Mr. ABHAY RAGHAV | AIR - 19 UPSC I FoS 2025 - 26 | PTGP 2025- 26 | KingMakers IAS Academy

Añadido: 2026-05-18

[00:00:17][music] [music] >> Good afternoon, sir. So, Abhay, let's begin with your introduction to the panel, very brief.

[00:00:36]Sir, sir, I'm Abhay Raghav. I'm from Supaul district of Bihar.

[00:00:41]I have done my B.Tech in electronics engineering from IIT BHU.

[00:00:46]After that, I have worked as a GPU engineer at Nvidia for over 2 and 1/2 years.

[00:00:51]And sir, in my free time, I like to read non-fiction books.

[00:00:55]So, Abhay, I am really intrigued to know from a metro city to remote forests, from, you know, being a technocrat to a public servant serving the forests.

[00:01:10]Now, how how would you be able to cope up if you get selected in the forest services?

[00:01:19]Uh sir, regarding the location, sir, I myself come from a rural background.

[00:01:24]Supaul is a bordering district of Bihar.

[00:01:27]It is a remote place. Then I studied in Gwalior. I did my B.Tech from Varanasi, and then I was working in Bangalore. So, I have experience in experience in being different kind of places.

[00:01:38]>> What makes you What do you think makes you suitable to enjoy the Indian Forest Service?

[00:01:45]You know, I'm I'm mentioning enjoying because even only if you enjoy your career, that you can deliver better.

[00:01:53]Uh correct, sir. Sir, when I was working in Nvidia, I did assess my long-term career goals.

[00:01:59]And I realized that I wanted a career that provides me a more public-facing role, interface with the public, diversity of roles and responsibilities. And sir, I was always I always loved being outdoors. So a career that has a field component to it. Good. Indian Forest Service Yeah, Indian But fine, very good. You are have a liking for public. So in that case you had you have tried services also.

[00:02:26]So if you get successful in civil services, which one would you choose?

[00:02:32]Uh sir, it is true that while leaving Nvidia, I did that for civil services only and I was not much aware of this service.

[00:02:39]But sir, last year I gave my first attempt at Indian Forest Service. Uh after that I talked to many people who are in this service. I visited national parks. And slowly and steadily I have developed a liking for this service. The more Yes, sir.

[00:02:57]Carry on.

[00:02:58]Uh sir, the more I come to know about it, the more I like it because sir, I think it is a unique blend of technical and administrative roles. And therefore sir, I'm aspiring to join this. You will forego IAS even if you get it for your liking for Indian Forest Service.

[00:03:16]Uh this year I have only applied for Indian Forest Services and I I think it reflects my commitment and my inclination.

[00:03:23]So Abhay, you I worked with Nvidia who are making chips. Now why so many wars are happening on rare earths?

[00:03:34]Uh sir, I'm sorry sir, your voice broke in the middle. I'm asking you why rare earth is leading to, you know, political wars, global wars.

[00:03:45]All right, sir.

[00:03:46]So sir, rare earth elements are a group of 17 critical elements.

[00:03:50]They are very pivotal in most of the advanced technologies from renewable energy components to military technologies.

[00:03:58]Also, their distribution and refining is very concentrated. For example, for some elements 85 to 90% of processing is done solely in China. This makes the supply chain very vulnerable and that leads to the all the geopolitical tension. Abhay, you have two references on your table as district forest officer.

[00:04:20]One is that there is a proposal and they need your uh, feedback comments, you know, to allow mining of marble.

[00:04:29]Okay, sir.

[00:04:30]>> And there's [clears throat] another proposal in which the mining of rare earth is involved.

[00:04:37]Okay, sir. Uh, which one would you clear and which one you may not clear?

[00:04:47]Uh, sir, as a forest officer, uh, I have to work within the structural safeguards that have been provided by various legislations like forest conservation act, environmental protection act.

[00:04:58]So, the process is, sir, I will set up an environmental impact assessment committee to assess the potential of both the projects and the and the negative impacts they might have. So, they both of them have negative impact.

[00:05:15]But there is pressure from the government that rare earth is something which we need for which wars are happening.

[00:05:23]Uh, sir, if if I have to make a choice between these two and sir, my first choice will be to protect the forest. But if I have to make a choice between these two, I think given the vulnerability of the supply chain, I will choose rare earth elements. So, so tell me, uh, coming from this particular question, you know, there are two mindsets. Which mindset would you believe in? One is to protect the forest to the core, come what may.

[00:05:52]And the other is to be participatory and inclusive.

[00:05:57]And mainstreaming into the overall development of the country.

[00:06:01]Which mindset as a forest officer you will keep?

[00:06:06]Sir, I think that we should not take a either or stand in such kind of cases.

[00:06:10]>> I'm asking you Abhay. What would Abhay do?

[00:06:14]Don't include all others.

[00:06:18]Sir, my stand is also the same. That we have to balance development with environment. We have a set of structural safeguards and procedures to assess what what project will lead to what and how can we mitigate that using compensatory afforestation and things like that. So sir, I will keep my mind open. I will assess that particular case and then I'll make the decision. All right.

[00:06:40]Thank you Abhay. I pass on to Mr. Jawahar. Okay. Thank you Abhay.

[00:06:45]You worked in Nvidia.

[00:06:47]Yes, sir. Can you explain GPU and TPU?

[00:06:53]Sir, GPU and TPU are graphics processing unit and tensor processing unit are both advanced semiconductor devices that are specialized in parallel processing of large volume of complex data.

[00:07:04]Sir, these work in basically three steps. First is task decomposition. They will take a very big complex problem and break down into small parallelly executable problem.

[00:07:14]They will uh uh uh optimize the memory uh bandwidth and then they will execute them using thousands of cores that they have.

[00:07:23]Uh very good this AI based what do you call this? GPU based computers or systems that are going to be helpful in in conservation of forests and wildlife.

[00:07:35]Right, sir.

[00:07:39]I have to to an example. Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:41]Should I?

[00:07:42]How it will be helpful in conservation of forest and maintenance of uh wildlife?

[00:07:49]Right, sir.

[00:07:50]Uh so, sir, uh technology is penetrating every aspect of life, and forestry will not be uh aloof from it. For uh This They all Normally, when you talk, you know, this kind of a you know, this thing can be avoided unless there is a need for it. You can straight away get into something. Okay, okay, sir. Yeah.

[00:08:06]Sir, uh for example, sir, GPUs and TPUs are the heart and soul of every data center. And data database decision-making is at the core of policy decisions, including in forestry. Mhm.

[00:08:17]Uh one example that I have, sir, there is a uh there's a AI platform called Earth Ranger AI. It works on Nvidia Jetson chips. So, what it does is uh uh it integrates a network of pressure sensors, motion sensors, trap cameras that are put and radio collars that are put all around forest to give a situational awareness dashboard for the forest management. And it also helps in uh on preventing human-wildlife conflict by For example, if there is a vulnerable area and it detects that an influx of say elephants is going to happen, it activates certain light and sound system and sends early warning uh messages, activates the quick response teams, and things like that, sir.

[00:08:59]Very good. How How will take advantage of them as a forest officer?

[00:09:04]Sir, as a forest officer, we will try to uh look for various problems that we that we have in that particular uh forest management setting, and we will try to integrate uh AI-based or IoT-based solutions. For example, in in case of human-wildlife conflict, I gave the example of uh Earth Ranger AI. There is a thing called TrailGuard AI that uses the same thing.

[00:09:28]Basically, uh it has index finger-sized cameras, and it is used for detection of illegal logging and illegal poaching in Similipal Tiger Reserve.

[00:09:36]>> How does it How does it work? How can it detect legal or illegal poaching?

[00:09:42]Uh sir, it cannot differentiate between legal or illegal poaching, but it can uh tell you that certain uh activity is going on there. If the forest management is not uh aware of any such activity happening, then it is likely that it will be an illegal poaching, and then it will uh alert the QRT and so. Very good.

[00:10:00]Very good. And then uh Now you're you're using a deep deep camera with the AI, right? So, does it mean that uh you very few persons will be enough to manage the entire forest?

[00:10:19]Sir, I think that it will not mean that very few people are necessary. Uh suppose camera detects some disturbance, yet we have to send uh actual people actual workforce has to respond. So, I think it will >> human in the loop is also very important, that you Yes, sir. Human in the loop Yeah. Yeah. Yes, sir. Yeah. So, ultimately, you know, the decision-making, proper decision maybe can be done only by the human being, right? Yeah, it just improves You can you know, as as of now, it is more of a support system, what human cannot do.

[00:10:47]>> Right, sir.

[00:10:48]Like kind of you cannot individually fly and find out which the cam does it.

[00:10:53]Right, sir. The the remedial measure that has to be done only by the human being. Human in So, he may be watcher, he may be a ranger, you know, they go about and do it. Okay. Very good. And then you I said geology you are as a student of geology. Uh yes, Uh what is the functioning of Geological Survey of India?

[00:11:15]Sir, Geological Survey of India uh uh surveys various geological bodies within the Earth's within India's uh subcontinent and assesses mineral resources, oil and natural gas resources, uh and in it also assists scientific give scientific advice to mining operations.

[00:11:35]In my limited understanding, sir.

[00:11:38]Hey, you know, but because of the war, you know, quite a lot of you know, geo- geopolitical situation like say Iran, now Hormuz been closed, straits have been closed. You know, quite a lot of bombing is taking place.

[00:11:51]Don't you think they are destroying valuable natural forests and they are destroying animals, wildlife. But nobody talks about it. What is your view on that?

[00:12:03]Sir, when uh a war is taking place, uh there is an energy crisis, people are dying, then things like environmental concerns take a backseat, unfortunately.

[00:12:15]Yes. Uh people should talk about this, but unfortunately, more pressing concerns overshadow it.

[00:12:22]Right.

[00:12:23]Right.

[00:12:24]Over to you, sir.

[00:12:25]Thank you, sir.

[00:12:27]Thank you, Joharji. Thank you. Now, uh Abhay Raghav, right?

[00:12:32]Yes, sir. Yeah. So, Abhay, uh the National Forest Policy has been evolving since 19th century.

[00:12:41]Yes, sir. Can you trace how it has evolved and what is it today? How different was it is it from those days?

[00:12:51]Sir, during the colonial time, uh the first major policy was National Forest Policy of 1894. It treated forest as a state resource and uh the philosophy behind its management was a resource maximization for uh getting for shipbuilding, for railway sleepers, and things like that, vast resources, vast lands of forest were cut uh under the guise of scientific management. That was essentially uh silvicultural management and uh resource maximization. Sir, after independence, in National Forest Policy 1952, uh forests were recognized as a national asset. Uh Target of 33% was set. Still, sir, philosophically they were more diverted towards national development and industrial use.

[00:13:38]And the communities were excluded from the management. The management was still very centralized.

[00:13:43]Sir, the National Forest Policy of 1988, the current one which is under implementation, was a revolutionary change. It made forest management, firstly, it changed the philosophy from uh production orientation to conservation orientation. Secondly, sir, it decentralized it providing frameworks like joint forest management to engage community.

[00:14:06]Okay. So, which goal of the National Forest Policy do you think is the most important for the country today?

[00:14:19]Um Sir, the target of National Forest Policy 1988 is to achieve 33% of forest and tree cover. That is the primary target. But, I think the most important goal will be to to transition forest from a state-led initiative to a community-led initiative under the joint forest management uh mechanism.

[00:14:40]Okay. Which states uh are deficient in forest cover?

[00:14:46]And what plan do you have, what species in mind to restore the forest cover to 33% at least?

[00:14:55]So, the most striking states that come into my mind is my own state, Bihar. The forest and tree forest cover is 8% and forest and tree cover is 10%. The situation of states like UP, Haryana is more or less the same.

[00:15:09]Uh sir, uh we need to be pragmatic because there's a lot of population pressure in these states. Uh a culti- Most of the land is under cultivation.

[00:15:17]So, rather than uh natural forests or plantations, I think we will have to go for things like agroforestry.

[00:15:23]And regarding the target of 33% sir about right now the forest and tree cover is 25.17%.

[00:15:31]And according to Ministry of Agriculture 6% of India's land is unculturable wasteland. I think there is where we should concentrate in afforestation to improve the total cover.

[00:15:45]Okay. Okay. So now uh many forest areas you know do not have internet connectivity.

[00:15:57]Yes, sir. And people talk of AI solutions. People people talk of you know as if you go there and get a signal.

[00:16:06]How will you provide internet connectivity to a forest ranger who is moving around in a densely forested area?

[00:16:19]Uh sir uh firstly sir I'd like to point out that for many AI systems internet connectivity is not necessary. We can create an offline network also. But yes, internet connectivity does improve things. Now there is the provision now there is a significant development on satellite internet through Starlink and OneWeb. They can be utilized to provide internet even in the remotest corners.

[00:16:45]Okay.

[00:16:46]Okay, good. I was wanting you to tell me something about the Starlink.

[00:16:51]Okay, good.

[00:16:52]So uh now what will be your challenges? Your personal challenges.

[00:17:03]Sir I think that sir as a forest officer, right? You >> Yes, yes. Yes.

[00:17:08]Sir I think every India has a huge diversity in type of forest and therefore huge diversity in types of problems that each forest setting faces.

[00:17:18]So, sir, I think that uh most of my uh the actual challenge I'll only know when I am on the field to understand it. But, in general, sir, I'll try to involve community uh which have community around forest has traditionally seen forest officials as a adversary rather than an ally. So, that I think that will be one challenge. And secondly, sir, integrating technology on limited under the constraints of limited budget, limited uh resources in forestry, I think that will be second challenge for me.

[00:17:51]Okay. Okay. Okay, thank you.

[00:17:54]All right. Over to gentlemen, sir. So, Abhay, again a situation in which you are you are a forest officer in charge of very dense forests.

[00:18:07]Now, how would you I'm talking about illegal felling of trees and smuggling?

[00:18:14]Now, can you tell me how would you know that illegal felling is happening?

[00:18:20]Uh what would be your immediate action plan?

[00:18:23]And number three, how would you mitigate these kinds of events?

[00:18:30]Sir, for detection, I think uh human intelligence and community trust are the main things.

[00:18:37]Uh people forest dwelling communities that live inside or around the forest, uh they know forest much better in much better is many times than even the forest officials. If we take them into into confidence, we involve them into forest management uh through joint forest management, share the benefits of forestry to them through eco-tourism, non-timber forest produce processing, then I think they will see us as an ally and help us detect any such unsolicited activities. Secondly, sir, technology can of course be used. Like I mentioned, Trail Guard AI, uh drones can be used nowadays.

[00:19:13]Regarding mitigation, sir, if some forest land has already been degraded, then I will try to try enrichment plantation of native species there to improve the quality of that forest and I will implement the Indian Forest Act in letter and spirit.

[00:19:31]To punish those who are engaged in any such activity.

[00:19:36]Okay.

[00:19:37]Okay, sir. Okay.

[00:19:39]So, you'll do very well, Abhay. You will certainly by the time you go for interview, you will improvise.

[00:19:45]All the best. Thanks a lot, sir. All the best. Good luck, Abhay. Do well.

[00:19:51]You may leave the screen.

[00:19:53]>> Yes, sir.

[00:19:56]>> [music]