest department. Yes sir. Okay thank you. Thank you sir. This is Arina please. Jagrati what's the progress of the scheme switch sort of survection which has been implemented across the country? What's been the progress? Ma'am such a survection judges the different districts in the country based on their performance in such Dharat Abhyan and they give then they a lot of status like ODF status, ODF plus status. In ODF various studies suggest that around 80% of the country has attained this ODF status but ODF plus status or ODF double plus status which also encompasses what is this ODF? Open defecation free that is ODF is about presence of toilets for all households and in public utilities and those are used regularly by the people. When we talk about ODF plus it also involves the management of that waste which is produced by the sanitary facilities and ODF double plus goes a further way in also addressing the challenges around water management in these areas. So ma'am ODF we have been successful but for ODF plus and ODF double plus still only few districts have achieved those status. Any significant outcomes which this survey has provided us with respect to Madhya Pradesh performance? Ma'am Madhya Pradesh has been always there in the top 10 with Indore having the first position for straight three years. Recently I think it went to second position. Mhopal has also been there in top 10. So Madhya Pradesh has been doing fairly well in Sathya Bharata at the end. Indore is it not the first ranked city? Ma'am I think in the latest survey it's left to second position. Okay so what is the benefits which we as different urban local bodies across the country have to learn from this drink from tap mission which Puri has successfully implemented. Are you aware of it? Ma'am I'll have to read on that. I think last week the vice president of US had a very surprise visit I think I could say to Southeast Asia. So what's the significance of her visit and what's been the itinerary to be discussed about? As USA is leaving Afghanistan now they have started correcting their they have started diverting their attention towards Southeast and Indo-Pacific and also reiterating itself as global leader by projecting itself as a character of rules based order in the Indo-Pacific especially against Chinese aggression. So in South China's dispute it has said that it will stand up with various countries against any kind of imperialistic outreaches of China. So it is an effort to reassert the global leadership status that US enjoys. I think you have your engineering background and the experience at Bell. Have you ever thought of what's the kind of emission and the influence which the sector as per say the electronic industry or a particular industry as such is contributing to the environmental degradation? Ma'am electronics industry? Yes. Ma'am electronics industry with respect to emissions they are power intensive so usually the thermal power which is supplied is consumed by them. Ma'am further environmentally they use many kinds of metals and minerals in their processing which are not treated before they are discharged. So these two issues need to be handled. Ma'am electronic industry in general is a low power industry. So although manufacturing has a lot of power intensive operations the output as such are not polluting in their nature. So the processing has to be tackle for electronics industry. For any kind of any facts related to lead and arsenic have you come across any significant discussions related to lead and arsenic which we should be concerned about or we should be Ma'am the concentration of arsenic has been found beyond the normal tolerable levels especially in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal region while lead concentrations have also increased in the groundwater and surface water as well. So this is now entering food chains as this water is utilized for irrigation and for drinking water purposes which has the health impacts upon the community. Is there any act which concerns specifically about lead and arsenic? Ma'am I can take a guess but I'm not sure about that. Is it environmental protection no resource conservation and recovery act? It's okay just just okay and that's it. Mr Pandiraj, I think you can point him. Yes, thank you sir. Mr Jaaprikeli like it seems like you are interested in music especially the Mandir Gandhi music like can you please elaborate on the evolution of the music? How are you attracted towards that music? Sir will you please pass in? Yes sir, a little louder sir. I could see you are interested in the music actually like can you please elaborate on the evolution of that particular stream of music and what attracted you towards that music? Sir the evolution of music it spreads to the evolution of various dialects in the 15th 16th century. One stream of Brij Bahasa developed into Bundelkhandi in the region of Bundelkhandi Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Bundela Rajput rulers of the region patronized this music and various local communities contributed to it. Certain writers like Ishwari and Jaganik they have also contributed towards its evolution. Today it is a source of great sociological knowledge about the region as it solely deals with the social issues. What attracted you towards that music? Sir I was born in that region of Bundelkhandi so ever since my childhood I have heard it and as I said that it has a lot of social issues attached to it especially regarding women. So it is a great source to know the social challenges of the region. Okay and like you are from Madhya Pradesh and the Chattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh and made it as a state and it is almost at 20 years now. Now it is a 20 years significant period to analyze progress or otherwise whether it has made the objective or not. Like can you please throw some light on it like whether it has made the aspirations of the people of Chattisgarh or it's still the work in progress? Sir the division into Chattisgarh it has helped in fulfilling the political aspirations of the people of Chattisgarh. While it was a part of Madhya Pradesh the positions of chief minister would rarely go to the people of that region. So political aspirations now are being better fulfilled. Sir targeted focus now since Chattisgarh has many marginalized communities. So targeted focus has resulted in improvement in social and health indicators. But at the same time at the same time certain issues like tribal extremism in Chattisgarh is still prevalent and grass root development has not taken place especially with respect to economic indicators. And you are from Madhya Pradesh and it is having a lot of foreign entry and how was it performed in ensuring the implementation of forest rights act? Sir forest rights act has received mixed response in Madhya Pradesh. Certain tribal groups and forest dwellers who were in possession of their ownership rights have been able to benefit. Those who were dislocated from their places of dwelling from forest especially in the Anupur Shahidol region which is coal rich they are yet to get benefits of this act. So tribes who have had their ownership rights especially in the forest rich regions they have benefited but some of them have not. Earlier you were working under public sector undertaking. What is your opinion about Charis coming down and now we are more handing over all the projects towards investment work? What is your call on that? Sir do you please repeat sir? I think some problem with your audio. Mr Pandiraj I think you can switch off your video so that your audio would be with the better. Okay and my question was like earlier you were working in the PSU what is your opinion about this investment of there is a trend that being we can observe it. More investment is being to cover the revenue deficit. Like what is your call on that? Like is it a right trend or like we should continue this investment or we should retain the stake in all these public sector undertakings? Sir your voice is breaking Pandiraj sir it's not continuous and clear. It's not yeah I think there's some problem with your audio Pandiraj and it doesn't matter I think we can now Yes sir I look into that I'm done sir. Okay thank you. So Jagrati we just give you a little feedback Jagrati based on can you hear me Jagrati? Yes sir. Yeah I'll just give you some feedback. I think you've done very well. You come out as a very intelligent smart young person and I don't see any reason why you should not get more than 60-65% in the interview. So the important thing is to see how you can go beyond that you know to 70-75%. So you know one of the questions and easy one is why do you want to get into the IAS? You know this is there are enough answers to this but you have to have something that makes it impactful. So I think one of the things the strong things that you have is you have an engineering background. So you should clearly say that today the entire governance is going on the internet on digital on technology and this is where I can make a great difference because and I think 60-70% are online on government that are using of AI big data. You should constantly give an imprint that you have a tech edge which would you know you have said it but you have to articulate that technology and on women's issues you should read up a little so that that is again a question that you can crack you know on the kind of things and when you are asked a thing about somewhere you must also bring in the thing about your little experience and in the rural areas you must have spent some time in the rural areas like you said Bundelkhand. So you must say that this gave you an exposure to the underprivileged the people there the women's their issues and I had a desire that if I get into service I would be able to do something there. So these two three this is more a very subtle PR but which will go down well with these people. So this is just a few tips which I find that is very important to get the right thing. So these otherwise you are good to go you are just read up the general knowledge things and all the usual foreign policy things which will keep coming up Taliban this China this that the usual ones but try to go behind the news what is happening everybody knows but some discussion on that some conversation on that on foreign policy what is happening and all that try to be conversationalist that's it. Yes, Professor Narseeman. Thank you sir. Jaygurthi I think one of the plus point is that you are very cheerful. So I think that should add to your performance and you have answered most of the questions very well except in your own subject area where you need to probably brush up little more with regard to the basics right and what I asked is a very basic one so you should brush up little more and I think with that probably you should be able to do very well all the best. Thank you sir. Thank you I think you will do very well and wish you all the best. Thank you sir.