Civil Services Club Bhopal: May 2011

My background
I did my Graduation in Physics (Honors) from Delhi University and then joined the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal for my management. During the fag end of my study at IIFM I realized that I would be most happy if I work at the grassroots in the development sector and hence joined one of the most prestigious NGO known as PRADAN. In this organization I was placed in a small district in Rajasthan where I worked among the rural poor implementing the World Bank-funded District Poverty Initiative Program (DPIP). I worked with poor rural women, mobilizing them into Self Help Groups, training them in savings and credit practice, linking them to various banks for productive loans and assisting them in establishing viable micro-enterprises. Working among simple rural folk, inextricably bonded to the earth, I felt that I was doing real work in the real world.
For the last four years I have been working with IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative Ltd. where I have been involved with various Public Private Partnership projects in the area of industrial and cluster development. In Madhya Pradesh I have been overseeing the implementation of an ambitious placement assured skill development training project which is being part funded by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, and is being implemented by my company in partnership with state government as well as industries. This project is very close to my heart and has helped me learn a lot about unemployment, poverty and sustainable development. In this project we set up dedicated training centers at districts and block levels in various trades like apparel, services sector, hospitality, retail and leather. Short duration training are given to rural BPL youth and after successful completion of training they are placed on wage employment in various companies in Madhya Pradesh as well as outside the state. Lot of intricacies are involved in this work where care has to be taken to ensure that there is smooth transition from village life to disciplined company life.
During the implementation of this programme I keep meeting various civil servants at state and district level. It was my interaction with many such committed government servants that I was inspired to write the civil services examination. I realized that a civil servant gets ample and varied opportunities to contribute actively in nation building and this was one of the primary reasons why I decided to join civil services.
My strategy for Preliminary Examination
I have principally been dead against coaching institutes. I believe that private commercially oriented coaching institutes propagate and exacerbate inequalities in the education system. Someone who has money can join coaching institutes and get intensive training for success whereas those who are poor can never dream of such training for any examination just because they have no money. Hence joining a coaching institute was never in my mind.
I had already written PT in 2009 and was unsuccessful. I had not prepared enough that time but I realized that with my kind of maturity level if I could devote time intelligently then I could be successful. Of all the levels I realized that Prelims was the diciest.
I came to know of a novel experiment under the umbrella of Swami Vivekananda Library where a Civil Services Club had been formed. This was an informal group of like minded aspirants who were also working full time in different companies/organizations or were pursuing their higher studies in Bhopal. This group of 8-9 people met every week on sunday and discussed on various topics. Responsibilities were assigned to various individuals like preparing test papers, lecturing others on specific topics. Each session used to conclude with a discussion on latest events covered by various newspapers. The group also played an active role in motivating each other and maintaining enthusiasm all through out the preparation phase.
On personal front I had my own strategy. For General Studies newspapers were my main source of studies. I used to read The Hindu, Hindustan Times and The Economic Times daily for the all the current affairs news, opinions and editorials. I used to note down important points in my diary. I referred to old NCERT books for Modern India and Economy. I also made it a point to revise 10th and 12th level maths – mainly permutation & combination, probability and arithmetic. I also referred to India Year book frequently for various chapters. I was selective in my studies and used to avoid those topics in which I had no interest like science, geography, ancient and medieval Indian history.
For Public Administration I tried to grasp the basic concepts and referred to quality books only. I was very selective in choosing books and referred to just 3-4 books in all. I laid special emphasis on the various theorists and their specific theory and how one theorist was different from the other. I believe if one is able to clearly understand the various theories of Public Administration then almost two third of the work is done. I also referred to various latest developments in the field of law, legislation, administrative issues and reforms. We have to understand that lately the pattern of Civil Services Examination has shifted from old theories to more current aspects and hence one has to be thorough with various latest aspects like new schemes, laws, regulations etc.
My strategy for Mains Examination
Preparation for Mains was very difficult for me. I got married just after prelims and the whole process took more than two and half months (as I had to travel repeatedly from my home town Ranchi to Bhopal). I studied intensively only during the last one month before Mains.
During the preparation I was very selective and tried to focus on various theories in Public administration and sociology. I was also regular with newspapers and analysed in detail important editorial articles. In sociology I read chosen few books like Heralambos, M.N.Srinivas and some IGNOU notes on specific current topics. I laid more emphasis on understanding various concepts by relating them with my work experience in the rural India. All during the process I maintained my calm and never ever allowed my spirits to go down. My friends and family members, including my wife who was studying at Oxford University during that time, played critical role in maintaining my motivation level.
My strategy for Interview
I never expected interview call. So it was a pleasant surprise. I had discussion with some civil servants who I respect a lot. They guided me as to what all things I should study. The most important thing is to be analytical with our views, whatever they may be. Every view should be justified with reasoning. We should exude optimism in whatever we say. One has to have a pleasing personality.
I was working full time before the interview. In fact on the day before the interview I was having discussion with my CEO in Delhi on how we should undertake more skill development initiatives in the Bundelkhand region. I was of the opinion that I am in any case involved with various development projects and the best way to prepare for the interview was to involve myself more intensively with these programmes all through the period before the interview.
I also had exhaustive discussions on various current issues and legislations with my Civil Services Club members as well as my relatives. This helped me clarify lot of my doubts and misconceptions.
My mistakes
The final marks have been released by UPSC. I got just 69 marks out of 300 in my General Studies second paper. Had I got just 40 marks more I would have secured much better rank. So now I realize that I should have worked more on my General studies. May be I took the whole thing for granted and took them easy. Also all throughout my preparation never once did I practice writing answers on paper. In fact I never made any notes. I just used to jot down points arbitrarily. Moreover I never devoted more than 3-4 hours quality time during my Mains preparation, which I believe was a mistake.
My strengths
I believe my six years of work experience more than compensated my lack of bookish knowledge. In all my papers I liberally gave examples from my work and used the practical knowledge in almost all my answers. I am sure the maturity level and the sensitivity I have gained over the years played a critical role in increasing the quality of my answers in Mains as well as interviews. Moreover I started preparing for civil services only after I was sure of what I would contribute if I am selected. It took me about two to three years to convince myself as to why I wanted to join civil services. Once I was convinced I never had to bother much about my motivation level.
My future course of action
My rank is 503, which means I will be allotted allied services. I will be joining whichever service is given to me. However I will like to take one more aim at the Civil Services Examination and will try to limit my mistakes which I had committed earlier. In case I can make it to IAS/IPS it would be great else the allied services would be as good. I believe I will be able to do great work with full honesty, dedication and commitment.

My suggestions for aspirants
Please do not think that Civil Services Examination is difficult. It is a false notion propagated by coaching institutes as well as many successful aspirants who want to feel special. It is very easy provided the studies are undertaken with dedication, motivation, strategy and cool attitude. It is the understanding and awareness which helps you win and not bookish knowledge. A bit of practical experience in any field can come handy in enhancing the maturity level of the candidates, to say the least. One should refer to only quality books and should not run after poor quality books/notes. Joining study groups like what I did is always a good option. One has to be sure as to why they want to join Civil Services in the first place.
I wish all the very best to all the civil services aspirants. Everybody is a winner.
Vineet Abhishek
Manager & State Head – IL&FS Clusters
Bhopal
CSE Roll No. - 186866

Civil Services Club Bhopal

Founder Members of Civil Services Club Bhopal

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Success Story- Mr Vineet Abhishek (503 Rank) -In his own words

Club Meeting Info