Clarity About His Goals Helped Debasis Top Odisha Civil Services Exams

Hard working, clarity about one’s goals and aspirations are qualities that differentiate an achiever from the crowd. Debasis Panda, the young aspirant who topped the Odisha Civil Services (OCS) 2018 exams, is one such achiever.

Debasis is from Jakaikala under Bonai sub-division in Sundargarh district, a tribal region and forest area. He was drawn to wildlife and so he decided to join the Indian Forest Services. After completing BSc in Agriculture from OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture Technology, Bhubaneswar), he completed his Master’s in Agronomy from Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur in 2019.

Odisha Bytes spoke to him about how things came about and his future course of action.

Did you clear the OCS exams in the first attempt?
This was my second attempt. I didn’t qualify in my first attempt but it gave me a fair idea about how to prepare for the exams second time around.

Did you take any coaching for the exams?
I didn’t go to any coaching classes for prelims and Mains. I did appear for some mock interviews being conducted by coaching centres for experience before OCS interview.

What were the subjects you picked as your OCS Mains Subjects?
Agriculture as I have done my PG in it and Forestry as I have been fascinated by wildlife, tree species and bird watching.

What is the service you have opted for under OCS?
OAS (Odisha Administrative Services).

What do you plan to achieve as an OAS officer?
I will try to reach out to the farming community and fill up the need gaps as an administrative officer.

Why did you want to join OCS?
I wanted to join Indian Forest Service (IFS) so I was preparing for UPSC. When OPSC exams came up, I decided to give it a try. I am going to try for IFS as it happens to be my goal.

Why Indian Forest Service instead of Indian Foreign Service?
 I belong to a tribal region and my objective is to work for the development and livelihood improvement of the tribals. And I have a fascination for forests and wildlife.

Before we finish this interview, can you tell the readers about your hobbies?
My hobbies are Creative Odia Writing and Google Local guiding.

At the end of the interview, Debasis expressed his gratitude to his parents and his teachers for guidance and inspiration