"How Would You Answer?": Bureaucrat On Question He Was Asked In UPSC Interview

Every year, hundreds of thousands of UPSC aspirants appear for the civil services exam, however, only a few lucky ones clear it. The exam comprises several out-of-the-box questions that can be tricky to answer. 

Now recently an Indian Forest Services (IFS) officer shared his experience of attending a Civil Service interview where he was asked about India's expenditure on space missions when the country had been suffering from poverty. Taking to Twitter, IFS Parveen Kaswan revealed his answer. He even asked his followers how would have they answered the tricky question. 

"My Civil Service interview !! '3rd Board Member: We are spending crores on space missions and here we do have such a poverty, how do you see it ??'" Mr Kaswan wrote.  

My Civil Service interview !!

"3rd Board Member: We are spending crores on space missions and here we do have such a poverty, how do you see it ??

Me: Sir, I think both the things are not competitive in nature. Back in 1928 Dr. CV Raman while enquiring about the colour of Sea…

— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) June 2, 2023

"Me: Sir, I think both the things are not competitive in nature. Back in 1928 Dr. CV Raman while enquiring about the colour of Sea water came up with the idea of Raman Scattering and today Raman spectroscopy is extensively used in many fields including Medical Science. It takes time but research provides fruits," the IFS officer revealed. 

Mr Kaswan shared the tweet on Friday morning and since then his post has generated several responses. Several users even shared their point of view. 

"I would have used examples of geo satellites which help in accurate weather forecasts. India's major population is still agrarian and they depend a lot on the weather. ISRO reaching for the stars would eventually mean better awareness amongst farmers about weather," wrote one user. 

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"We can't address poverty by chopping down our costs in some field of exploration. People are poor because they are not earning. They are not earning because they are not skilled. They're not skilled because our education system is flawed. That's what we need to work on," said another. 

A third user commented, "Research multiplier is 100x, but yields come in 10 years. Space missions will help us to determine problems that nature-based calamities cause and help eradicate poverty." A fourth added, "This question arises if we do not have enough resources for both fields. But, poverty is due to the inefficient use of resources, i.e., manpower resources or any other resource. The problem lies in missions on Earth, not in space".

Mr Kaswan's tweet has accumulated more than 329,000 views and nearly 3,000 likes.