The National Association of Civil Servants (NACS), a voluntary organisation of civil servants of Bihar and Jharkhand who mentor UPSC aspirants from these two states for free, has announced its Interview Guidance Programme (IGP) for the candidates who have cleared their mains. The registration for IGP has started from 12 December and a mock interview will take place both in online and offline modes. The interview guidance programme will start from 22nd December.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, NACS member, IAS officer Santosh Kumar, who is currently posted as DM, New Delhi, shared details about the programme.
ABOUT NACS
National Association of Civil Servants (NACS) is a voluntary organisation where civil servants of Bihar and Jharkhand mentor UPSC aspirants from these two states to crack UPSC, and they do it for free. These civil servants make sure that the young aspirants from their states not only pass the written exams, but emerge successful in the interview round also.
A few bureaucrats keen to start this initiative got themselves registered in the year 2014 under the name of ‘National Association of Civil Servants (NACS)’. Under the guidance of retired IAS officer BK Prasad, who is the President of NACS, the initiative started with just 16 members and now has more than 1000 civil servants in its fold.
Its purpose is not only to provide a positive and effective platform to the bureaucrats for mutual cooperation and discussions, but also to make collective efforts towards the all-round development of their home states. Under this objective, guidance programmes for prelims, mains and interviews are being organized free of cost for the candidates preparing for Civil Services Examination by NACS for the last few years.
INTERVIEW GUIDANCE PROGRAMME
Just like every year, NACS Bihar-Jharkhand has announced the start of their Interview Guidance Programme or IGP for the candidates who have cleared the IAS Mains exam from Bihar and Jharkhand. “Any candidate who is a resident of Bihar and Jharkhand and has qualified in the mains of the UPSC Civil Services Examination, the results of which were announced on 6 December, can register on NACS website from 12 December to prepare for the interview,” NACS member, Mr. Santosh Kumar, IAS, said.
This time, the mock interview will be conducted in offline mode in both Delhi and Patna. However, like last year, the IGP will continue in online mode as well for for those candidates who live outside Delhi or Patna.
“In view of this, NACS urges all the candidates to visit the NACS website www.nacsbiharjharkhand.org.in and get themselves registered so that continuous guidance can be provided by our team for their interview, and their mock interview time can be fixed. For more information, candidates should stay connected with the NACS Twitter handle @NacsBihar_JH and the Facebook page,” Mr. Kumar said.
SALIENT FEATURES OF IGP
Last year also, NACS had conducted Interview Guidance Programme in a very scientific and systematic manner. This year, the salient features of the IGP programme are as follows:
It is completely free and organized by civil service officers only. The officers involved are from different services and from different batches. Some retired, some young. Which means there is a mix of both experience and new trends.
A WhatsApp group is created for all the registered candidates. There are also senior officers in this group where any candidate can ask any question and get doubts cleared anytime.
“The atmosphere of the group is comfortable and positive because all the officers want to guide the young candidates of their state by joining it themselves in the proper spirit of service. Special classes are conducted by experts on major topics like hobby, cadre, optional subject, state, international issue, current issue, etc.,” Mr. Kumar told Indian Masterminds.
It is noteworthy that out of the 52 candidates who had registered in NACS last year, more than 25 candidates were finally selected, including 11th rank Shubhankar Pathak and 58th rank Divya Shakti. This time around, more than 100 officers from different services have confirmed to contribute as panelists in the IGP, which makes the panelists of NACS unique in the whole country.
In the interview panel this time, the senior officers who will figure prominently are: B K Prasad IAS, 1983 Batch, Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Arun Kumar, IPS, 1985 Batch, Former Director General, Railway Protection Force, Amita Prasad, IAS, 1985 Batch, Former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, Parvez Hayat, IPS, 1984 Batch, Former Director General, Jharkhand Police, S D Jha, IRS, 1984 Batch, and a Former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Government of India.
IAS officer Santosh Kumar, IRTS officer Vijay Kumar and IP&TAFS officer Gunjan Mishra, who are the coordinators of this programme, are hopeful that this effort of NACS will bring more good results this time, and more candidates from Bihar and Jharkhand will get selected to Civil Services.
