UPSC INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (7) 2015-16: Manbir Singh Board

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Name: Krishna Koundinya

Manbir Singh Board

Afternoon session,  5^th slot , around 4:00 pm

B.Tech , MBA, Deloitte, Vizag steel plant, Infosys, Startup- First Attempt

Hobbies: Indian Philosophy Anime Manga

State: Telangana

Tried my best for an exact reproduction of conversation but there gaps. Conversations were somewhat different in letter but the spirit of it was the same

Good afternoon ma’am, good afternoon sirs

CM: Please sit down.

Me: Thank you sir,

CM: You have you own startup?

Me:  Yes sir.

CM: Then why civil services? What about your company after you get through ?

Me:  Civil services is my 1^st priority. We started Valmore in April 2015. I was already prep for civils back then. My friend asked me to be with him till I get into civils. That was the deal. Civil services is my no: 1 priority now

CM: The Sri Lankan issue regarding the tamil people, there was a constitutional amendment., Is it passed? What do you know about it?

Me:  Yes sir, there was an amendment bill for greater autonomy for tamil people in the northern territory. I don’t remember sir but I don’t think it is passed.

CM: Ok. What should India do about it ? The civil war, people killed, human right violations known worldwide, even in UN Can we cut off relations?

Me:  No sir. We should help them.  We should discuss with the Sri Lankan government to resolve the issues amicably.

CM: But does it not lead to status quo. What if Sri Lanka turns away from India?

Me:  We have to maintain good relations. Worst crimes were committed during that time, issue known world wide. India voted against it or abstained from UN vote on this issue. Don’t exactly remember. Our honourable PM Mr.Modi visited Sri Lanka, discussed issues. A Buddhist tourist circuit was planned. Many economic relations are in place. We have to call all the parties to th table and by discussion we have resolve. We are the stable power in a relatively unstable South Asia. We have to act.

Passed to M1

M1: You studied in MGIT. Gandhi talked about villages. You are studying in a technical college. Is there not some incongruity.  What was gandhi’s philosophy. (Hobby Indian Philosophy)

Me:  Answered on the lines of gandhian focus on village panchayats, bottom up approach..

current budgetary allocation of 2.87 lakh crore..etc

M1: Have you studied gandhian philosophy in detail, if not we will move ahead

Me:  Just studied about gandhiji as a part of general studies

M1: Cities are developing but villages are not, How do we develop them

Me:  Digital literacy, digital divide Digital India, Include villages into Smart cities project as satellites, Infra etc ..

M1: We have Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Is RS of any use

Me:  Yes sir. It is a deliberative body. It acts as a check against any hasty decisions by Lok Sabha  etc

M1: RS is not representative but it can stall proceedings of Lok Sabha.

Me:  Yes sir, like the present state where opposition is in majority in RS, politics rule, but ruling party and opposition should come together and sort out differences instead of stalling proceedings

M1: One body is not elected another is. How is it justified. I am not convinced

Me:  Sir, RS has 12 expert nominees who provide required expertise for reasoned discussion. More over, for substantially important matters, Lok Sabha already has more power. Eg: Money bills

Passed to M3 (lady)

M3: You have a very diverse profile.

Me:  Yes ma’am. I tried quite many things.

M3:  So you just try. You don’t have any passions as such

Me:  Not exactly ma’am. Some times I stick to things for a one time like philosophy but usually I pursue something for 6 months or so, gain understanding of it and move onto the next thing

M3: But as they say, rolling stone does not catch any moss

Me:  blabbered about diversity, answered bit tangentally justifying my way of approaching so many things

M3: No no, I did not ask in that sense of right or wrong. Is it of any use ?

Me:  Yes ma’am. Once we have diverse experiences our perspectives are larger, there is depth to personality. Suddenly some subject comes up, I might have studied some time ago. I would not have to start from scratch.

M3: Media today, is it working well….paid media etc…should it be free

Me: Ma’am, media is called the 4^th estate. It plays a huge role in information dissemination which helps citizens take informed decisions. That is vital for democracy. However, we do have problems like paid news , yellow journalism, sensationalism.

M3: What is to be done ?

Me: Media has to have self imposed censorship. Making rules and curbing freedom is not the right approach. There is PCI, Broadcasting federation, Editorial Guild etc. All have to prepare well thought of guidelines.

Passed to M4 (seasoned professional, asked good Q)

M4: What is the name of Indian Parliamentary system?

Me:  Sir…umm

M4: It has a name, what we follow…

Me:  blank face

M4: Westminster system

Me:  Ahh…yes sir, Westminster system of British Parliament

M4: US presidential election is going. Do you think Presidential form of election is good for India

Me:  Usual text book gyan, diversity of India, wide representation of people..etc

M4: Have you read any counter arguments or just conventional answers in favour of Parliamentary system

Me:  Yes sir. I did. Problems of Coalition gov, concentration of executive in President..strong decisions can be taken…can veto congress etc

M4: There is this ease of doing business. You are a businessman. What problems do you have. Most important

Me:  Credit sir, maybe for working capital.. and smaller needs we can loans but it is never sufficient

M4: Only money…suppose you get money…no other problems …electricity etc

Me:  Sir, India jumped from 142 to 130 on the index..and one of the important reasons was electricity….there are issues like enforcement of contracts,…ipr…permits and licences etc…ton of gyan on gov schemes…

M4: So you are optimistic about these schemes

Me:  Yes sir

M4: Is having a port necessary for industrial growth

Me:  Not necessary sir. For eg IT industry. Sea and ports are irrelevant

M4: I mean for Telangana….after bifurcation Telangana is landlocked….no port…how can it export and grow

Me:  Yes sir. It was one of the negatives for Telangana due to bifurcation. There Telangana Gov is already planning for a dry port…… in mahbubnagar…

M4: Do you know punic wars ?

Me: I think I read about them but cant quite register…sorry sir

M4: Do you know Peloponnesian war ?

Me: Yes sir. Details are quite shady…but it was in ancient Greece…Sparta was fighting against athens

Passes to M5

M5: You have done mechanical engineering. I will ask Q on that. You know in thermal plants there are boilers…they pollute a lot….emissions

Me:  Yes sir…boilers are coal fired…so emissions are inevitable

M5: China is producing cheap boilers…you pay more you get better quality boilers…pay less bad quality boilers

Me:  (wondering if there was a Q here)

M5: boilers…emissions…fly ash….(dint even get the Q if there was actually one..)…you haven’t studied about boilers ?

Me:  Yes sir…we studied…but its almost 7 years ago…

M5: Andhra does not have much rains…..farmer suicides..blah blah

Me:  Sir…that’s more in telangana…(realized my mistake but damage was done)…I am sorry sir…to cut you down…blah blah

M5: Do you have any good solutions…

Me:  I will answer in telangana context sir….rain is not much…debt…agrarian crisis…leading to farmer suicides…that’s why …in this budget..telangana  gov has allocated nearly 1/3 budget for irrigations..new projects like Devadula lift irrigation…icchampalli project…Palmuru Rangareddy irrigation project etc….also mission kakatiya is trying to rejuvenate 46000 lakes and ponds in telangana..tank irrigation has been popular since kakatiya times….therefore it’s a localized and relevant solution

M5: What are the problems of Hyderabad> Tell me those which people demand (not a list of textbook style problems gyan)

Me:  Water sir…

M5: What ?

Me: drinking water is a serious problem in Hyderabad.  Summer is already here…Water table has really fallen down. In some places we don’t get water at 2000 m…

M5: Any innovative solutions

Me:  Telangana gov is already working on it sir….mission bhagiratha…palmuru diversion project from Krishna river is bringing drinking water…and water harvesting pits in buildings..blah blah

M5: Is underground water safe in Hyderabad…aquifers etc.

Me:  Hyderabad underground water as such has no major issue …it is nalgonda which has fluorosis…

M5: What is rainfall in Hyd

Me: 900 mm sir…..(mumbling)

M5: what ? 900 ?

Me:  900 “mm” sir…..

M5: Ok…anything else

Me:  Slums sir…there many slums in hyd….1.3 million out of 7 million live in slums…there are more than 700 slums..just in Hyderabad…conditions are deplorable…

M5: solutions?

Me:  Land acquisition…responsible rehabilitation…construct flats and give them some flats…anybody will prefer a flat over slums…..but slums now are not growing much inside the city as of now….outside peripheries area bigger problem….too much of urban sprawl…unplanned growth..

M5: solutions?

Me: Land regularization sir….Telangana gov is already on this…a new land regularization scheme was launched recently..with proper implementation it should be solved

CM: you can leave now