PROSPECTIVE QUESTIONS FROM THE DAF

The most important source or the bedrock which forms the core of interview stage preparation is the DETAIL APPLICATION FORM that candidates submit after the Prelims’ results are out. Therefore, the first thing which the candidates should work on is their Mains Application Form, which will be the first point of reference for the interview panel and from which the questions are most expected. Every single word- place, person, thing etc mentioned by the candidate on the form needs to be well prepared with along with background information. About 60-80 percent of the questions asked in the interview are directly or indirectly linked with the information provided in the application form. One has to ponder and think deeply to identify the questions which can be generated from the form.
Here I have tried to identify the questions which may arise directly or indirectly from the application form in the most comprehensive manner. Each sub-section below dwells upon various aspects of the application form and the possible questions that one need to be abreast with.

Roll number

Many people forget their roll no. and it could be a nerve wrecking situation to start the interview with, so always remember your roll no.
Some persons who are having some specific roll nos. such as 9999,0420,2611,0911 etc. must be ready for questions related to the figures or the dates.

Name of the Candidate

Meaning of your name and its relevance or influence on your life.
Some people are having Kumar, Chandra, Prasad, Lal etc. as their middle name, so they must know the difference among these.
Candidates must be well aware about their surnames. For eg. In case of Agrawal surname, questions might be asked about Maharaja Agrasen, or in case of Murugan surname you must know each and everything about Lord Murugan.
If your name matches with any important personality then you must ensure to have maximum possible information about that personality and his or her life and achievements

Date of Birth

Know-how of following is important
Any important incident falling on the same date. For ex. 1984 happens to be the most eventful year after 1947 in Indian history.
Does your date of birth matches with any day declared as day of national/international importance?
Does your date of birth matches with date of birth of any well known personality?
What is your sunsign? Do you believe in astrology? If yes then why?
The year you were born was a leap year or not?

Gender

What is the sex ratio of your state, national sex ratio, steps to improve sex ratio?
Measures to improve the working conditions in professional space regarding sexual discrimination.
Views about growing sexual assault-molestation cases in metropolitans such as Delhi etc. and measures to curb it.
What is feminism, its types, your view about it.
Present role of women in political and economic decision making. Percentage of females in parliament and various assemblies; state with maximum female participation in legislative assembly; Views about Women reservation bill in parliament etc.
Reservation in local government has improved the status of females or not?
Give suggestions to check female foeticides.
What steps UPSC can take to improve the involvement of females in the services?
Could women be allowed in combat operations in the defence forces?
Misuse of Laws to protect women and Men coming up with organisations against atrocities of females…Views.
Commodification of females by the cosmetic market. Views

Address for correspondence

Many candidates mention some terms such as enclave, villa, mansion etc in their address of correspondence.
So they must be able to differentiate between these terms.
Writing down the address, many a times roads, marg, park etc find a mention named after various personalities. Be well aware of those personalities.
People from rural background mentioning village in their postal address must be ready to answer about the problems of rural areas, views about rural-urban migration, lack of basic amenities in these regions and measures to handle these problems.
A vision for your home village to make it progressive if you clear the Examination adds strength to your case.

Pin Code

What each and every letter in the pin code signifies;
What is INDIA POST?
What is philately?
Role of postal department in developmental process;
India Post vs private courier;
Any new scheme launched by government for postal department.
Importance of post office savings and measures to augment them.

District

Go through all the information about your district on the net, especially in relation to its performance in various flagship programmes such as MNREGS, NRHM, RSBY, Mid day meal scheme etc.
People belonging to districts in national news recently must have views and opinions and thorough knowledge regarding these issues.
People belonging to hill stations, historical places or religious places might be asked to give suggestions regarding promotion of tourism in their district.
Candidates must be aware about specific problems of their district such as linguistic issues in Belgavii of Karnataka or problems of weavers in Varanasi etc.

State:

Read all the information about your state from National websites, encyclopaedia etc.
Rank of your state in national HDI, its growth rate, some specific programmes of your state
Political issues of your state for eg creation of various parks and statues by the CM of UP, future of West Bengal under the leadership of Mamta Bannerjee etc.
Views about creation of new states, emerging ethnicity and regionalism in various states;
State autonomy vs Central authority;
Penetration of IT in your state and status of e-governance ;
Role of RTI in your state and its implementation;
Measures taken by your state for conservation of wild life, natural resources etc
Any specific measure taken by your state on an issue eg bihar special courts act 2009;
Issue of compulsory voting in Gujarat, appointment of lokayukta in uttarakhand etc.;
Public service act in various states etc;
Disaster management efforts of various states, measures to tackle various organised crime eg. MCOCA act etc,
Measures to protect the interest of linguistic minorities in Maharashtra etc
What is the meaning of the name of your state? Genesis of the term;
Name important tourist places of your state. What can be done to promote tourism in the state?
Name few cultural features, which are the specialities of your state.
Do you see any geological impact on your culture?
Discuss the disputes of your state with the neighbouring states;
What are the reasons for poor growth in your state as compared to Gujrat, Maharashtra etc.
Why, despite economic development, the social indicators are poor?
What are steps taken in your state for the upliftment of weaker sections?
What will be your priorities as a civil servant of your state?
If you are posted as a DC in one of the districts in the state what will be your priorities?
What have been the achievements of your state after independence?
Analyze your state with special reference to your optional / academic background

Community: SC, ST, OBC or General :

What is ST, SC and OBC and how it is being defined in the Constitution- A- 341,342,366 etc.
Which state is having maximum ST, SC and OBC population and which has minimum?
Composition and function of NCST, NCSC, National commission for backward classes, National com mission for economically backward classes, Commission for de-notified tribes.
Protection and developmental safeguards for ST, SC and OBC in the Constitution.
Questions could be framed on the status of ST’s and their traditional rights, forest rights, problems of rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced persons.

Whether belong to creamy layer:

What is the upper limit of creamy layer in OBC?
Should this creamy layer formula be applied in SC & ST group also?
Recent decision to increase the limit of creamy layer upto 12 lakhs. Views.

Citizenship:

Citizenship and constitutional status.
India and dual citizenship i.e. OCI & PIO card.
Difference between NRI & PIO.
Voting rights to NRIs.
Recent organisation of Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas, issues discussed during it, chronology and history of PBD.
Contribution of Pravasi Bhartiyas in India’s educational, cultural, economic, technical development.
Issues regarding citizenship and constitutional posts.
Important NRIs who where recently in news. eg. Bobby Jindal, Kamalesh Sharma, Rajat Gupta, Mohan kohli etc.
Status of Indian Diaspora in various continents and their achievement in those places.
Importance of citizenship in this globalised world

Minority community

What is a minority?
Difference between religious and linguistic minority and their specific problems.
There is no clear-cut definition about minority which leads to various problems in administration. Do you agree?
Philosophy of Sarva Dharma Samabhav and Indian secularism.
Constitutional protection for the minorities including linguistic minorities; developmental safeguards.
Controversy about recent communal violence bill and your own opinion.
Equal Opportunities Commission, Diversity Index, Ranganath Mishra committee, Sachhar committee recommendations and one’s own opinion.
Many states have provided reservation to Muslim communities e.g. Andhra Pradesh, W.Bengal etc. Could this be tried at the national level?
Views about Uniform Civil Code and Indian polity. In a pluralistic society could this code be applied?
Problems of linguistic minorities in different regions such as people of UP, Bihar in Maharashtra.
Influence of socio-cultural practices of majority community on minority community. Give examples.
The feeling of caste consciousness has also creped in the minority community and disturbing its egalitar ian character…justify.

Marital status

There is no particular question regarding this issue, however it depends on the mood of the interviewer to frame questions. Chances of formation of personal question are less because the topic is quite personal.
They can ask question about the profession of your spouse.
Female candidates can be asked that how they have managed a balance between their married life and civil services preparation.
Male candidates could be asked about their views about dowry, feminism etc.
Candidates who are already parents can be questioned about child care centre, sharing domestic work with their spouse.

Place of birth, district, town, state etc:

Similar questions as discussed in the address for correspondence column can be framed.

Mother tongue:

Complete information about VIIIth schedule is a must.
In case of Hindi as mother tongue, read the measures about promotion of Hindi as national language.
When is National Hindi day and national Hindi week celebrated?
National Language, Official Language.
Art.343,350,350A…etc.must be known to you.
Recently added languages in VIII schedule;
Growing linguism is breeding regionalism and intolerance. Views.
Regional language and traditional knowledge, protection of intellectual property eg.traditional system of medicine(sowa rigpa, siddha etc.)
Role of regional cinema in national integration.

Email id:

IT revolution and saga of India’s development.
The candidate must know each and every thing about its email id. eg. If one is having email id on Gmail then he must know that who is founder of Google etc. this information can be easily gathered through Wikipedia.
Role of social networking sites in information exchange and dissemination.
Recent government step to regulate the social networking sites.
Internet a new way for terrorising the society. Views
The scourge of e-waste, problem of phishing, spam etc
The recent IT acts and cyber crime;
Issues of online gambling, pornography, scandalisation, vandalising governmental sites etc.
Issues regarding digital divide.
E-governance and good governance, recent steps by the government to promote e-governance.
Issue of identity theft of prominent personalities. For example, fake ids of Amitabh Bachchan on facebook.

Phone number

What is ISD & STD?
Advantage and disadvantage of landline & cellular phone.
Difference between 2G, 3G, 4G etc. GPRS, EDGE technology etc.
Issues of public grievances and various telecom service providers.
How to promote banking services through phone?
Cellular phones and telemedicine, tele-education is a new thinking going on which can be very fruitful if utilised well.
Is it time to switch over to m-governance from e-governance?
Sound understanding about the value added services on phone. As the interviewer is new to this technology so he will try to gain information from your part, so answer all question in common language and not in technical words.

Educational institution

If the institution is named after some important/famous personality then you must gather all the informa tion about that person. Wikipedia and libraries can help you a lot in this job.
Location of the institution e.g. road, park, Marg etc are also often named after various personalities, so be aware and informed about these facts as well.
The students from Sainik school or Kendriya Vidyalayas must be aware of some common questions as why these are called as Sainik schools or KVs?, What are the aim and objectives of these institutions? Etc
For students passed out from convent schools, common questions include what is convent education and how is it different from a govt. school or a military schoolStudents of Vidyamandirs , could be asked about Sanatan dharma, how the chain of these Shishumandirs and Vidyamandirs are being maintained, what is Sanskriti Gyan Pariksha etc.One should always know the motto of his/her educational institution.

Engineering Students

Difference between technical college and an engineering college.
Does present India requires more polytechnic institutes in comparison to engineering colleges?
Have IITs fulfilled the aim with which they were established?
What is the rank of your institution in India and what is the basis of this ranking.
Being engineering student your views regarding various social issues could also be sought like regulation of social media, cyber crime, communication intelligence etc.

Medical students

An all time favourite question for the medical students is- Given that India is having a scarcity of doctors why did the candidate opted for civil services, leaving a profession which is considered as one of the noblest among all ?
All India ranking of your college and any specialty of your college.
Issues of BRMS degree, rural medicine etc.
What reforms in the present medical education are required to make it rural friendly?
They could be asked about any of the national programs such as PPI, NRHM, RSBY, RNTCP, NACP, NACO etc or the issues of drug abuse, malnutrition, sanitation etc.
Role of doctors, paramedical staff, NGOS, to make this profession more people friendly, efficient and cheap.
Your opinion about euthanasia, fee splitting among doctors, the ongoing clinical trials.
Questions regarding gene therapy, issues of organ transplantation, recently introduced vaccines, generic medicines, narco analysis, robotic surgery, recent issues related with MCI etc

Law graduates

Views on some controversial articles such as 355 IPC etc. or on common issues like feminism, misuse of domestic violence act , untouchability.
Recent impeachment case of Justice Soumitra Sen and various cases related to tainted judiciary.
Do you think the present practice and system of elevating judges to supreme courts is suitable?
Judicial Standard And Accountability Bill , regulation of social media, euthanasia, AFSPA act
Can honour killings be curtailed?

Agricultural students

All the data related to agriculture should be updated.
Issue of subsidy and agriculture in india. Direct Cash Transfers in place of Subsidies. Views
Views on GM crops, organic farming, vermiculture, corporate farming etc.
Common problems of farmers in India and reasons for their pathetic situation
Intrusion of Corporates in agriculture sector.
Issues of insurance in agriculture and disaster management.
Because of the present PDS system more foodgrains are being produced than required, how can this be managed?
How the agricultural base can be diversified by floriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry etc.

University

Difference between deemed university and an open university, autonomous college and university
Issue of ragging and ways to combat it.
Mushrooming universities and deteriorating quality of education.
Does a super regulator, scrapping the UGC to regulate the universities required?
Why no world class university in India despite so many good colleges?
Knowledge about Foreign Education Institution Bill, need for rural university, tribal university, vocational education university, or one specially catering to physically disabled.
Course design and changes to be brought about with changing times.
Motto of your university.
Brain drain vs brain gain policy.

Subjects

This topic is an ocean of question.
Why you opted for your particular optional?
Is there any relation between these subject?
Is there any relation between optional subject and the subject of your graduation?
How can these optional help you in administration?

Home state

What is the speciality of your state in terms of cultural matters, financial matters, political affairs etc?
What is the current GDP growth rate of your state and its ranking among various states?
What is the slogan of your state? Candidates must be aware of any new slogan of their state and issues related with it e.g. Vibrant Gujarat and Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador, tourism of Madhya Pradesh and issue of tigers etc.
You must be aware of the common problems in your state and if your state is larger in area then the regional problems are also important. For example, candidates from Uttar Pradesh must be aware of problems in Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal, western UP; the students of Rajasthan must be aware of problems in Marwad region.
Status of minorities and deprived section. Caste violence in Bihar, Godhra violence in Gujarat, problems of Kashmiri pundits in Kashmir valley, persecution of tribes in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
Students from comparatively developed region should also be well prepared for social problems in their native regions such as discrimination of linguistic minorities in Mumbai, gender related imbalance in Punjab & Haryana, problems being faced by NRIs in Gujarat & Punjab .
Strategic and economic importance of your state such as importance of Lakshwadeep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
The issues of centre state relations and recent issues of discord such as NCTC, NRHM scams, the issue of emergence of various regional political parties and their influence on the issues of national interests for their parochial interests.

Preference for the services:

Some students give preference to IPS over IAS or IFS to IAS. They must have strong, solid, rational, practical and objective reasons for that and not stereotyped answers.
Preferences for IRS (IT) to IRS (C&E) and vice versa are some common question. So be prepared for that.
Preference for group ‘B’ police & civil services in comparison to other group ‘A’ services is also many a times being questioned.
Students must be very specific in selection of services from 6th preference to 24th preference and prepare a list of advantages and disadvantages of these services with respect to the choices they have made.
A candidate who is already in a group ‘B’ service and is opting for a group ‘B’ service of UPSC must be ready to get a question on it.
An already selected candidate is being supposed to have the knowledge of all the services.

Preference of a cadre:

Why preference or non preference for home cadre?
Some students opt for more developed states of the country in their preference list. They must be aware that the economically developed regions also have lots of social problems and they can bring out these points in support of their preference.
Some people accord the least preference to the regions which are naxal affected, so prepare an answer on this probable question.
Most of the students are having a different preference for IAS and a different preference for IPS. Why it is so?
North Indian students give less preference to south Indian states and south Indian students give less to north Indian states. Why is this discrepancy?
Some cadres are mixed ones such as AGMUT, Assam Meghalaya, Manipur Tripura . Prepare a note of information on these cadres.

Employment information:

The most important question will be related to your job profile such as what is your job, your position in the office, type of job such as managerial, marketing or field work etc.
A person who has already conducted managerial functions is having a good sense of administration and questions on administration could well be asked.
Students who are research scholars must be more rational in their answers to prove a scientific mindset.
Application form mentions different natures of jobs such as adhoc, permanent, temporary and questions will be different in relation to these jobs. First differentiate these types of jobs and be clear about it.
The pay scale will also lead to a question if you are already drawing a handsome salary.

Prize, Medals, Scholarships etc:

Awards show candidate’s excellence in the particular field and one must be having complete knowledge about the field in which these awards were being honoured. A person who has received an award in GK quiz shows his excellence in gathering information, a prize gained in a debate competition shows that the person is a good orator and he can present his opinion in a well structured manner.
As these awards show the inherent qualities of the candidates so candidates should also expose these qualities in the interview.
Some awards in this category are of regional, national or international importance such as NTSE scholar, Olympiads, awards by some international organisations such as UNESCO, CRY etc. These awards and prizes give you an extra weightage in the interview.
Gold medals, merit certificates awarded by your university shows your educational excellence and the examiner can ask a question from your educational background.
Awards by some cultural organisations will definitely bring forward the cultural questions.
Prizes won in music, dance, and drama will lead to many factual questions related to these fields as these awards also show the interest of the candidate in these fields.

Game, sports, NCC: position of distinction and leadership in the college :

Difference between games & sports, indoor games & outdoor games, field games & adventurous games.
Recent issues related to sports such as the recent downfall of Indian cricket after world cup win, the pathetic situation of Indian hockey, or the new Hockey League on the lines of IPL, indigenous Indian games like kabaddi, khokho going towards extinction, no real world class athlete, organizing the event such as formula One in a country where a lot of people are dying of malnutrition etc.
The resurgence of female in various sports is making India proud by bringing prestige and honour; your opinion could be asked on these issues.
Different type of awards awarded in the field of sports, information on the recent Arjun award ceremony, any new award started in the sports category, any important personality receiving an international award.
Excellency in sports show the team spirit in a person and it is very important in national integration. On the other hand the sportsman spirit minimises the hatredness in the person and it helps a lot in administration.
Such relations can be made by candidates who have expertise in some sports.
What is the motto of NCC, difference between NCC, scout and guide. How many certificates are there in NCC? How many divisions are there in NCC?
What is Territorial Army and civil defence? How this can help in disaster management?
What is the objective of establishing NCC, scouts and guide? How it is different from NSS. The candidate must be aware of national youth policy, Nehru Yuva Kendra etc.; detailed information should be gathered on ministry of youth affairs and sports.
Captaincy in a sports event shows the leadership quality of the student and it is honoured by UPSC.
Position of distinction in the college such as secretary, cultural secretary etc shows the inherent capability of the students in getting things done which is nothing but administration.

Extracurricular activities, interests, hobbies:

Hobby is often taken as a cliché term by the students, a struck part; but is it so? Certainly not. Hobbies are the mirror to your unexplored, unsaid character. So, this aspect is like manna (God’s ambrosia/amrut if you may like to put it that way) for the interviewer enabling them to cut through the outer veils of your personality and to discover the depths.
Questions about your hobby are actually the most enjoyable part of the whole intriguing interview process. I know and can tell it with certainty how I used to get amazed at the way those learned people tried to ‘unravel’ me. It is also true that questions about your hobby are the deciding factor, so to speak pragmatically, of the whole interview.
Truth and only truth is expected out from you, which means that ‘manufacturing’ hobbies while you fill the form for mains exam, so, that easy questions come up, can prove quite fatal.
Just explore the deepest part of you and what you do the best. Ask what makes you oblivious of spatio-temporal limitations and what you get as answer is your hobby. It can be anything. Write that word Lets take an example in order to understand what questions can be asked from a particular hobby.
Watching Cinema/Movies as your hobby: Moving picture is the best way through which humans have ever come closer in recreating reality.
Watching films’ as a hobby is the most ordinary and general personality trait that anyone can have. However, a creative approach can make this ordinary trait quite ‘extraordinary’. An inherent inquisitiveness must be developed so that when someone gets to know (or reads in the form) that cinema is your hobby, then one must be able to truly justify that. Some examples of questions are:

Who is your favourite director/Actor/Actress/Choreographer/Director and Why?
Which movie/Actor/Director/… won Oscar/National Award/Film fare etc this year?
Which movie did you watch recently and why?
Which Hindi movies do you like the most?
Which English movie won award in National Film Festival at Goa, this Year?
Who is most famous music director in English Cinema?
How it will help in your administrative career?
Compare Indian and Western Cinema
Compare Traditional and Modern Cinema
Which is premier drama institution in India?
What should Indians do to make International standard movie.
How the spread of Western Movies is affecting Indian Culture?
Which English movie you would like us to watch and why?
How and in what way Indian Cinema is getting influenced by English Cinema?

Other questions generally related with hobbies are:

Difference between hobbies and interests;
If your hobby is listening to music then be particular about the type of music– classical, folk , jazz, or rock etc. and collect all the information about your favourite singer or musician. Also gain information about the basics of music such as different tones, raga, sargam etc.., simple science related with music. You must also be aware of any music concert organized recently. Recent issues related with important music personalities such as the demise of Mr. Jagjit Singh, Pt Ravi Shankar etc and their legacy.
In case of painting as a hobby, which type of painting– oil or dry painting; nature painting or humanized painting? What are the different traditions of painting such madhubani, kangra, Mathura etc.?
Some people mention various indoor games such as playing chess as their hobby. They must be well aware of different types of opening in chess, presently how many grand masters are there in India, how ratings are provided to the players of chess. In case of badminton they can ask about common injuries being faced by the badminton players.
Cooking is also a common hobby of many persons. Gather information about Mughlai, continental, Chinese, Thai, Italian south Indian etc. cuisine from the internet and be particular about any one in whom you are more interested. Questions will be more commonly related to health aspect of cooking such different types of edible oils, which type of butter is better for health etc. as all the interviewer are fond of delicious food so they can ask question even on salads, desserts, appetizers etc.
Cultural site seeing is also a nice hobby. Go to the website of ministry of cultural affairs and gather information about different states in relation to their efforts for promotion of tourism. Know prominent international tourist spots and important world heritage sites. As India is a tropical country so most of the people visit hill stations, collect information about important hill stations in India.
Playing cricket in is kind a national hobby in India so a lot of candidates have it as their hobby. In this section as I think, they will be asked opinion based question rather than going straight forward for a factual question, but You must prepare yourself with some factual records of the cricket also.

Appearance in previous exams of UPSC

If doctor/engineer then has you appeared for IES /CMS etc.
Appearance in NDA/CDS will bring question from defence field so be prepared for it.
Appearances in IES/IGS/ISS are definitely going to be questioned.
If you were previously selected for any civil services exams conducted by UPSC then questions related with that service could be asked.

“”Arise! Awake! and stop not until the goal is reached.””-Swami Vivekananda

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PROSPECTIVE QUESTIONS FROM THE DAF

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