DB, let me try and explain where I am coming from with this.
I am not disputing your experience, knowledge, career to date or anything like that. However, in your posting you ask for help from CiteHR members on HR matters. You also state that you have never worked in HR before, and the current incumbent is going to TRAIN you in how to do the job.
To me at least, those statements IMPLY that you do not have the necessary skills or experience to sit at that desk at 9am on Monday morning and start work on basic HR tasks in that job. I accept that you will need to be trained in specific policies relating to that agency, but there are common HR tasks that do not vary from organisation to organisation.
We discuss over and over again here on CiteHR, the mechanics of recruitment and selection, and you can refer back to my many postings on this subject. In this time pressured world we live in, one of the basic tenets of recruitment is to find people who have the necessary skills and experience to do the job. There are other variables of course, will they fit our culture, do they have initiative and drive to bring new ideas and new ways of working, are they trainable etc etc.
I think it is fair to say that managers are now very busy people. Many are working in pressured conditions as companies downsize and expect more work from less people. A lot of managers do not have time to train staff any more. They need people who can hit the ground running as soon as they complete their on-boarding in the new company.
Now, if I had been the manager at this agency you are joining, I would have a position description for the job of HR Co-ordinator, and I would also have a person specification for the job. The position description would state the various duties expected of the successful candidate. This might include, payroll, dealing with all types of leave, training co-ordination, performance plans, staff welfare, etc etc. I am not familiar with Indian HR, so I am just guessing here. But it is just examples for the purpose of the exercise.
I have not seen your CV, but if you applied for this position and I did not find any of those things listed in your CV, then I would not have even given you an interview. Why would I? You do not have the experience and skills I need.
If by some strange chance you did make it to an interview with me, you would have been faced with many behavioural based interview questions, relating solely to the those HR skills that I needed, plus a few others based on problem solving, initiative, team work etc. I do not interview asking stupid questions about how many windows there are in the Taj Mahal, where you want to be in 5 years, or what sort of animal you would be.
I hope that helps explain why I am so puzzled by your appointment. This is not the first time I have commented on this situation. We have had many cases on CiteHR of people obtaining jobs to which they appear to have absolutely no idea about or skills to do. We have lots more cases of people asking for help on basic matters that they should know the answer to - given the job they are doing.
My background is office administration, and most of my career has been spent in Government administration. But like you, I know a lot about HR, but have never worked in HR. I have never, and would never apply for a job in HR, simply because I cannot demonstrate the skills needed. Knowing and doing are two different things. I would never consider fronting up for an interview, and just try to bluff my through it. I value my credibility far more highly than do something like that.
India is now at a crossroads, it is developing rapidly, and its requirement for highly trained and experienced staff is growing at a exponential rate. Many organisations will not have the luxury of taking unskilled staff, and trying to train them. We are already seeing this in other parts of the world.
The job seekers who will be most successful in the future are the ones who are "job ready" and can walk into a new office at 9am on Monday morning, and hit the ground running. I suspect the time is coming when prospective employers will be willing pay well for those sort of people.