 Yashini, can you please introduce yourself? Sir, my name is Yashini. I am basically from Tamil Nadu, but I am born and brought up in an international position. I take my engineering, electrical engineering and since 2016 I have been working in RBI as the manager in Reserve Bank of India to London office. Alright, how do you find your job? It is a satisfying job, sir. It is a good job. Very satisfying. Then why do you want to leave it? Sir, in RBI also, whatever we do, we have a sense of satisfaction that we are serving the people. But our reach is limited, sir. We only look after the economic areas as the credit maybe. However, civil service gives me a broader horizon, economic, social, cultural, everything. Okay, you are already employed, but then a lot of other unemployed engineers. Why engineers are applying for the civil services these days? The vast majority of the applicants are engineers. Why? What's the reason? Sir, the reason actually, in my opinion, the reason goes back to their opting for engineering itself. These days, a large number of students are opting for engineering. Other profession is not given much thought. Only after engineering, other professions are given a thought. So as the number of graduates itself was more or engineers, so naturally they are coming more to civil service also, in my opinion. Okay, good. Interesting. So this pandemic, this corona pandemic has exposed some of the things in our armor. Millions of people were trying to go back to their homes by road, bicycles, trucks. So in the 70 years of Indian independence, this is the situation. What is the reason for this massive poverty and unemployment in this country? The reason for poverty and unemployment and the migration that followed post the lockdown. So in my opinion, it is more of a disbalanced regional development. Some areas of India, mainly the urban cities and the western and southern states, they have prospered compared to the heartland states. The states depend mainly on agriculture. There has been stagnancy in agriculture also and since over 50% of the population have employed in agriculture. So they have not been able to enjoy the fruits of development as we see in the rest of the countries. What are the regions which are well developed and what are the regions which are well developed? So the most important reason behind that is in my opinion, the stagnancy of agriculture. Agriculture holdings are small, not much technological improvement has happened and aggravated by natural incidents like floods and droughts. And bottlenecks are infrastructure, bottlenecks, 30% of foods and vegetables are getting wasted. There are middlemen involved. Licensing norms are there so that benefits of, even if price increases, benefits are not going to the farmers. Can you list out the first five states with highest per capita income in India? Sir, I am not very sure of the order, but top five states should be Goa, Chandigarh, Delhi and Kerala. Kerala is number 7 or 8, Tamil Nadu is above it, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are above it. Are you sure? Yes sir, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are above it. Okay, you are a student of international relations. Yes sir. What went wrong in the international relations between India and China that the Chinese army has to come and oppose some of the places, some of the disputed areas or at least in the LAC, the line of actual control. Sir, more than our foreign policy went wrong, I think it is a case of superpower going wrong. They have increasingly turned aggressive and assertive, not just with India, but across all the neighbors and other countries. Sir, that is the reason? Yes sir, here and coupled with the fact that we are developing our infrastructure capabilities which could change the status quo, the Chinese are in a better position than us in border areas, they have better infrastructure. Now that we are also catching up on that, so that made them act fast against us in my opinion. This is 2020, do you know the GDP difference between these two countries? Or at least per capita income of between these two countries? Sir, per capita income of China is roughly around 4 times more than us, ours is around $1600 and there this is around $7000. Even in terms of GDP, we are $3 trillion and they are around $12-13 trillion. What is the situation in 1962 when you had a war with them? We had the same problem in the same place almost in 1962 and again in 1965. At that point in time in 1962, do you know the per capita of India and China? How many times China was more at that time? Sir, I think in 1962, we were almost the same or India was slightly ahead I think. We are almost the same as them. So what happened between 1962 and 2020? What has really happened? Why we are lag behind or why they raised ahead of us in national wealth and per capita income? Sir, they searched ahead of us only from the late 1970s. Because of their liberalization program, their subsequent emergence as a global manufacturing hub, it is now an economic powerhouse which is also defining its military strength and reach worldwide. So now that it feels that it is a global superpower so it can flex its muscles and all the border tensions. The trade surplus are deficit between India and China. The trade surplus sir, around 60 billion dollars was there in 2018 which had dipped like this year, I think 50 billion dollars this year sir deficit. Alright, so Professor James Kuryan. Good afternoon, that's me. Good afternoon sir. Ashini, how you heard about Meethapadkar? Meethapadkar sir. What context sir? Yes sir, Narmada Bachawan Dulan sir. What was the problem there? What was the issue over there? Sir, vast tracts of land were submerged after the Narmada dam and she is leading the fight of the local like the tribals who have been displaced and not adequately resettled, we are rehabilitated. Yeah, every developmental activity will lead to some sort of difficulties for a small number of people. A few people may get displaced. If it is benefitting a irrigation in a large part of the country then displacement is natural for some people. Some villages may get submerged. But if you are an administrator, how will you look at this kind of a situation where benefits are more, disadvantages are less. And there are people who speak for that disadvantage to small sections in the society like Meethapadkar. What is the argument they are putting forward? What is the argument which Meethapadkar is putting forward? Because it is a developmental activity, it is benefitting a large number of people. But then why she came forward with the Narmada Bachawan Dulan? Sir, their argument is that the displaced people were not adequately resettled. If they are adequately resettled and in the planning stage itself of any project we involve the local community and discuss with them and proper environmental impact assessment is carried out. So such instances of protests afterwards can be minimized. But every developmental activity will have consequences. But we need to build a consensus so that the impact of protests are minimized. Vashti, you were in Arunajal Pradesh when you were student days. Something similar is happening in Divang Valley. What is the status of that? What is the issue over there? Yes, sir. So Divang Valley is a biodiversity hotspot. It is under the Bheem Divang biosphere reserve. There one hydro power project has been proposed, Italian hydro power project, 2 gigawatt. So that one, sir, local people and environmentalists, they are protesting against it. There are allegations that environmental impact assessment also was not comprehensive. Some intellectuals have come out against that report also. Post-independence period, immediately after independence we were saying our dams, especially for Kranengal and our dams are the temples of the modern India. How do you look at a dam as a source of energy and as a model for development? Big dams. Is it a good model for development? How do you look at dams? Sir, dams do have their benefits. Dam for flood control also, irrigation benefits also. For example, Damodar River, Damodar Dam, it tamed Damodar River which was called sorrow of Bengal. So dams have benefits. However, sir, we need to look at the cost as well. For example, Italian hydro power project, it is in a biodiverse area, it is in a level 5 seismic zone. So there, sir, dams, we can go for other alternative sources. We can explore other alternatives before a dam should be in my opinion. Now growing consensus is there, sir, and international bodies also. A dam should be the last option. Other projects could be in which we can run off the river projects or small hydro projects or other renewable energy. Even dams as a model of development, sir, in IPC, in Chudanathpur, also it has led to localized area of development. The entire area has not developed but islands of development is there. Why displacement? You know, when there is a bridge of project anywhere, anywhere where the project is taking place, there is a displacement. Now, is a displacement only an issue of compensation or is there anything more than that? Like, you know, one acre land is taken and you give five times more than that. You are compensating it. Is compensation enough to solve the problem of displacement? Compensation is not entirely enough, sir. The certain areas they have, most of the development projects, they will be in and around forest areas for mining or for dam projects. So that is inhabited by indigenous people. And those areas might be the only home they have. And like the case of Meem Giri hills, those places might have religious or cultural significance. So all that is threatened when we shift the people from their places. To minimize the grievance, a compensation should be a well thought of compensation and it should include more than the land value and should include all these considerations. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. My questions are over, sir. Okay, okay. Now, the member, Boko Saravanan, please. Good evening, Ashini. And when I utter the word northeast, what comes to your mind? Sir, my home, sir. Other than that, you can say three to four sentences. Okay. Sir, Northpeace is a very beautiful place, sir. The first idea comes to my mind is rivers and mountains and greenery and the tribal people, sir. And as the tagline of tourism goes, paradise and explode. It is very less explode, sir. It has beauty, immense beauty. Okay, great. And geopolitical commentators call this northeast as troubled periphery. Why so? Sorry, sir. Geopolitical commentators in India and outside India call northeast as troubled periphery. Troubled periphery. What is the reason? Why it is called as troubled periphery? Sir, it could be due to the presence of many insurgent groups. There are Bodo insurgent groups. Alfa is there in Assam. In northeast, Arnachalandabad and there is NSCN. In Tripura, there was Tiger Liberation Force. Sir, can I have one moment, sir? Yeah, please, please. I am sorry, sir. No issue, no issue. Yes, sir. So, because of presence of many insurgent groups, I think that is why it might be called troubled periphery. And also to do with our neighbours who are there, like China and what not. Okay, I will forget about that. And recently the Indian government had abrogated Article 370. And I am not going to ask about Article 370. It had sent jitters across North East people. What is their apprehension about abrogation of 370? Sir, Article 370 had given special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Not alike in a similar manner, not similar also. But little bit on the same lines, many other states also had been given special provisions under Article 371. So mostly states of North East like Sikkim, Arnachal Pradesh, Nagaland. So these special provisions enabled them to protect their culture, have some autonomy in their administration and even in their socio-economic matters, socio-cultural matters. So there was apprehension that as 370 was revoked, it could have in future there also independence could be revoked. But in my opinion, sir, those doubts or those apprehensions were cleared by the Home Minister when he said that 371 will not be touched. And moreover, 370 was in the constitution itself. It was written that it is a temporary provision. But however, it has not been mentioned like that for other states in 371. Okay. And I have another question for you. This is a tool to add to this 371 only. What is the difference between NRC and PRC? NRC is National Registry. Yes, NRC and PRC. So NRC is a register of citizens. PRC is also a register of citizens only permanent residents. No permanent residents. Sorry sir. So PRC is a resident certificate. However, NRC is a register of citizenship. NRC is applicable only in the state of Assam as of now. Okay. That's it. PRC is for residents. Okay. Why there were protests in Arunachal Pradesh with respect of PRC? There were reasons we protested in Arunachal Pradesh against PRC. What was the issue? Can you elucidate? Yes, sir. Sir, in Arunachal Pradesh, there is a system of inner-line permit system. And also non-Arunachalese, they are, even to enter Arunachal Pradesh, they need a pass and they cannot buy a property then. Land and property, they cannot buy. So, now recently protests erupted because government have decided that some communities which had been living there for a while, they would be extended these PRC facilities, residency certificates. So, for that protests had erupted, sir. In the communities, actually sir, what the contention of the people are, some of these communities like some Gorkha communities or some tribal communities of Assam, which have settled in that area. So, they have a larger number in Assam or neighboring states. So, if these people are given PRC, their numbers would increase and indigenous people will be affected. Sir, indigenous population there is only around 7 or 8 lakhs. Total population is around 213 lakhs. So, my last question for you, what is your idea of India? Idea of India. Idea of India is... What is your idea of India? So, my idea of India is a great nation, a historic nation with diverse population and aspiring superpower, aspiring global power and economic powerhouse. Okay, great. Thank you. Yashini, what's the exact reason why you want to go back to Arunachal Pradesh? That is your first choice, it seems. You want to go back there? Yes, sir. Sir... But you appear to be from Tamil Nadu state. Yes, sir. Born and brought up in Arunachal Pradesh. You want to settle down and you want to Arunachal Pradesh Carter. What is the reason? Sir, Arunachal Pradesh is not one of the very well-developed states of India. There is a lot of potential to work there. And as a tribal state, which has given me so much, it has enabled me to sit here in front of you all. So, I want to go back and serve the state, sir. In front of my eyes, I have seen... Okay, fine. You are a district magistrate of a particular district in Arunachal Pradesh. What are the plans that you have for the women of the district? For the women of the district, sir. Yes. Sir, for the women of the district, first thing would be, sir... If you want to empower the women? Anyway, Arunachal Pradesh women are generally better empowered than the rest of the country. Still, what district can do to empower them? Sir, women of Arunachal Pradesh, they are empowered, sir. But in terms of literacy, the women's literacy in Arunachal is the third lowest in India. So, women's literacy is there only around 57 or 58 percent. They are more independent than the women of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. They are more liberated. More liberated, yes, sir. And such social practices like dowry or impending right is not there. Yeah, yeah. What I can do is for women, one thing would be, sir, to focus on women education. Many schools, they do not have toilets or women or children. Kids are generally simple for hatching of goats and other stuff. So, that one focus would be on women education. Second thing would be on livelihoods, sir. Now women generally do all the sustenance livelihoods. They work for miles for goats and agriculture. Also, shifting agriculture is there. Second thing would be for livelihoods. Yes, and third thing would be for healthcare, sir. So, large parts of the state, even access to ambulance is not available. Motelty rates are high. So, in my opinion, sir, if infrastructure is given a push, infrastructure and livelihood, if it is given a push, all other problems you can address, sir. Okay. Socially and keeping Northeastern in mind, what is your take on decriminalization of adultery by the Supreme Court of India? Supreme Court has decriminalized adultery. So, today in India, adultery is not a crime. What is your take on that? Do you support this or do you think it's not a good idea? Yes, sir, I support the decriminalization of adultery, sir. At all, it should be a civil offense, sir. If it leads to suicide or abetment of suicide, then it can be investigated from that angle. However, adultery by itself, it should be a civil offense, sir. What ground and what ground this criminal section is repealed? Yes, sir. Sir, the adultery law was also very vaguely termed, sir. Only if I am sure, if I am correct, sir, a female, a wife did not have reports to it, sir. I think only a man, if, only if a man, if he has relations with a married woman, then he could be tried. It was more like women. Yes, sir. That goes to show that lady is the private property of a man. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Okay, Ashini, your interview is over. So, I will give a briefing about your performance. You are a very charming, very serious, positive girl. I think you should be able to, for a very, very high marks, you are not bearing your specs. But in the, in your death, you are, you are, you are bearing your specs. Yes, sir. No, no. You are, you are in the UPSI hall, I don't know. Yeah, I have it. Earlier we had a candidate, we had a VIG, which was freshly put up. Okay, now we can make out, it's you. So, so otherwise, otherwise, absolutely your performance is very, very good. You should be able to score a high mark. You are already a great B officer, very good back of India. So, it shouldn't be a problem at all for you, it should be. It's not making a serious mistake, like arguing with them or you're not, you're not done it. You're not done it and you're not also said something which is not correct. So, you're much, very much in control. I'm very sure you should be able to score a good mark. Yeah, all the best to you and Professor James Cooley. Ashini, you have done very well. You're very confident, you're doing very well. And we have a special setup, the way you are exposed at a very young age, you are exposed to have an idea of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. The southern part and the northern part of India, we have a similarity. And Arunachal, people will be a little interested to know, what are your views on Arunachal? Arunachal, there are a lot of issues concerning Arunachal, China's claim and all of that. So, you don't belong to the tribal community but then you have an idea of Arunachal and your idea of Arunachal, people will be curious to know about it. How familiar you are with Arunachal? Being away from South India, different lands, what you have observed, what you have seen, what are the good lessons you learned there, what are the drawbacks you have found. So, this is a special combination. Your exposure to these three states or those three or two distant places can invite some questions. So, otherwise you have done very well in Ashini. You are a very strong candidate, you are a very good candidate. I wish you all the best. Thank you, sir. Is your mother from North East or both of them from Tamil Nadu Kriji? Yes sir, my mother is Nepali from Assam. Okay, okay. That's his attachment to North East. Both are serving in... Your father retired? Yes sir. Both are serving in Arunachal Pradesh. My father is an engineer, my mother was in High Court. Both have now retired. Yeah, so, who goes around then? Yes. Ashini, you really did well and your answers came from the heart. It is not that you are faking your answers, you really gave answers from the heartfelt answers were there and you are empathetic and sometimes you are a bit hesitant but you are honest. So, your answers were fine. Only one suggestion which I have for you is that you have some eye contact when you are not comfortable with the answering also. Sometimes when you are not comfortable with the answer, you are not very sure. You go down, your face goes down and have the eye contact with the interviewer. Otherwise you are fine and you are interviewed with joy as experience because I can see your stress with your work. Don't worry, your interview will go fine because it's a personality test. It is nothing like your information and whatever you memorize will be tested. Your personality is very amazing and you would carry that. So, don't worry about your work flow and just enjoy the interview but have an eye contact when you even don't know the answer your personality would ensure you would sail through. So, please have the eye contact. Otherwise you are doing fine. You would get very great marks. All the very best for getting Arunachal Pradesh. Thank you. Thank you.