INTERACTION WITH Mr. ABHINAV J. JAIN IAS

“The day-to-day of an ordinary common man goes on undisturbed because of the executives that are bureaucrats Politicians may be the masters, but civil servants are actual rulers.”
We, Public Policy and Governance Society of IIT Kharagpur, bring you another exciting and inspirational journey of an inspiring IAS officer, Mr. Abhinav J Jain, who is one of our most prominent alumni and who cracked the toughest and most challenging exams in the nation, the exam that transfers an aspirant to a responsible civil officer.
Meet Mr. Abhinav Jain, who secured a rank of 14 in the civil services examination conducted by UPSC. He completed his bachelor’s in chemical engineering from IIT Kharagpur and is presently working as an IAS officer. He also has huge experience in the fields of Indian postal services,AVP operations, operations excellence at OYO, and manufacturing management at ITC.
Here, the Public Policy and Governance Society at IIT Kharagpur presents you his exciting and inspirational journey,which transformed him from a KGP to a civil servant.

Q. WHAT SITUATIONS INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE AN INITIATIVE STEP TOWARDS THE SERVICES ?

I got my inspiration for the services while I was working in OYO rooms and implementing government policies that usually affect the lives of the public in the society.But the thing is, once you get a dream, you need to chase and follow it to pursue it.

Q. Would you recap your journey and attempts at cracking this exam?

I gave my first attempt in 2017, in which I cleared prelims and mains but missed the interview with 5 marks. Later, I gave an attempt again in 2019, in which I got rejected in the interview by only one mark. The journey for civil services requires lots of consistent effort; it’s not about intensity. Your efforts and emotions connect you to your dream. So, I believe UPSC is a game of consistency and perseverance,which helped me crack it the following year with a good rank.

Q. Did you lose your motivation in the process of preparation?

Generally, every aspirant loses motivation while preparing for any competitive exam, but the will, which is the main source of persuing your dream, must always be ignited. After I missed my interview with just one mark, I thought that this UPSC is not our game. I was thinking that I may have a wide range of opportunities to do something else. But again, I gained enough confidence and motivated myself to give another last attempt to the best of my ability. It’s all about your efforts.

Q. What do you think about how this preparation affects one’s intellectual factor ?

The process of preparation for the civil service examination will transform you both psychologically and intellectually. It teaches you a lot of things. You may get the ability to analyse yourself on factors like your strengths and weaknesses,the areas that you need to improve, etc. You just need one year of dedicated preparation to crack this exam.

Q. BOOKS AND INSTITUTES THAT NEED TO BE REFFERRED:

In today’s generation, we all rely on spoon-feeding. But UPSC is not such a thing. You should do more hard work and also know how to convert hard work into smart work as well. Do not wait for any instant booster or Ram Bhaan-like things to crack UPSC. It is not like an examination at an institute or college. UPSC tests our personality skills in various fields of knowledge. It is very important to master the syllabus. We generally have four GS papers and two optional papers. I would first recommend mastering the syllabus and starting with GS papers.

Q. IS IT GOOD TO START WITH STANDARD BOOKS LIKE LAKSHMIKANTH’S POLITY?

It is not necessary to start your preparation with revered books like Lakshmikanth. It is all about the important and vital keywords. If you find any keyword, you need to refer to all the resources you have and make notes of 1 to 2 pages that provide all the details related to that keyword. This is one thing I suggest to people who are graduating from college: you should be aware of all elements mentioned in the syllabus.

Q. LIFE AS KGPIAN:

As a kgpian, I enjoyed my university days. I would suggest people not be like bookworms; we need to try as many activities as we can in our college days. I was so shy in the initial days of joining IIT KGP; later, I became part of E Cell and played inter-hall cricket. I did it because it is the only place where you can do such things freely. There is a section in the interview that focuses on your POR, hobbies, and extracurricular activities. Driving as a hobby keeps your motivation up and uplifts your personality as well. Balance your studies with enjoyment, but your preparation and ultimate goal should not be compromised. Have persistence, focus, and a clear vision of what to do and how to do it.

Q. HOW WAS YOUR LIFE AS DM?

As DM, you would be handling a population of 25 to 30 lakh with a staff of about 10,000, and you would be handling a budget of 200–300 crores annually for the administration work. It is a good job in terms of challenge,achievement,public administration,service to the public, and resources, and there is also satisfaction that you are responsible for putting a smile on someone’s face. Overall, it is challenging and full of pride as well.

Q. WHAT WAS YOUR BACKUP PLAN?

Once you strongly decide to pursue your dream, you should give your best to achieve it. The exam tests your persistence and patience. Even through you start with less amount of salary, with in next 5 to 6 years you would be enough satisfied with your both salary and job. But I thought if I didn’t make it this time, I would return to my corporate job.

Q. YOUR PERCEPTIONS ON PRIVATE SECTORS AND CIVIL SERVICES:

I have seen life in the private sector as well. Both the civil service and private sectors have different ways of life. In the private sector, there may be a chance that you will get a good salary, high city postings, limited work, a flexible work culture, etc. In civil service, you get personal satisfaction, a chance to sort people’s issues, serve the public, and the most respectful pride as an officer.

Q. HOW DO YOU TACKLE PRESSURE DURING YOUR PREPARATION

I would like to say that KGP helped me to handle pressure. KGP provides you with the environment to hustle. we do a lot of work which helps us handle multiple tasks at a time. Iam not a person who sits in room all the day watching movies ,series,you need to go out and develop such kind of hustle nature.

Q. HOW POLITICS INFLUENCES YOUR JOB:

Two things I would like to mention here is

i. Politicians won’t be in your hand

ii. Constitution and law provide you sufficient matter to safeguard yourselves.

In my case, I didn’t face such situations in my service. You don’t work as shown in movies or web series. There will be some cases where you need to work with politicians to do some government projects, etc.

Finally, today’s generation always looks for spoon-feeding , but for cracking UPSC you require different concept’s knowledge along with analysis and creative expressing way.