CSC: Heartiest congratulations to you from Civil Services Chronicle for your success. How are you feeling about it?
Dilip: Very happy, can't be expressed entirely in words, but finally hard work has paid off.

CSC: What is your inspiration for becoming an IAS officer?
Dilip: I wanted to become IAS since I was in Sainik School & inspired by encouragement received by IAS officers visiting school. Due to my background of poor rural family, I wanted to do social & national service, and contribute to development of all sections of society & country.

CSC: Whom do you credit for your success?
Dilip: My parents, friends, & teachers who gave direction in this journey. Moral support I received from parents & friends was crucial. I've received valuable guidance from Vajirao & Reddy Institute under Dr. S.S. Chaudhary, Unique (pune), Success (pune).

CSC: What is the role of family and others (teacher, friends) in your preparation and success?
Dilip: This journey was full of ups & downs. Positive encouragement during periods of failure from family & others helps us to fight our best & strive towards giving 100% to achieve success.

CSC: What was your source of preparation. Which Books, Magazines, News Papers and Online Sources were used by you during your prepration?
Dilip: Basic books like NCERT, Spectrum, Laxmikanth, Magazines like World Focus, Chronicle, Newspaper - The Hindu.
Online - Rajya Sabha TV, Mrunal youtube.

CSC: How much time did you devote for this exam?
(a) Prelims- 2 months
(b) Mains- 4 months
(c)Interview- 3 months
(d) Optional- 2 months

CSC: How did you manage your time in both prelims and mains examinations?
Dilip: I prepared a meticulous plan & time table of study & followed it diligently. I made notes of newspaper from prelims & mains point view.

CSC: Did you integrate your Prelims and Mains preparation or was it separate?
Dilip: It was an integrated approach as syllabus overlap is also there & books are also similar except optional, which was prepared separately. Prelims study focussed more on factual things & approach in mains was to combine facts with analytical ability & multidimensional thinking.

CSC: Did you prepare notes? How helpful were the notes? What is your advice on notes-making?
Dilip: Yes, I have habit of notes making since MBBS as our books were bulky. Notes are helpful because they help in revising things, consolidate information, save valuable time. I advice aspirants to utilise benefits of making notes while studying.

CSC: Books and Strategy Preparation of Ethics Paper-IV
Dilip: I read lexicon for basic overview, also 2nd ARC for governance. Political Science optional helped with philosopher & thinkers part. Self examination of our personality is important. Personal life examples are asked in questions.

For case study part, answer writing & using theoretical part helped.

CSC: Tell us something about your preparation of essay paper.
Dilip: I consistently have received good score in Essay (152 in 2017). I prepared many quotes of Gandhiji, Ambed Kargi, Lincoln etc. Also, brain storming is important before essay. Essay writing practice is essential. I wrote quite a few essays between prelims & mains. Political Science optional helped in it too.

CSC: What was your style of writing in the exam? How was it distinct from the general writing style? How did you develop this writing style?
Dilip: I combined paragraph & points format both depending on questions. I made utmost use of facts & analysis, diagrams, flow charts, underlining key words. I wrote in the ‘intro, body, conclusion’ format. I always kept answers balanced, multi-dimensional, with logical solution based conclusion, I joined test series in Vajirao & Reddy PT & Mains, Unique (Pune), Success (Pune), it helped a lot.

CSC: What was your optional? What was the basis of selecting this optional?
Dilip: My optional was PSIR. I selected it because of my interest in global affairs (IR), it also helps develop analytical thinking, also very related to administration, governance of a country.

CSC: How did you prepare for interview?
Dilip: I gave the interview last year but got less marks (138), because I did not give it much time due to my job. This year, I prepared diligently like self examination, balanced thinking, communication skill, current affairs. Also, mock tests at Vajirao & Reddy Institute under Dr. S.S. Chaudhary Sir, KSG, Unique etc. and improved my score to 193.

CSC: Which type of questions were asked in the interview? Did you answer all of them?
Dilip: Questions were related to medical field, my job experience (ONGC Mumbai high), Marathwada & agriculture - drought issue due to agriculture family background &
some general like should railways be privatised? What is CSR, Navic, GPS etc. I answered most questions, I said don't remember to two questions in the interview.

CSC: Was there any specific area they emphasised upon?
Dilip: My job experience & medical background.

CSC: Importance of coaching in the preparation of exam.
Dilip: Direction & guidance is important in this journey. Good coaching helps us with guidance & support. For GS, I joined Vajirao & Reddy Institute, Success academy, for optional - Shubhra mam, for interview, mock tests at Vajirao & Reddy etc.

CSC: What is the role of Civil Services Chronicle in your success?
Dilip: Chronicle gives thorough & detailed information on current affairs. Optional being PSIR, current & global affairs were crucial for me. Chronicle kept me updated on these issues & also gave systematic, to the point data & also good analysis.

Education

BIO-DATA

SUGGESTED BOOK LIST

Prelims
G.S.:NCERT, The Hindu, Laxmikanth, Spectrum, Shanker Environment, Culture Singhania.

Mains
G.S. 1: Culture Singhania + NCERT, History Spectrum, Sociology NCERT, Geography-NCERT, G.C. Leong.
G.S. 2: Polity - Laxmikanth, IR - The Hindu.
G.S. 3: Economy - Ramesh Singh, Hindu.
G.S. 4: Internal Security - TMH, Hindu, Lexicon.
Optional Paper-1: PSIR I - Gauba, Heywood ideology, Laxmikanth, Hindu.
Optional Paper-2: PSIR II - Ignou for coparative, IR - Hindu, Rajyasabha TV, World Focus, Selective – Sumit Ganguly, Heywood.
Magazines/ Newspapers: Chronicle monthly & yearly magazine,The Hindu, World Focus.