1.12.2016
After a gap of 2 years, I got an opportunity to face an
interview. This was my first interview after joining a job. So was worried
about the nature of questions. After 4 attempts, I finally managed to get an
interview call for post of Grade B Manager at Reserve Bank of India. Around 700
people were called for interview to fill up 170 vacancies. I was called for
interview on 1st December at 9 AM.
I
reached the venue around 8.45 AM. Unlike government offices, RBI office is
sparkling clean and resembles interiors of a five star hotel. The interviews
were being held at top floor of office. I got to know I was slotted at No 12
out of 14 members scheduled to be interviewed that day. After completing
biometric registration and certificate verification, I had to wait till 1.15
PM. There were various newspapers available, but I was worried of information
overload, so decided not to read much.
At 1.15
Pm I was called into the interview room.
It was a 5 member interview panel. All seated in sofas and a chair was
put in middle for candidate to sit.
Me: Good Afternoon Sirs and Mam
M1: You have speedcubing as hobby. Don’t you get bored
solving the same thing again and again. Are you still improving your timing?
Me: There are various
permutations to solve the cube, so it isn’t boring. I can solve in under 2
minutes but world record is less than 10 seconds
M1: What do you do in
volunteering?
Me: I picked it up at college which had an active
volunteering cell. Had participated in tsunami rehab
M1: What are you doing now?
Me: I volunteer with an NGO involved in teaching government
kids during weekends
M1: Good, what do you teach?
Me: Sir, right now annual day is coming up , so I am helping
them in preparing for quiz
M2: How much is India’s Tax to GDP ratio? Do you think it is
low? What can be done to improve it?
Me: Sir its around 16%. Its low in comparison to other
advanced nations
M2: How much in advanced nations?
Me: Sir it’s above 20%
M2: Ok what can be done to improve it?
Me: Sir there is a need to widen it
M1: This tax:GDP ratio, does it include state taxes as well?
Me: Sir I am not sure about that but it does include direct
and indirect taxes
M2: What are non tax sources of revenue?
Me: Sir, it includes disinvestment proceedings, interest from
loans lent to states, Grants from international insitutions like world bank
M1: World bank gives grants? I don’t think so
Me: It does for specific projects,
M1: No
Me: Sir.., it lends through credit lines as well
M1 That is different
M3: Do you think India’s tax system has equity in it?
Me: Sir, Direct taxes are progressive
M3: What progressive , a large section is left untaxed ,
agriculture. Don’t you think they need to be taxed?
Me: Sir agriculture sector has a large number of small and
marginal farmers
M3: But there are large ones also, don’t you think this is
unequal
Me: Yes sir but that is politically unviable
M1: So you think it is a holy cow?
Me: Yes sir, its seen as anti public friendly(Don’t know why
blabbered this)
M3: So why do you think it is not taxed? Under whome does
agriculture come
Me: Yes sir, Its under state list, so need to garner public
support for such a move
M4: Ok you are from Central excise department. Tell me how
GST is going to change your role?
Me: Sir. We are handling a large number of service tax
assesses….(M1 Cuts short my answer)
M1: In GST, who would decide on issue of classification of
goods?
Me: Sir that’s a tricky issue. Currently it’s still a work
in progress. A committee of secretaries has been setup to decide on this.
M1: Are you sure , it has not been resolved?
Me: As far as I know , its not yet resolved
M4: In comparison to your department, how is income tax?
Me: Sir we deal with indirect tax, So our interface with
public is less
M4: What do you mean by public?
Me: I mean for income tax an assesse is an individual while
for us its an enterprise
M5: This demonetisation , are you fine with the timing?
Me: I feel it is a paradigmatic change. I agree in principle
with it, but I feel timing was not right. Especially when a nation which had
80% cash transactions. Now 86% of cash has been taken out
I feel this push for cashless could have been done before
M5: So you feel timing is not right
Me: Yes mam
M5: What other measures have been taken recently?
Me: Mam RBI has put withdrawal limit. Income tax law has
been amended to penalise tax evaders. I feel it is a win win situation
M5: What about black money abroad, any measures ?
Me: Yes mam, that’s an important issue as well.
M5: Any agreement with countries?
Me: Yes mam , an agreement has been reached with Switzerland
but its implementation will start in 2019
M5: Apart from that what more can be done?
Me: I feel tax compliance burden should be reduced so that
people pay tax willingly
M5: What about electoral reforms?
Me: Yes mam, There needs to be transparency in fudning,
right now only funds of individuals are kept track of but not party. There is
no limit. Also recent step by PM calling for MPs and MLAs to submit their bank
accounts for scrutiny is a step in right direction
M1: Ok. You can go
Me: I would like to thank you all for giving me this
opportunity
I feel the questions were good but I could have answered
better. Many times my answers were cut short, may be I wasn’t to the point or
due to time constraint(15 mins) they had to get in as many questions as
possible. As of now, fingers crossed. Hope for the best
6th March 2017
Marks are out. This interview fetched 38 out of 50 . Highest marks were 44. So this can be considered an above average interview. On the whole i managed to clear cutoff by 4 marks. Phew, so the journey to RBI was not an easy one . But all's well that end's well.
