UPSC remains a dream for many bright students in the country who are good in studies but economically weak. They lack proper guidance and cannot join coaching institutes because of their exorbitant fees. Noticing this, Prem Prakash Meena, a 2018-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer, has taken it upon himself to help such students clear competitive exams by educating them for free through his videos on YouTube. In an exclusive interaction with Indian Masterminds, IAS officer Prem Prakash Meena shared his vision for his popular YouTube Channel.
VISION FOR HIS CHANNEL
After completing Engineering, Prem Prakash Meena had worked across the globe in many big companies. However, in 2015, he left all of it behind and came back to India to work at the grassroot level and help people who are socially and economically weak.
His first posting was in Basti district near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, and next in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh. While working in these areas, he realised that there are many young students who are enthusiastic about joining civil services. “Kids in the rural areas always look forward to do something better for their future. But it’s just the fact that they are unable to afford expensive coaching institutes,” said the officer.
Districts like Chandauli, and Basti are among the backward districts of the country. Mr. Meena questions why they should be at a disadvantage just because they are economically not so strong as of now.
Noticing the many disadvantages that the rural area kids suffer, Mr. Meena started his own YouTube Channel. At first, he thought of taking classes locally but didn’t find it sustainable, as it will help only a handful of students. “I started off with my YouTube channel wherein I could broadcast lots of different topics and subjects free of cost to every kid out there who are interested,” he said.
COACHING TOO COSTLY
Sharing his views about the hefty fees of coaching centres, Mr. Meena said, “When I came back to India from Russia in 2015, I started preparing for UPSC. During those days, I found out that these coaching institutions were not offering much to the students and were just charging hefty fees.”
According to him, it’s just a rat race where students think that if they do not attend coaching centres, they might lose out on something or the other.
YOUTUBE JOURNEY
IAS Meena’s YouTube journey started in March, 2021 when he started posting about different topics and subjects. His channel titled, ‘Prem Prakash Meena, IAS’, has over 30,000 subscribers and a total of 180 videos. Of these, few are about his own work and the rest for civil services aspirants. “We are growing,” he remarked.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Mr. Meena has a team of two people to help with graphics and editing of the videos. “I myself research the topics, prepare and shoot them on Chroma,” he said.
On being asked how he finds time in his busy schedule to make these videos, he said, “Multitasking is the name of the game. My experience says that you are never short of time, it’s just that you need to plan properly. I start off on my work early in the morning and shoot the videos late in the evening.”
Mr. Meena, it seems, has perfected the art of balancing. He is an officer in the morning and a mentor in the evening.
