UPSC interview boards: what each chair asks

NDA and IMA graduate. Commanded a brigade in counter-insurgency, the Baramulla Division on the LoC and a Pivot Corps on the western border. Served as DG Perspective Planning and Commandant of the Army War College; last post GOC-in-C, ARTRAC. PVSM 2021.

Profile against questions: Defence comes up 3.7x and AI and technology 4.1x as often as with other chairs. His advisers show no such tilt, so this is his own agenda.

Chaired Gujarat PSC from Feb 2016 to Jan 2022, when it recruited about 26,000 officers. Chaired the standing committee of state PSCs and the drafting committee for a model civil services syllabus and exam pattern. M.Sc. in forestry and a doctorate. The only member from outside the central services.

Profile against questions: UPSC, the civil service and exam reform come up 3.3x as often as with other chairs (30 questions, nearly all on UPSC reform or the role of civil servants). His forestry degree leaves no mark (1.1x).

Internal and global security specialist with a posting at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. DG of CISF from Nov 2021. BA English Honours, NDC alumnus, author of two short story volumes, Speaking Tree columnist and podcast host.

Profile against questions: Police and security (1.1x) and literature (2.3x) sit close to the normal range. What stands out instead is science and technology and, on a small count, health.

Former Secretary (West), Chief of Protocol, JS (Energy Security) and DS (China) in MEA. Ambassador to Spain and to Ethiopia and the African Union; Consul General in Dubai. Handled evacuation operations Rahat, Ganga and Dost. Economics graduate from Mumbai, MA International Studies (JNU).

Profile against questions: He asks less about foreign affairs than other chairs: 39 questions where about 73 were expected (0.5x). His interest runs to society, culture and sport.

Postgraduate in Organic Chemistry (Meerut University), MBA from the University of Hull. Specialised in international taxation and transfer pricing. As Additional DGFT helped formulate the Foreign Trade Policy; as MD of SECI took the company to Mini Ratna status.

Profile against questions: Trade, tariffs, tax and renewable energy come up 3.8x as often as with other chairs (83 questions where about 22 were expected). That is her DGFT and SECI record.

MA Political Science (JNU), Masters in Public Policy (ISS, The Hague). In Gujarat: Industries Commissioner, VC and MD of GIDC, Secretary Primary Education, Chief Electoral Officer. At the Centre: SEZs, CIS trade negotiations and trade remedies in Commerce, then MSME Secretary (Jan 2021 to May 2023).

Profile against questions: He leaves topic questions to his advisers: only 37 of his questions in 214 interviews are on topics outside the DAF. His advisers ask about trade and tax more than other boards' advisers (1.3x).

BA English and MA History (Nagpur University), M.Phil in Public Administration, diploma in Russian. In Bihar: Principal Secretary Finance and Commercial Tax Commissioner. At the Centre: Sports Secretary (Khelo India, Chess Olympiad, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, anti-doping law), Additional Secretary DoPT, regional DDG at UIDAI.

Profile against questions: Sport comes up 2.3x, but all 8 questions come from two interviews and her advisers show the same tilt. The clearer link is her history degree: history and culture 2.7x.

Former Secretary of the Inter-State Council Secretariat, with work in public finance and cooperative federalism. Worked in the Defence, Finance and Labour ministries, including the Defence Acquisitions Wing. Sat on the boards of FSSAI and NCVET. LSR graduate, MA History (Delhi University).

Profile against questions: Labour, jobs and federalism come up 6.0x as often as with other chairs (9 questions where about 2 were expected): the Inter-State Council, the Governor, unemployment. Her defence acquisitions work leaves no mark (0 questions).

B.Tech Electrical Engineering (IIT Kanpur); MS Applied Economics and PhD Business Administration (University of Minnesota). DG of NIC, Additional Secretary MeitY, Secretary Defence Production and Defence Secretary. Drove Jeevan Pramaan, MyGov and Pragati; built the iDEX defence start-up ecosystem; oversaw corporatisation of the Ordnance Factories.

Profile against questions: Only 7 interviews. Early sign: 5 of his 16 topic questions are on AI and technology. Defence and digital governance have not come up yet.

Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, before joining the Commission. Earlier Additional and Special Secretary, Ministry of Power; DG, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons; Development Commissioner (Handlooms); Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. In Tamil Nadu: Revenue, Rural Development, Transport, Finance and Industries.

Profile against questions: Aviation, power and oil come up 4.9x as often as with other chairs (17 questions where about 4 were expected): the Air India sale, power shortages, coal. His advisers show no such tilt.

Postgraduate and gold medallist in Mathematics, IIT Madras. Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, before joining the Commission. Earlier Financial Adviser, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Chief Secretary of Puducherry; Additional Chief Secretary of Mizoram; CEO, Central Silk Board; Controller, ISRO Satellite Centre; Joint DGFT, Chennai.

Profile against questions: Her own fields barely stand out: labour 1.2x, trade and energy 1.6x, aviation 0.8x. Most of her questions, 60%, come from your DAF.

Director General (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, before joining the Commission. Earlier Joint Secretary, Defence; Director, Department of Personnel and Training; Executive Director, Central Social Welfare Board. In Tamil Nadu: Energy, Finance, Health and Small Industries.

Profile against questions: Her DoPT side shows: exams, coaching and the civil service come up 2.8x as often as with other chairs. Defence, her last job, comes up less than usual (0.5x).

Union Health Secretary (Oct 2017 to Jul 2020): Ayushman Bharat, the National Medical Commission law and the e-cigarette ban. Earlier Secretary, Food and Public Distribution and Women and Child Development (Beti Bachao Beti Padhao); posts in Defence. M.Phil Economics and M.Sc. Social Policy and Planning (LSE). Member of WHO's Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

Profile against questions: Women and children come up 3.8x and health 2.7x as often as with other chairs, but on few questions: 73% of her questions come from your DAF.

PhD in International Relations (Sardar Patel University) on the post-Cold War order; postdoctoral work at Cambridge. Taught IR at Sardar Patel University from 1991. Vice-Chancellor of MSU Baroda (2005 to 2008), then the youngest VC in India, and of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (2009 to 2015).

Profile against questions: An IR scholar who seldom asks about IR: foreign affairs come up 0.3x as often as with other chairs (7 questions where about 25 were expected). He asks about history and culture instead (4.9x).

BSc in Botany. District Magistrate of three districts, Divisional Commissioner of the Kashmir Valley and Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir; Adviser to the Governor of J&K before joining the Commission.

Profile against questions: Kashmir and forests, his own ground, drew no questions from him. Internal security does stand out: 3.1x as often as with other chairs.

Master's from the Delhi School of Economics and PhD from Cornell. Professor and Head of Economics, Delhi School of Economics; Member Secretary, ICSSR (2006 to 2009); Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, MoSPI (2010 to 2018). Works on labour, industry and economic theory.

Profile against questions: He leaves topic questions to his advisers: only 26 of his questions in 57 interviews are on topics outside the DAF, and none of them on statistics.