Author: Root

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A simple act by a young IAS officer in Bihar’s Gopalganj district has set an example of how a big social change is possible even in the remotest part of rural India.

Last week, the district administration in Gopalganj was shocked to discover that a group of local residents in Kalyanpur area had banned a widow from cooking mid-day meal in the village’s middle school.

This, according to some villagers, was because of their perceived superstition that allowing a widow to cook meal for children would be a bad omen.

The Gopalganj District Magistrate, Rahul Kumar, ordered the villagers to immediately stop this practice and allow the widow to resume cooking the mid-day meal.

Kumar tweeted, “Some misled villagers opposed a widow cook and threatened to withdraw their Children from school after she was rightfully reinstated.”

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The young bureaucrat then decided to visit the village and asked the widow in question to cook meal for himself. Kumar then tweeted the photo of him eating the meal cooked by the widow, who was being ostracised by a group of ‘misled’ people.

Kumar tweeted, “Sometimes u do symbolic things to overcome people’s beliefs. Asked the same widow cook to serve me the meal. (sic)”

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Source: Jantakareporter

Reviewing the functioning of the lower level of administration, Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal on Sunday took to a clerk’s job and suggested method to reduce time for completing the work.

In his two-hour visit to the legal cell of the Secretariat, Aggarwal found that 375 cases of stamp refund were pending which would take about two years to dispose.

But, the DM, who was transferred to the state capital in December last, found a way out to cut short the time and suggested how the work could be done in a month, an official statement said.

During the visit, the DM came across an employee who appeared over-aged while one of her certificates, alleged to be forged, stated that she was 55 years old. Aggarwal has instructed officials to constitute a medical board to verify her age, the statement said.

Starting Sunday, the DM decided to visit different sections of district administration once a week to improve the work culture at lower level. He has also ordered Section, Block, District and Circle officers to do the same every Tuesday and review work, it said.

Aggarwal was recently awarded by the Election Commission of India for best electoral practices during his tenure as the DM of Gaya.

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Source: HT

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A few days ago, we launched a survey inviting our readers to pitch in with ideas which can help Civilsdaily improve its offerings to get you that coveted rank in the Civil Services Examination.

Among the many requests and suggestions, one which we have been hearing for quite sometime is this:

It is difficult to find related long form writeups in Civilsdaily

To solve for this particular problem, we have introduced a new concept called Collections. Collections are a group of posts which have similar theme. This is the most efficient way to discover relevant and related content for your IAS Prep in one place.

Introducing Collections

Over the last 2 days, we sat down and reviews all the long form write-ups written in last one year and put them into collection buckets. Now that we have segregated all the related posts, open them, read through, make notes and prepare well. Click on the headlines to go to the respective collections.

#1. How to Clear IAS?

Long term strategies for clearing the mother of all examination – The Civil Services Exam.

#2. Toppers Speak

Collection of blogs written by IAS rankers on their exam strategies and the ups and downs of preparation.

#3. UPSC Analysis

Previous years papers, exam patterns, answer keys and everything which can help you understand the IAS exam better.

#4. GS Paper 1

Official UPSC Syllabus – Indian & World History, Indian & World Geography, Topics related to Indian Society, Issues and Resolutions

#5. GS Paper 2

Official UPSC Syllabus – Indian Polity and Its Constitution, International Relations & World Institutions

#6. GS Paper 3

Official UPSC Syllabus – Indian Economics, Environment & Biodiversity, Science & Tech, Disaster Management & Internal Security

#7. GS Paper 4

All about Ethics

#8. Intro to Civil Services

Everything that you wanted to know about the Civil Services of India in one single place – exam, schedule, services, comparisons, life and job etc.

#9. Daily Motivation

Reflections and articles which help the aspirants stay on the path to conquer civil services. May contain anecdotes from in service officers or leaders from other walks of life.

#10. Babus of India

Everything about bureaucrats In India – News, Work, Life and Fun

#11. Indian Economic Survey

Everything related to discussions, chapter summaries, key takeaways and questions around the Indian Economic Survey. Most important annual document to study for IAS Prelims and Mains (GS papers).

#12. Annual Budget

Everything related to discussions, policy changes, key takeaways and questions around the Annual Budget. Most useful for statistics and policy comparison for IAS Prelims and Mains.

#13. Preparation Hacks

Hacks, Tips, Mnemonics, Last minute revision strategies from everyone and anyone to help you get past the IAS Pre-Mains-Interview hurdle.

#14. UPSC Memes

The lighter side of your IAS preparation. Enjoy and share the posts!

#15. Optionals Strategy for IAS Mains

Everything you need to know about how to pick an optional – recommended books, guide map, toppers’ strategy.

#16. PIB Features

PIB is a nodal agency of the Government of India to facilitate private media. This collection contains all the most important releases drafted over time.

#17. Landmark Judgements in India

Detailed explanation of some of the important judgements in India to help you understand the modern day evolution of Indian constitution. Beneficial for developing a thorough understanding for IAS Mains & interview.

and finally…

#18. CD Recommends

Posts we think more aspirants should read. Recommended by Civilsdaily staff. For example, this post goes into the collection of CD recommends!

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PS: Aspirants who requested for more frequent email updates, please check on your *promotion* tab at the gmail. Most of our emails go directly to that tab (courtesy google). Please drag and drop any one of those emails in your personal tabs so that you get all information directly in your main inbox.

First things first,

Why is Economics important?

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On average 16 questions are asked from economy portion and all the questions are very doable i.e. solid 32 marks you can easily get out of 105-100 needed to clear prelims i.e. solid 30% from economy alone! Unlike Environment and Biodiversity part of syllabus, there is no Greek or Latin here.

But very often when I talk to aspirants, I hear the usual refrain, I have no background in economics, my economy portion is weak, I don’t understand anything in economics and so I don’t read economics/ business section of newspaper  and am not able to attempt many questions correctly in mock tests as well as actual exam.

What lies behind this mortal fear of economics?

1. Before starting preparation for IAS, most of us have neither read economics as a subject in school or college nor would we follow news items related to economy save for budget may be. We only watch political debates on TV
2. Economy section of newspaper is filled with economic jargon such as repo, SLR, CRR, core inflation, terms of trade, monetary transmission, real GDP, nominal GDP, fiscal deficit, current account deficit ..list just goes on. To average reader it doesn’t make any sense so he doesn’t care to read that section. It takes you into a vicious cycle and makes you hate economy
3. Economics books available in the market for UPSC preparation ain’t great. They just write anything and everything under the sun in boring mundane language. Of course we all have better things to do in life. So, people buy the recommended books, read 10 pages and never open that book again for by now they hate economics even more
4. Websites which simplify economics such as investopedia are not written with Indian audience in mind, people just get lost
5. Fundamental questions are not answered on Indian Website while useless detail is incorporated in the article. Average reader begins to rattaofy every data set and soon loses interest

We can hear you shouting, we all agree with you, that’s exactly the problem, now tell us the solution and if all books are shitty which one would you recommend. Please don’t tell us you are bringing a new book in the market.

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Before we come to the solution, let’s read the syllabus in the words of UPSC

• Economic and Social Development Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
• It does not say anything about conceptual macroeconomics but we all know therein lies the crux of matter.

We divide the conceptual part into following parts for convenience-

National income accounting; Budget and Fiscal policy,Banking and finance,RBI and monetary policy; Money Market and Stock Market; International Market, trade and balance of payment; Micro economy

So, what’s the solution?

Solution emerges from the problem my friends. Real crux of the problem is economic jargon and solution lies in dejargonising economics. We can hear you whispering, what an idiot, there are so many economic dictionaries in the market to do just that thing.

Friends problem with economic dictionary is the same as problem with normal English dictionary. You didn’t learn your vocabulary from dictionary, did you? We built our vocabulary as we kept reading. We can’t understand things without context and often the context is missing there.

So what do we recommend?

1. Start with NCERT class 12 Macroeconomics. This book has very very basic stuff, lots of derivations which will not be asked in exam but if you want to understand economics well, sit tight with pencil and paper and derive those equations. There are just 6 chapters, less than 100 pages yes, not even 100 pages. If you read one chapter at a time, it will take not more than two hours and in less than a week, you will be own the macroeconomics.
2. Read 11th standard economics book, India’s economic development. Read it like a story but try to understand important stuff like poverty, human resource development etc. It won’t take many hours.
3. For those who are game, read 12th standard microeconomics. It’s not a must read, sirf jinda dil logon ke liye.
4. Now comes the most important part. Read economy/ business section of newspaper everyday. Ask questions,why has RBI raised rates, why are industrialists clamoring for rate cut and try to answer them when you read them. It will consolidate your concepts.
5. Do a simple Google search whenever you come across a term you don’t understand. Still don’t understand, get it resolved here.
6. If you are game, watch Crash Course Macroeconomics or Khan academy videos (just one 10 minute video a day)
7. Having done one to six faithfully, read two volumes of Sriram Economy book. But only after doing point one to six.

But certainly NCERT won’t be sufficient for UPSC right. That’s why I said, read volume one of economic survey line to line and selective reading of volume two. Keep reading business/economy section of newspaper. Get your doubts cleared then and there.

Economics at the entry level (GS pre and mains) is the easiest subject. There’s not much to mug up and only two concepts, concept of demand and supply and that of opportunity cost. Every other principle, theorem can be derived from this concept. For instance, you think just because you don’t have to pay anything to read this article, it’s free. It has cost my friends, opportunity cost. You could be doing something else in the time if not reading the article. Why have I written this article? Simple, I feel there was demand for such an article. That’s it. These are the only concepts.

You don’t trust us, right. Don’t trust anyone. Always verify. So here is my verification. Click on separate hyperlinks

1. IAS pre Economy In depth analysis part 1  and solutions
2. IAS pre Economy In depth analysis part 2  and solutions
3. IAS pre Economy In depth analysis part 3  and solutions

But, we would make things much simpler for you and this is what we have planned for you-

1. Stories and news cards related to economy are already being covered regularly. That will help you with the current economics
2. Economic survey will be covered very comprehensively chapter by chapter.
3. Concepts presented in economic survey such as genesis of various financial crises or how the flexible exchange rate system reduces the ferocity of crisis or why government plans to disband classification into plan and non plan etc., will be dealt with separately depending on use appetite
4. Concepts of economics will be covered in a very dynamic fashion. Everything will be dejargonisied by breaking them into component parts. Fundamental questions will be answered without cluttering the articles with useless data copy pasted from official reports. It will help you solidify your concepts but I would still recommend reading NCERT macro first.
5. International organisations like WTO, IMF, World Bank group will be covered under our IR series, click here

We have already pushed a few articles as back to basics. More will be available on your desk very soon. Every concept will be covered here but I would still recommend you read economic survey very carefully. More than half of your economics will be done.

We don’t recommend Dutt and Sundaram, kapadia, Mishra and Puri, Ramesh Singh are useless books. Don’t waste your time over reading those books. Wikipedia and Investopedia will give you more information in a much better way.

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Economics for mains is a different story altogether but without basics, you won’t be able to do that either. We shall analyse economics for mains some other day.

If you are at a stage where you can appreciate Indian Economics discussions or annual budget discussions, do give these a read – 

• Collections | Indian Economic Survey
• Collections | All about Annual Budget

 

1. This 38-year-old officer is a Bengali from Darjeeling. Her fans and supporters say she is a “Hyderabadi at Heart”.

2. As her father Lt Col PK Das was a part of Indian defence force, she did her schooling in various parts of the country.

3. From Class 9 onward, she studied only in Hyderabad. She first studied in Army School, Secundarabad, but then completed her Class XII from St Ann’s, Marredpally, Hyderabad. She got the first rank in the all-India ICSE Class 12 exams.

4. In graduation, she studied commerce with accounts and economics as subjects. She did her BCom from St. Francis College.

5. Before her UPSC examination, she said she studied six hours a day apart from reading news paper and magazines.

6. She took public administration and anthropology for her mains examination in civil services.

7. She failed to clear her prelims in the first attempt, but in the next chance, he clinched the all-India 4th rank. “It’s incredible! …After the grilling interview session, I expected maybe the 50th rank, but definitely not the 4th rank” she told in an interview to a newspaper then.

8. In the UPSC interview, she was asked questions on foreign policy, China-US dispute, banking scenario in India and banks’ non-performing assets.

9. She is a trained athlete. She also learnt Hindustani classical music, and she sings.

10. Her inspiration: her mother Purabi Das. Her quote: “Everything becomes relevant once you put your heart into it.” (as quoted in an interview to Hyderabad Times after securing the 4th rank in civil services examinations)

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This article was first published here. 

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About O P Chaudhary

A 2005 batch IAS officer.
He is the first IAS from Chattisgarh.
He was posted as collector Dantewada, Chattisgarh.
It is a Left Wing Extremism affected area.

Everything you need to know about his stay at Dantewada

In his stint as collector, he changed the face of Dantewada from an underdeveloped district into a progressive and vibrant one. His initiatives here were really path breaking and non-traditional. The key feature about these are the way he used the integration approach to arrange for funding, pooling being done from MGNREGS, BRGF, IAP, Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan, CSR and countless other schemes, whichever is appropriate. Against all odds, he proved that government schemes can function, despite the apparent perpetual crunch of funds.

His initiatives:

#1. Solar Powered Education City:
As part of what he calls “the long-term solution”, he is supervising the construction of a 150-acre, solar-powered Education City. It aims to establish Dantewada as an education hub at the international level.
It will house 15 institutions, including an industrial training institute, a polytechnic college and various residential schools. The campus would cater to more than 5,000 students and is expected to be completely functional in a-year-and-a-half.
Recently, the consultancy firm KPMG listed it among the world’s top 100 innovative infrastructure projects for its potential to provide opportunities to the youth in developing their skills.

#2. Choolo Asman:

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It comprises two coaching centres where the district’s brightest students are taught by teachers from the ‘Mecca’ of engineering and medical coaching, Kota, in Rajasthan.

Moreover, Chaudhary turned the barracks vacated by the Border Roads Organisation into a campus for girls, adding an additional floor by using bamboo-based sheets so as not to overburden the existing structure. Thus, the existing space was doubled at half the cost of constructing new buildings.

#3. Tamannah:
This has been implemented after observing that the children in this part of the world lack even the basic exposure.
Under the project, a science museum, district library, and a state of the art audio-visual theatre were set up with a view to broaden the horizons of all levels of students in the district.
Tamanna film festivals were conducted where students from far off villages visit every day in the buses deployed by the administration and meet with district level functionaries.
This helped to bridge the gap between citizens and administration.

#4. Nanhey Parindey:
To ensure the admission of deprived children in the quality schools like Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sainik Schools etc.
These schools are providing opportunity for holistic growth of a child without any fee. But unfortunately, due to their basic admission process suitable to population that is relatively aware and exposed, they invariably end up enrolling only those children who are more aware, exposed to the world rather than the worse off who languish in the wilderness.

To tackle this issue, project ‘NANHE PARINDE’ has been started, under which residential facilities were created at district headquarter and 105 children from interior villages belonging to marginalized background were provided special coaching for Navodaya and Sanik School entrance examination with 5th class regular schooling.

With only 10 months of mentoring, 30 children were selected in Navodaya Vidyalaya Barsoor out of a total of 60 selections. Sainik School in Ambikapur-Surguja -1 child selected from NanheParinde project, 24 children selected in Karpawand, Eklavya Vidyalaya, Bastar 25 girls selected in Eklavya Kanya Shiksha Parisar, Katekalyan and 5 girls selected for Parchanpal Kanya Parisar, Bastar.

#5. Education Clusters and Shiksha Savari Yojana:
Dantewada suffered from one of the highest dropout rate at the stage of pre-matric level.
This was because the high schools, which are lesser in numbers than the elementary schools, are located at places which are usually at some distance from their villages. Adding to this, poor transportation facilities and non-availability of residential facilities in high schools demotivate these children to go for higher studies.

Clusters of important junctions in the district were chosen and Educational Clusters were created by providing residential facilities to children from 9th to 12th standard. Such residential facilities called Pota Cabins not only helped in increasing and sustaining the enrollment ratio but also improved quality of education for children in such schools.

Additionally, the students getting enrolled in class 9th were provided bicycles under ‘Shiksha Savari Yojna’, a scheme initiated only in Dantewada District supported by IAP fund. As a result, dropout rate among school children decreased from 50% to 13% in just 2 years (2011-2013). This project is considered among top 100 most innovative projects throughout the world, by KPMG.

#6. Livelihood College (GujarBasar College):
This is a college for the unemployed youth, who have missed the formal education. It provides residential facility on PPP model.
Admissions are open to all regardless of educational qualification, any income or caste criteria.

Reputed organizations like IL&FS, IndiaCan, Tomorrow‘s Foundation, Cap Foundation, ISAP, ESAB, have been brought under the same umbrella to impart skill education to the youth. There is a provision for practical and class room training in more than 25 different trades and further linkages for placement with industries across India. Two types of trades have been focused upon : emerging market trends (hospitality, industrial stitching, sales, tally etc.) and to improve local skill deficit (plumber, electrician, mason, solar panel establishment and maintenance, mobile repairing etc.

The recognition:

For all his Herculean effort to achieve this miraculous feat, in which he literally risked his life many times, he got the well-deserved Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2011-12.

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Published with inputs from Swapnil