Decoding The UPSC Mystery: Mr. Abhinandan Kumar

It is with immense pleasure and honor that we introduce our Chief Guest for today’s special occasion, Mr. Abhinandan Kumar. He is currently serving as an Assistant Commissioner in the Indian Revenue Services (Customs and Indirect Taxes). He has secured an All India Rank of 494 in Civil Services Exam 2021. He is an IIT Kharagpur alumni from the Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering. He was also an esteemed Senior scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Following are his thoughts and answers on various common doubts faced by a Civil Services aspirant in his day to day life.

Q. What are perks of being a civil servant?

Firstly, Being a part of such a versatile community provides you with Network of all the different and wide range of people which really helps you alot through various times. Societal Contribution is another aspect, one can work for a nation and its people alongside while earning livelihood for oneself at the same time. Inner satisfaction is what gets you going and derives meaning from being a civil servant which no other service could offer.

Q. Should one make their own notes or pick from another source?

There are many notes available online. I feel that civil service has such a vast syllabus that it becomes difficult to choose particular place to pick notes from so it’s important to take guidance before making notes.

Q. What advice would you give to 1st years?

If you have any inclination just start without being doubtful and first of all be clear about the basic format of civil services examination. Be least bothered about optional right now and focus on other areas. Choosing optional would need a bit of maturity. Start with General studies and improve it till the very core.

Q. How to choose optional ?

If you are from the department which has UPSC optional in it then take the department exams and tests seriously right away, but If you are not from a certain department then check for 4 to 5 good optional which overlap with general studies like sociology. If you take engineering subjects, be careful to understand what the exam wants and not what you know as an engineer.

Q. What was the pivotal moment that made you inclined towards CSE?

Coming from Bihar I had a lot of exposure to the life and work of several civil servants and developed intuition of what kind of work civil servant do..I also got comparative exposure of corporate from my college.

Q. How did ISRO contribute to your UPSC preparation?

I had a project called Gaganyaan in 2018 and got to their HQ. I understood human relationship, time management and emotional management from my seniors at ISRO. I got an understanding over work life balance also.

Q. How should one systematically approach GS?

There are two parts static and dynamic. Firstly Cover static part and start reading newspaper and see whatever you studied in static part has practical application in the dynamic part that is newspaper.

Q. How can Kgpian gain holistic persona from Kgp?

As a Kgpian you have a great opportunity to help grow your personality through a number of societies. You have immense infrastructure with swimming pools, gymnasium and other such facilities.

We discover in Mr. Abhinandan Kumar is not only a successful government officer but also a source of inspiration for the next generation. His devotion to public service, outstanding academic accomplishments, and prominent career in both the public and scientific sectors serve as bright examples of what may be accomplished with perseverance, hard effort, and a commitment to our country’s advancement.