Civil Service Examination: Patterns and Preparation

Civil Service Examination – IAS/ PCS Strategy

          To crack civil services examination in the first shot, you need the right strategy. The exam is held in three stages - preliminary, main and interview. Not surprisingly, the prelims draw a horde of candidates. Aspirants often find it hard to crack not due to lack of hard-work, but due to lack of right guidance. Here we will try to explore the things to be kept in mind before developing an ideal strategy to clear the examination.

           According to Dr.Abhishek Tyagi, Lecturer and Mentor (Career Point , Guwahati), “Knowledge of current affairs has become very important for cracking civil services examination but as it is a vast topic, one must be able to understand the areas from which questions are expected to be asked”.

          “Half of the battle is won if candidates can decide what to study. Latest developments in the field of environment, latest legislations, knowledge of Constitution of the county, latest economic issues including the economic survey, role of governor and political crisis etc are some of the important topics from which questions can be expected,” Mr.Tyagi said.

Strategy for Clearing Civil Services Examination

·       Understand the Civil Service Exam Cycle and Competition.

·   Analyse last year papers (as a sample paper) so as to make a chart of selective study although preliminary level requires objective approach.

·      Try to join a qualitative guidance or coaching institute of your area which is having a track record of qualifying candidates. This will help you to determine a broader level of understanding and a healthy discussion.

·    Associate yourself with the applied portions of study (What is asked in the examination in last 5 years).

·    To study current affairs, it is essential to read one national newspaper. When you are studying the round up of national and international affairs, efforts should not be merely taking up the information but also to understand the issues involved. Go into the background of events. For example, the recent Lok Sabha elections threw up many issues. Get to know these issues and be clear about them so that you can answer questions on them.

·   Always evaluate yourself with your concerned institute or mentor so to maintain relativity with examination (solving MCQs & Subjective questions).

·       Selection of good books and qualitative study material is quite necessary.

·      NCERT books till 12^th standard are best way to begin with the study because without going through basics an aspirant cannot understand some advanced books.

·      The skill required is that of organising the arguments and making a coherent answer from the diverse material. Important aspect of the Civil Services Exam is that the questions do not ask for mere information as a reply, but seek analysis backed with arguments from the candidates.

Suggested books for various portions of IAS/PCS Syllabus.

General Studies (GS)-Paper 1

Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society

Suggested Books –  

*Indian Culture- Alok Jha, Introduction to Indian Art (NCERT 11) ,Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania, CCRT book from Ministry of Culture, NCERT Ancient by RS Sharma and NCERT Medieval by Satish Chandra.

*Indian History- India's Ancient Past by R. S. Sharma, History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra, History of Modern India by Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle For Independence by Bipan Chandra and History NCERTs from class VI-XII.

*Geography of the World and Society- Geography of India by Mahesh Barnwal, World Geography by Majid Husain, Oxford School Atlas, Certificate Physical and Human Geography, Physical, Human and Economic Geography for Civil Services Examination by D R Khuller and NCERTs 11 & 12^th Class and Contemporary Issues by Abhishek Tyagi.

General Studies (GS)-Paper 2

Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.

Suggested Books –

*Governance- Lakshmikanth

*Constitution & Polity- D.D.Basu – Introduction to the Constitution of India 20 Edition, Indian Polity for Civil Services Examinations latest Edition – Laxmikanth, Indian Government and Politics-BL Fadia and NCERTs Political Science 11^th Class.

*International Relations(IR) – International Relations for Civil Services Examination by Abhishek Tyagi, Contemporary Issues by Abhishek Tyagi , NCERTs 12^th class Political Science and One National Daily Newspaper.

General Studies (GS)-Paper 3

Technology, Economic Developement, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

Suggested Books –

*Science and Technology by Ravi Agrahari  , The Hindu science and tech portion and some online journals.

*Indian Economics by Dutt & Sundaram , Economic Survey , Budget and India Year Book by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

*Disaster Management by Savindra Singh and Jeetendra Singh

*Biodiversity and Environment- NCERTs 11^th & 12^th textbooks and online journals.

General Studies (GS)-Paper 4

Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude.

Suggested Books –

*Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude by Showik Thorpe, Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude by Santosh Ajmera

Paper II – Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)

*English Language Comprehension, Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability, General Mental Ability & Basic Numeracy,Decision Making & Interpersonal Skills  - CSAT Manual by Pearson, Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability by R.S Aggarwal, General Mental Ability by R.S Aggarwal and any qualitative test series and last year papers of CSAT series

The strategy can differ from person to person. But giving weightage of time and effort to areas of importance will pay you well in the end. Prioritize your time, syllabus and study materials! Never neglect important areas. A focused approach keeping in mind syllabus is adopted by candidates with long term strategy.

Regards,

Centre Head, Career Point - Chanmari, Aizawl, Mizoram

Contact: 8131978555/ 8259970049

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