Shantun Kumar Sinsinwar from Bharatpur Rajasthan cracked both UPSC and UP PCS this year.
However, they were not his first attempts, nor did success come easy. And yet such thrilling was his finish lines in both races that it left behind an exhausted soldier.
He wrote his UPSC mains and UP-PCS mains within a gap of 11 days in 2022, and that he believes did the trick for him. Now he is all set to appear for his UPSC interview with already 11th rank of UP PCS in his kitty.
“I wrote 17 papers in 51 hours in around 17-18 days last year. My shoulders fell off,” Mr. Sinsinwar could not help but laugh as he told Indian Masterminds in an exclusive conversation.
SHANTUN’S GOLIATHS
Son of a teacher from Rajasthan, Shantun said, “I have had so many failures that I kept on failing. Whatever exam I would give, I failed,”
For five years he was also unable to crack the maze. “Even if I passed prelims, I would not crack the mains,” says the Kota coaching alumnus.
Then in 2022, he realised that even if some parametres were different for the state and UPSC CSE their basic nature are same. “UPSC is analytical-based and UP PCS is fact-based exam.
So my experience of writing mains UPSC came in handy in UP PCS,” Mr. Sinsinwar said.
Writing UPSC mains papers prepares one better for the state civil service exams, says the B.Tech who did not taste any success in CSEs from 2019 to 2021.
PREPARATION
Now a deputy collector, who can be an IAS this year, Mr. Sinsinwar started with his CSE preparation while in his final year in Industrial and Production Engineering from NIT, Jalandhar, in 2018.
He moved to Delhi and joined coaching for UPSC CSE in June, 2018. He studied current affairs related to UP and some UP-specific topics for his PCS.
Although Hindi is mandatory in UPPCS. He could not devote much time. “I had last studied Hindi in class 12. I could only do some selective preparation from Ghatna Chakra,” he added.
His optional was Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) and he was thorough with Polity, History and General Science.
“I solved many mock tests and aptitude test for UPSC that gave me the advantage,” he said. “I even left one question UP PCS Mains exam,” said Mr. Sinsinwar, who still ranked 11th in the state civil exams.
INTERVIEW
His interview for UP PCS lasted 25 minutes. He answered questions on his choice of optional, his pick between engineering and civil services, besides being asked to name 5 kinds of millets.
Some of the questions were:
How would you promote Millets production in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh?
The hierarchy of UP govt’s revenue administration?
Which is more important, responsibility without authority or authority without responsibility?
Then there were situation-based questions “You are posted as SDM, and your seniors and local MPs and MLAs are pressurising you to do illegal work. What will you do?
“You are the SDM of Jhansi, how will you promote farmer’s income?
GURU MANTRA
Mr Shantun advises aspirants not to take up civil services under any pressure, “else your career will be ruined”, he says.
“You will meet many failures during the Civil Services preparation, but how you tackle those failures will build you up for the future,” he reflects.
