Table of Contents

ABOUT CIVIL SERVICES

THE INTRODUCTION:-

  • In general, by civil services in India, we mean recruitment through Civil Services Examination conducted by the UPSC every year.
  • This includes IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS and others.
  • The top rankers generally get selected for IAS, IPS & IFS.
  • They serve in different capacity from DM/SP to Secretary/Chief Secretary and Cabinet Secretary.

THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL SERVICES IN INDIA :-

  • In 1793 Lord Cornwallis established civils services in India, hence he is known as the father of the British Indian civil services.
  • In 1853 for the first time merit system was introduced on the recommendations of Macaulay Committee.
  • Civil services came to be characterized as the “steel frame” by Lloyd George of which ICS as most popular service.

THE ROLE OF CIVIL SERVICES IN BRITISH INDIA :-

  • It played three main roles
    (1) Law and order administration (2) Revenue administration (3) Judicial administration
  • Purpose
    (1) It was to strengthen and consolidate the British administration in India
    (2) Establish a strong empire

THE CIVIL SERVICES POST INDEPENDENCE :-

  • The legacy of the British India civil services was continued
  • IAS replaced ICS
  • UPSC/SPSC were established for recruitment
  • CSE came to be the main examination for recruiting IAS/IPS
  • There are All India Services, Central Civil Services and State Civil Services

THE ROLE OF CIVIL SERVICES POST‐ INDEPENDENCE :-

  • Maintaining Law and Order, security, unity and integrity
  • Nation‐building, brotherhood and nationhood
  • Welfare and social justice
  • . Socio‐economic transformation
  • Strengthening the foundation of democracy
  • Promoting citizen‐centric administration

THE SCHEME OF CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION

ELIGIBILITY :-

  • Nationality: Must be a citizen of India for IAS, IPS and IFS
    - For other services a citizen of Nepal, Bhutan and some other special cases allowed
  • Age limits: 21 to 32 for Unreserved category
    - Age relaxation for OBC, SC/ST, Defence Service Personnel
  • Number of attempts: 6 for unreserved, 9 for OBC and no such number of attempts for SC/ST
  • Educational: A degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of Central or state legislature in India.( Appearing candidates are also allowed )

PLAN OF THE EXAMINATION :-

  • Two successive stages:
    (1) Civil Services (preliminary) Examination – This is objective type and is screening stage for selection in Main Examination
    (2) Civil Services (Main) Examination – This includes written as well as interview

THE PRELIMINARY EXAM

Two papers of Objective type (MCQs) , each carrying 200 marks i.e. 400 in total

PAPER-I

  • It is General Studies paper, having questions form history, geography, polity and governance, environment, current affairs etc
  • 100 questions are there , each carrying 2 marks
NOTE: 1/3 marks deducted for each wrong answer

PAPER-II

  • It includes test of comprehension, general mental ability, basic numeracy, data interpretation etc
  • It consists of 80 questions each carrying 2.5 marks
  • 1/3 marks cut for each wrong
NOTE: This paper is qualifying in nature, with a minimum of 33% marks
NOTE: The paper 1 marks determines the merit list, subject to qualifying the paper 2. The cut off is determined by paper 1 marks.

THE MAIN EXAMINATION (WRITTEN)

THE PAPERS TO BE COUNTED FOR MERIT

PAPER I

ESSAY

250 MARKS

PAPER 2

GENERAL STUDIES -1
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of The World and The Society)

250 MARKS

PAPER 3

GENERAL STUDIES-2
(Governance,Constitution,Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)

250 MARKS

PAPER 4

GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 3 (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)

250 MARKS

PAPER 5

GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 4
( Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)

250 MARKS

PAPER 6

OPTIONAL PAPER 1

250 MARKS

PAPER 7

OPTIONAL PAPER 2

250 MARKS

NOTE: FOR PAPER 1 TO 7, UPSC HAS DISCRETION TO FIX QUALIFYING MARKS IN ANY OR ALL OF THESE PAPERS

QUALIFYING PAPER

PAPER A

NOTE: THIS PAPER IS NOT COMPULSORY FOR CANDIDATES FROM ARUNACHAL PRADESH, MANIPUR, MEGHALAYA, MIZORAM, NAGALAND AND SIKKIM

ONE OF THE INDIAN LANGUAGE FROM 8TH SCHEDULE

300 MARKS
(25% to get qualified)

PAPER B

ENGLISH

300 MARKS
(25% to get qualified)

THE MAINS EXAMINATION (INTERVIEW)

  • CONDUCTED FOR THOSE GETTING QUALIFIED IN WRITTEN
  • CARRIES 275 MARKS
  • No minimum qualifying marks is required
  • Meant to assess the mental calibre of a candidate, mental alertness, critical powers balance of judgement, intellectual and moral integrity etc
  • NOTE: Final result is based on marks obtained in written and interview (1750+275=2025)

SYLLABI FOR THE EXAMINATION

Preliminary Examination

Paper I – (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

  • Current events of national and international importance.
  • History of India and Indian National Movement.
  • Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
  • Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
  • Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
  • General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
  • General Science.

Paper II-(200 marks) Duration : Two hours

  • Comprehension;
  • Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
  • Logical reasoning and analytical ability;
  • Decision making and problem solving;
  • General mental ability;
  • Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. — Class X level);
Note 1 : Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
Note 3 : It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.

Main Examination

 

QUALIFYING PAPERS ON INDIAN LANGUAGES AND ENGLISH

The aim of the paper is to test the candidates’ ability to read and understand serious discursive prose,
and to express ideas clearly and correctly, in English and Indian language concerned.
The pattern of questions would be broadly as follows :
(i) Comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precis Writing.
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essays.
Indian Languages :—
(i) comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precis Writing.
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essays.
(v) Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice-versa.
Note 1 : The papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and
will be of qualifying nature only. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
Note 2 : The candidates will have to answer the English and Indian Languages papers in English and the
respective Indian language (except where translation is involved).

PAPER-I

Essay:

Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.

PAPER-II

General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

  • Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
  • Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
  • The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
  • Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
  • History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society.
  • Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
  • Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
  • Effects of globalization on Indian society.
  • Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
  • Salient features of world’s physical geography.
  • Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
  • Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

PAPER-III

General Studies-II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.

  • Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
  • Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
  • Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
  • Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
  • Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
  • Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
  • Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
  • Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
  • Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
  • Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
  • Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
  • Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
  • Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
  • Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
  • Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
  • Role of civil services in a democracy.
  • India and its neighborhood- relations.
  • Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
  • Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
  • Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

PAPER-IV

General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

  • Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
  • Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
  • Government Budgeting.
  • Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
  • Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
  • Food processing and related industries in India- scope’ and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
  • Land reforms in India.
  • Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
  • Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
  • Investment models.
  • Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
  • Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
  • Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
  • Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
  • Disaster and disaster management.
  • Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
  • Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
  • Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention.
  • Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
  • Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

PAPER-V

General Studies-IV: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

  • This paper will include questions to test the candidates’ attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilise the case study approach to determine these aspects. The following broad areas will be covered :
  • Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics – in private and public relationships. Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
  • Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
  • Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections.
  • Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
  • Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
  • Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
  • Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.
  • Case Studies on above issues
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