Ahmedabad

Gujarat Chief Secretary G R Aloria today gave ‘tips for sure success’ to the UPSC aspirants of the state with some very interesting and witty personal narratives including his own ’33 minute interview encounter’ at the Dholpur house in New Delhi, the headquarters of the civil services conducting body.

Speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the five centers of the Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) in the state dedicated to rigorous training for Central Government Recruitment Study (CGRS), Mr. Aloria, a 1981 batch IAS officer, said hard work was the only mantra for the success. The approach to study should be very focused with proper notes making for revision. The mind should also be kept relaxed when the exam days come closer.

Giving his own example in a very witty and humours way he said,’ today’s students are lucky to have so many types of study materials and other things. When I was preparing the Competition Success Review was the only reliable magazine priced a little below Rs 2 (a costly affair in those days). But I never had to purchase one as I had won a prize of one year free subscription of the prestigious magazine through a successful quiz reply and prepared for my exam with those free copies only. When it came to interview, I went to Delhi by Bus. A complete stranger in Karolbagh helped me reach the venue.’

” There, when I saw some of the well dressed and ‘suited booted’ candidates already present, I almost become sure that I will certainly be rejected. When the interview started I was completely at loss and could not answer the initial volley of questions but then the board members very courteously offered me a cup of tea (which I took hesitatingly), I became relaxed and the session went on for 33 long minutes. Later I came out. The Karolbagh stranger who had dropped me to the venue was still there and he asked all the minute details and after hearing it congratulated me in advance saying I will surely be selected and that happened.’

He also narrated some interesting memories of his training days in The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) Mussoorie, to which the SPIPA auditorium echoed with peals of laughter.

The Director General of SPIPA Mr. Vipul Mitra also shared some of his past experience on a lighter note including the one in the train to Gujarat after his final selection in the UPSC to join here when a businessman asked his salary and on hearing that it was Rs 2200 (a respectable sum in those days) even offered Rs 5000 for a private job in his Delhi office. ‘Gujarati people are more inclined to business. But when I explained him about my prospects of being a district collector he realised,’ Mr. Mitra said.

Meanwhile of the five SPIPA CGRS dedicated centers inaugurated today Ahmedabad will have two and Vadodara, Surat and Mehsana will each house one. A wider awareness was generated today about the centers through a carefully decided launch, telecast live across 25,000 schools in Gujarat through the Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG), the state’s nodal agency to facilitate the use of spatial and geo-spatial technologies for development
purposes. It was also seen across 13,685 gram panchayats through E-Grams, that generated consciousness and recognition on the prospects and inspiring one and all to avail of the facility.

“SPIPA has put in consistent efforts for government training. The results have been portrayed in the recent UPSC successes when 20 students from the institute cracked the civil services. We try and make our training as contemporary and relevant. The laurels achieved are a result of by mock tests and panel interviews to boost preparedness and confidence. We intend to replicate our UPSC success in CGRS training as well. Efforts are on,” said Mr. Mitra.

CGRS training will also include beefing up skills in computer marketing and banking, apart from students studying general subjects like history, geography, polity, economy, science and technology.

– DeshGujarat