IAS topper, Manish
Ranjan's tips on how to top the Civil Services Interview
He prefers to
work at the grassroots level. Perhaps thats why he chose to study Sociology from
Hindu College, Delhi University. He almost made it to his dream career when he
got selected for the coveted PG Diploma course in Rural Management from the
Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). And soon he got a call from the
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Pune. That was all he could ask for. But
destiny had something else in store for him.
In March 2000, after much deliberation, this youth from Bihar decided to tread
the highly uneven track to the Civil Services. And in two years time, he created
a wave by securing fourth rank in the 2002 Civil Services Exam.
Meet Manish Ranjan, IAS topper, who decided to quit a meaningful and satisfying
career as a motivator at NDDB in order to opt for the Civils, as it offers
challenges like diverse service opportunities, policy implementation, bigger
responsibilities, social esteem and of course, involvement with the masses.
Currently posted in the Jharkhand District in Jamshedpur, Ranjan today owes his
success to his retired government servant parents, teachers, friends, the
Almighty and not to forget, the whopping 225 marks that he scored in the Civil
Services Interview Test. I was confident of clearing the Mains. Hence, almost
immediately after the exam was over, I started collecting relevant information
on my resume, read newspapers and watched news channels on TV, and took at least
10 mock interviews conducted by the Chanakya IAS Academy in Delhi. These
interviews helped me form a balanced opinion about current issues, improved my
body language and enhanced my listening skills.
So how was his experience with the Board Says Ranjan, I appeared before the
Board on May 10, 2002 in the afternoon session. P. Abraham was the Boards
Chairman. I was quizzed for nearly 50 minutes with queries ranging from my job
profile, marketing strategies of Mother Dairy and Kwality Walls, street plays
(my hobby) and their social relevance, geographical indicators, the consumer
grievance redressal forum, a blueprint for the development of my State, Bihar,
ways of improving existing rural development plans, policies and their execution
in India and the implication of the French Presidential elections on Indo-French
relationship etc.
According to Ranjan, All aspirants must be thorough in areas like their
bio-data, hobbies, their home state and district, their optionals, national and
international current affairs. They must be clear as to why they want to join
the Civil Services. Adds Ranjan, It's a highly uneven track to traverse. Hence,
think twice before treading on it, as youll need to remain determined
afterwards. Mock interviews and numerous discussions with friends definitely
help in developing clarity of thought.
So does he think that the interview should be given more weight in the final
selection No, not really, he says. The problem lies with inter-Board variation
in the final assessment. Hence, I think it would be wise to take three short
interviews of each candidate on different dates with different Boards and the
average of all these could make the final score. In fact, if General Studies is
given more weight, then that will remove the disparity in the marks obtained in
different Optionals and the selection will thereby become relatively fairer.
However, the entire selection should also be compressed within a six-month
period.
And what does he think is the potential of future IAS officers With
globalisation, ethical work cultures and an increasing interface between civil
servants and highly professional corporates, the efficiency of both the IAS and
the IPS in terms of problem solving, high responsiveness and alertness has
increased. My endeavour will be to encourage the masses at the grassroots level
to come forward to contribute towards innovative development.
IAS topper, Manish
Ranjan's tips on how to top the Civil Services Interview
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