I was 1st to enter on 23.11.

2023

I wished Good morning to everyone. The chairman sir asked me to sit.

Chairman: You are from Himachal. Have been in the news recently.

Me: Yes sir.

Chairman: B. Tech, then PG Diploma in Forestry Management. Gold medalist. Good academic record.

Me: Thank you sir.

Chairman: You have tried to build your profile as well. An IMF certification on Financial inclusion &
macroeconomics of Climate Change.

Me: Yes sir.

Chairman: How did you prepare for this interview?

Me: Sir, I prepared thoroughly about financial inclusion, climate change, my profile, RBI related
speeches & functions.

Chairman: Okay. Now, I will ask Mr. Panelist to start.

P1: IMF certification. Which IMF is this?

Me: International Momentary Fund sir.

P1: What is the difference between the WB and the IMF.

Me: Sir, (fumbled and paused) WB and IMF were formed after WW2 and are also called sister
organisations. WB was mainly for war reconstruction whereas IMF takes care of the financial and
monetary stability. It gives policy advice and provides financing facilities to member nations.

P2: What is the currency of IMF?

Me: Sir, it is SDR – Special Drawing Rights. It derives its value from a basket of 5 widely used
currencies which are the USD, the Euro, the Chinese Renminbi, the Japanese Yen and the Pound
Sterling.

P1: What is the current status of financial inclusion in India? Also, tell me who is spearheading this
movement of financial inclusion?

Me: As per the WB Findex 2021, India has around 78% account ownership and as per recent FI Index,
the score is 56.4. We have been improving over these years. It has led to enhanced awareness about
financial products and increased access at an affordable cost. This movement of fin inclusion - The
RBI with its National Strategy on Fin Incl, PSL, Lead Bank Scheme, Emergence of digital payments,
then NABARD and Lead Bank at distt. level are spearheading this movement.
P1: Why do RBI need to enhance financial inclusion?

Me: Sir, as the RBI has also a mandate of customer protection and saving the interests of depositors.
FI index has also one of the pillars of quality which pertains to enhanced customer protection. It
enhances the awareness and the access to products. It has also led to enhancement in job creation,
more employment, the vulnerability of the poor has also reduced. It has also encouraged the habit of
savings and has increased the resource base for the banks. So, it contributes to overall economic
growth.

Okay. Then he directed towards Madam, Panelist 2.

P2: You have a very unique profile. You are working at district level with youth. Have you heard about
the demographic dividend?

Me: Yes ma'am. Whenever the dependent population is less than the earning age nation, considered
15-64, it is called demographic dividend.

P2: Where does India stand in this case? There are articles about reaping the benefits of dividend.
What does that mean?

Me: India's median age is 29 or 30 and we are a young nation. Also, the youth are considered the
future of any country. They are a part of the labour force. There is a skill mismatch and there is no
direct linkage between industry and youth. So reaping the benefits means to invest in this resource
by skilling them, in their education, health and providing them opportunities to contribute towards
the company they work in and towards the country's growth simultaneously.

P2: The government is also taking steps for skill development. Which all departments are working at
distt. level?

Me: PM Kaushal Vikas Kendras are there ma'am. Then we have Lead Banks through RSETIs. Our
organization also imparts training through skill development initiatives. I have also implemented a
training program in the field of financial inclusion. As I come from development management
background, I observed that if an outsider reach a village to tell them about products or make them
aware, people are shy but they listen if one of their own tells the same thing to them. We identified
30 youth each from one village and trained them so that they can make the people of their
respective village aware.

P2: We measure the impact of these fin. incl training through credit linkage. What was the impact in
your training? Any idea.

Me: Ma'am, I have trained some of these youth 3-4 months ago. In this short time, we didn't
measure any quantifiable impact but ma'am I have received qualitative feedback from the people of
those villages and it was good.

P2: You should try to accommodate it in future initiatives. As you have been working for awareness
about government schemes. Banks also face some of the issues with subsidy related schemes of
govt. Do you know about these issues?
Me: There may be issues like beneficiary identification or lack of documentation. They might not
furnish the required documents. But I am not exactly aware about these issues ma'am.

P2: Okay. Do you know about Basel 3? Name its 03 pillars.

Me: Capital adequacy, Supervisory review, Market discipline and disclosures.

P2: Have it been implemented in India?

Me: Yes ma'am.

P3: You have been working with youth. The biggest issue the youth is facing is unemployment. There
are some macroeconomic factors behind this situation. What do you think? And what has been the
government doing?

Me: The biggest issue is skill mismatch. Youth do not possess the skills required by the industry. And
they do not have direct linkage with the industry such that the industry requirements are known to
them. Other than this, education and awareness are also some of the issues.

P3 interrupted me: Okay. Let me put it this way. What do you think - Do we have enough jobs?

Me: No sir.

P3: Answer on these lines now.

Me: Okay sir. India has directly jumped from agriculture to the services sector. We have missed the
manufacturing boom. The manufacturing or Industrial sector is a labour intensive sector and gives
many jobs. But it is not developed to the level it should have been developed and that is the reason.

P3: And the 2nd part?

Me: Sir, GoI has launched PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Skill India mission...

Chairman sir interrupted me: You have told demand side initiatives, tell us about the supply side.

Me: Sir, we have PM Emp Generation Programme, Make in India, PLI and there is one more. I am not
able to recall the name but the GoI gives the employer's share of EPF in that scheme to a certain limit
of employees. (Singhal sir nodded)

P3 directed me towards Singhal sir.

S: You are working in NYKS. What is it? Is it an organization like RSS?

Chairman: No. It is an organization under GoI under youth development (and looked at me)

Me: Yes sir. An autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.

S: What is the hierarchy?

S: Who heads it?

Me: Told.

S: It is a district level post. Do you have offices, staff? You are in all districts?

Me: No sir. We are present in 623 districts. Told him about the offices, staff and volunteers.

S: What is the recruitment process and frequency.

Me: Told.

S: Okay. Thank you.

He pointed towards the Chairman sir.

Chairman: So far so good. You have been familiar with whatever has been asked. Now, I will test you
in unknown waters.

Me: (A big smile) I will try my best sir.

Chairman: What do you think about appreciation and depreciation? Which one is good for us?

Me: Sir, India is an important intensive country and in that sense, Rupee appreciation shall be good.
But simultaneously we are trying for high growth and we need to make our exports competitive for
that which needs depreciation. So, there has to be a balance between the two.

Chairman: So you mean that rupee appreciation is not necessarily required?

Me: Yes sir.

Chairman: What will be the impact of rupee depreciation on RBI's balance sheet?

Me: Sir, sudden appreciation or depreciation is not good. Whenever there is sudden depreciation,
the RBI intervenes by selling dollars and forex reduces, so assets are reduced.

Chairman: What if there is no intervention? And tell me simply about its impact on the balance
sheet.

Me: Sir, can I take some time.

Chairman: Bilkul.

Me: Sir, if the rupee depreciates and we have 100 dollars in forex. So, its value will increase. Assets
will increase.
Chairman: Okay. Assets will increase?

Me: Yes sir.

Chairman: Thank you. Your interview is over.

Me: Thank you sir. Thank you all.

I should have said foreign assets instead of forex in the last question but in the heat of the moment, I
said forex.

The panel was cordial and left a few hints here and there.

Hoping for the best.