Manuj Jindal, an IAS officer of 2017 batch is currently serving in Mumbai as the Joint MD, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). He is an ex-NDA cadet, where he secured AIR 18 in UPSC NDA exam. He is also a TedX speaker. He has authored a book on UPSC Answer Writing. He also provides guidance to students on his YouTube channel, so they can learn about UPSC preparation.
Jindal is an inspiring leader who’s shaping the future of India. From a small town boy with eyes full of dreams to ranking 53rd in the 2017 UPSC examination, his journey is a testament to determination and passion.
In this exclusive interaction with The CSR Journal, Mr. Jindal shares how his childhood and college experiences fuelled his drive to create a positive change. He also discusses his visionary plans for a healthier and greener India, aiming to make the country cleaner, greener, and to reduce its carbon footprint.
How was your childhood journey?
I have been brought up in a small town called Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. My father was a clerk at Syndicate Bank. When my father got a transfer from the bank and moved to Ghaziabad, I was admitted to an English medium convent school with CBSE board, where the teachers and students communicated only in English. I was studying in a state board school till then and could barely speak English so the first year was very tough for me. Then my father decided to send me to a boarding school. I sat for the first competitive exam of my life at the age of 11, after qualifying I was admitted to a school named Rashtriya Indian Military College in Dehradun, where I studied from 8-12 standard. I got used to a military lifestyle from that age, which included waking up at 5 a.m.
What was your motivation to join Indian Defence Services?
The decision to join National Defence Academy (NDA) was largely motivated by my parents because I developed this desire from the time I started studying in Rashtriya Indian Military College School in Dehradun. Notable people like the Chief of Army staff, Chief of Air staff used to visit us, who would motivate and train us to qualify for the NDA and join the Indian Military. So, I started dreaming of being a part of the Indian Army. I cleared the NDA and even today I consider myself as “Aadha-Fouji” (half-military) because I have experienced 5 years of that life in military school, I have seen their rigour, their discipline, and then I was there for almost a year at the NDA. Unfortunately, I was boarded out of the NDA because of medical reasons. So, I could not pursue this dream of mine and moved towards a civil life.
UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) is considered as one of the toughest examinations. How easy or difficult is it to crack UPSC?
The biggest challenge is to understand whether we are able to understand ourselves. That is the real examination. A UPSC or an IIT exam is much smaller as compared to this. While hard work is a must, luck is also a factor while cracking an examination. But there are bigger questions in life which you need to answer. The UPSC exam is not designed to pick up geniuses; it picks up those people who are capable of working in the Indian society, which is complicated. It picks up practical people who can find solutions to a problem; people who have a good general knowledge and awareness. I feel this exam is glorified a lot. This is just like any other examination which you can qualify for if you study 6-7 hours a day and prepare properly.
How do you deal with failure in life?
Failure is very normal in life. First of all we will have to accept the fact that failure is a part of life. You can fail in education, exams; you can also experience failure in personal life, so the best way to handle failure is to never be afraid of it.
How do you handle societal pressure?
I remember at one point of time, I had put the society on ‘mute’ when I was experiencing societal pressure. I don’t seek the opinion of others except people who are very close to me. If I make a career decision or life decision, the risk is also mine. I avoid listening to naysayers.
As a civil servant, what is that work which has given you satisfaction in life?
Today I am a very satisfied individual because I have got the opportunity to do the kind of work through which I have been able to bring positive changes in people’s lives. During my stint at Thane Zilla Parishad (as the Chief Executive Officer), we had set up a library mainly for children, which gave me a lot of satisfaction. Once a Divyang (differently-abled) person who was an MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission) aspirant had sent me a text message complaining about the lack of proper roads in their locality and the difficulty he was facing while travelling. I immediately started following up to get that road built. After a few months that boy sent me another message sharing photos of the newly constructed road and expressing his gratitude for my efforts. I am grateful to God for giving me this chance of bringing a change in people’s lives through my work, it gives me immense satisfaction.
While you were the CEO of Thane Zilla Parishad, 12 women from Rural Thane district were trained in Bengaluru and became the first certified Drone Pilots in Maharashtra. What inspired you to do this?
I was working as a trainee officer in Wardha (Maharashtra) and I once visited IIT Bombay where I saw women belonging to Self Help Groups were being trained to make solar panels. On seeing that I thought if women are able to create solar panels, they can do anything. Eventually, when I got posted in Thane, I came across a startup which was imparting training in flying drones. Samruddhi, the founder of that startup approached me seeking my support in training rural women in Thane for flying drones, and is also eager to hire them after the training. I found this to be a beautiful idea and gave my consent. I believe if a woman can preside over our nation as the President, then women can do anything.
How are you bringing road infrastructure and sustainability together?
Our nation needs roads because only roads can solve the issue of traffic congestion and provide better connectivity. In order to build roads sustainably, we are conducting a study. We are trying to make the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway India’s first net zero carbon emissions highway. We are trying to build a road forest with dense plantations on both sides of the road to neutralise the carbon emissions in that area. This is also because there is a lot of wildlife in the areas through which this road will be passing. Underpasses and overpasses are being made so that animals can cross the road safely.
Secondly, we are installing solar panels on both sides of our highways. Our highways have huge energy consumption. We are trying to generate this energy from the highways itself to meet the energy needs of the highways and adjacent villages. We are planning to install 100-200 megawatt plants which will generate massive amounts of energy. This is how we are bringing road infrastructure and sustainability together. We have to think about sustainability for future generations. So whichever highways we are working on, we are trying to do plantation, forestation, urban forestation techniques like Miyawaki etc or include the solar component to make them net zero.
