Showing posts with label Eligibility and Tips for IAS. Show all posts

2016/02/20

Eligibility for IAS Exam 2016 : Age Limit, Qualification, Attempts, Relaxation

Eligibility for IAS Exam 2016: Age Limit, Qualification, Attempts, Relaxation

The Aspirants applying for the examination should ensure that they fulfil all eligibility conditions for admission to examination. Their admission to all the stages of the examination will be purely provisional subject to satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions.
Mere issue of admission certificate to the candidate will not imply that his/her candidature has been finally cleared by the Commission.
UPSC take up verification of eligibility conditions with reference to original documents only after the candidate has qualified for Interview/Personality Test.

Nationality:

1. For the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.

2. For other services, a candidate must be either :—

(a) a citizen of India, or

(b) a subject of Nepal, or

(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or

(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

Provided further that candidates belonging to categories (b), (c) and (d) above will not be eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service.

A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him/her by the Government of India.

Age Limit:

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2016 i.e., he/she must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1984 and not later than 1st August, 1995.

(b) The upper age limit prescribed above will be relaxable :

(i) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.

(ii) upto a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

(iii) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from the 1st January, 1980 to the 31st December, 1989.

(iv) upto a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof.

(v) upto a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2016.

Minimum Educational Qualification

(a) The candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.

(b) Candidates who have appeared or intend to appear for the required qualifying examination and are awaiting results shall also be eligible to appear for the Preliminary Examination however, they are supposed to submit proof of passing the requisite qualification along with Detailed Application Form for Civil Services (Main) Examination.

Number of Attempts

(a) Every candidate appearing at the examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six attempts at the examination.

(b) Provided that this restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates who are otherwise eligible.

(c) Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes, who are otherwise eligible, shall be nine. The relaxation will be available to the candidates who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

(d) Provided further that a physically handicapped will get as many attempts as are available to other non-physically handicapped candidates of his or her community, subject to the condition that a physically handicapped candidate belonging to the General Category shall be eligible for nine attempts.

(e) Necessary action to make Corresponding Changes in respective Rules/Regulations Pertaining to various services is being taken separately. The relaxation will be available to the physically handicapped candidates who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

Click here for more known about UPSC

IAS Interview : 25 Golden Tips for Sucess

Unknown 4:46 am No comments:

IAS interview is a half-an-hour exercise which can change your life. A high score in UPSC interview can sometimes create a difference of more than 100 marks with fellow candidates in just under 30 minutes. Being the last round, this would give one, an unassailable lead in India’s toughest competition – UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE). Though the final rank list is prepared by taking the sum of UPSC mains marks and interview marks, very often we see that interview high-scorers top the final selection list too.

In this post, we present 25 golden tips for success in IAS interview.

1. Start early!

It is very important not to lose time. Start early. Don’t wait for the results of UPSC Civil Services Main exam. Start polishing your personality as early as possible.

2. Know your-self

The most crucial problem with us is that we don’t know ourselves fully. A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the hearts. We know so many things, but we don’t know ourselves. Try to know the different aspects of your personality, even hidden or unknown. If any of your personality traits does not suit an IAS officer, try to overcome that weakness.

3. Read your bio-data multiple times

Most of the questions in UPSC interview will be based on the biodata of the candidate. Copies of the Detailed Application Form (DAF) will be shared with each of the board members. It is extremely important not to fumble on personal questions. Revise your bio-data many times and prepare well for questions from areas like hobbies, education, work experience, service-preference etc.

4. Develop a positive attitude

There are many myths and rumors about IAS interview. You might have bad experiences from previous interviews as well. But don’t let negative thoughts to ruin your chances. Don’t worry about matters – interview board, position, questions etc. – which are beyond your control. Hope for the best.

5. Don’t take UPSC interview in a light spirit

Be serious about the process and questions. Give respect to the board members who take your personality test. Never underestimate the persons in the board. They have vast experience and knowledge. Don’t be too casual on serious questions.

6. Develop self-confidence

Everyone loves people with self-confidence. If you are sure about your beliefs, answers or solutions, express them confidently. But at the same time ensure that you don’t go overboard. Remember that the line between self-confidence and arrogance is very narrow.

7. Don’t lie

Don’t say lies to impress UPSC interview board. Never create fake facts in your bio-data. Very often they will catch you.

8. Improve your communication skills

Improve your command over the language for UPSC interview. If you search for words in the 25-30 minutes UPSC personality test, you may run short of time to express your ideas completely. Listening to debates and news on television channels is one practical way to improve communication skills. Also, start talking with your friends in the medium for UPSC interview.

9. Get straight to the point

Master the art of giving to-the-point answers. Very often, long answers can be condensed into crisp, but interesting statements. If you need more guidance on do’s and don’ts for IAS interview, read our article on civil services interview.

10. Don’t stop reading newspapers

Candidates often stop reading newspapers once the UPSC main exam is over. But, information about current happenings is very important for IAS interview, just like the UPSC main exam. Have a general idea about the major happenings for last one year. Also, be familiar with the headlines and stories of the newspapers on the interview day.

11. Prepare well on your hobbies

Very often this is the first question UPSC interview board ask, many times in a light mood. Make sure you start well. Don’t give cliche answers. Hobbies help the interviewer to understand the personalities of candidates. Keep practicing your hobbies till the last week before UPSC interview.

12. Revise your optional subject

It is seen that many candidates tend to neglect their optional subject after UPSC CSE Mains. But UPSC interview panel may ask questions from your optional subject on the interview day. Brush up recent happenings related to your optional subject.

13. Go through your graduation text books

UPSC expects candidates to take their graduation seriously. As this is one area where the interview panel perceives the candidates to have expertise with. So, more in-depth questions can come from this area.

14. Learn to give balanced answers

Your views should be balanced and impartial. This does not mean that you should not take a stand. Ideally, you should have stand – without any political or social biases. Once you take a stand on controversial topics, be prepared with your justification for the same. Don’t give sweeping generalizations without a proper base.

15. Know your district and state

Questions may be asked about the district and state. Collect details about your birth place. Know the problems in your village or city. Be prepared with solutions as well.

16. Keep calm

The questions may be from a wide area of topics/subject. You sometimes may not be knowing answers of many. If you do not know anything about a topic you are asked, then admit that you do not have any idea. Don’t panic. Keep calm. Your emotional intelligence matters. Nobody knows about everything under the Sun. UPSC board obviously knows that.

17. Don’t compromise your moral integrity

UPSC not only measures one’s intellectual qualities but also social traits. Ensure that your moral integrity is sound.

18. Maintain a positive body language

Reinforce your spoken words through your body language. Avoid gestures which do not suit the occasion.

19. Understand the real ‘IAS interview questions’

Most of the questions forwarded as ‘IAS interview questions’ on the internet are not questions asked in UPSC interview. UPSC says ‘The interview test is not intended to be a test either of the specialised or general knowledge of the candidates which has been already tested through their written papers’.

20. Don’t be swayed by rumours

Many UPSC candidates are seen to be carried about by the rumours about the personality test. Certain boards are seen are tight in awarding marks while others are perceived as liberal. Though slight variations may come, in reality, all boards award high and low marks depending on the performance of the candidate on the date of UPSC interview.

21. Use common sense

Sometimes UPSC members ask questions which can be answered just by using common sense. But the stress on the interview day may hamper your thinking process. Realise that common sense is not common. Expect some puzzles which require on-the-spot critical or lateral thinking.

22. Dress neat

The first impression matters. But it is not necessary to wear expensive blazers or suits for UPSC interview. Be comfortable with what you wear. For gents, a light colored shirt and dark trousers should give a professional appearance. A simple churidar or saree is recommended for ladies. Whatever you wear, in that dress you should look confident and neat.

23. Re-check your documents

We advice to carefully verify the documents before-hand to avoid last minute panic. Ensure that you have all necessary documents ready.

24. Take mock IAS interviews

Rehearsals help to avoid common mistakes. Good mentors and friends can find your strengths and weakness and suggest necessary suggestions. IAS toppers like They also help to improve your consistency. At the same time, care should be taken not to lose your genuine personality, because of the confusion created by different opinions from different people.

25. Be yourself

Don’t try to present before UPSC board a fake personality. Don’t mug up ready-made answers for UPSC interview. Be yourself and express your opinion.

Summary

As repeatedly asserted by toppers, UPSC interview in most cases is a friendly exercise. There is not much to fear about, except that your chances of selection depend on it. Be truthful to yourself and answer confidently. All the best to all for your IAS interview ! Clear IAS!

Click here for more known about UPSC
Click here for more known about IAS

How to Prepare for the last attempt of IAS Exam

Unknown 7:14 am No comments:

If you are facing your last attempt for IAS Exams, the challenges that lie before you are truly monumental in every way possible. In addition to preparing for the coveted exam, the fact that you will be appearing for your last attempt puts a tremendous amount of mental pressure upon the aspirants. You would have already put in a good 4 to 5 years in preparation phase with a number of failures to crack the IAS exam. In addition to this, the social and peer pressure would be breathing down your neck, making you doubt your ambitious decision to opt for IAS a career choice. To top it all, the uncertainty about your future and life after IAS preparation ends with the last attempt is all sure to complicate things even further.

While many people will tell you that; the darkest hour is just before the dawn’; when it comes to IAS exam preparation there is no darkest hour. The greatness of IAS exam lies in the fact that is a great equalizer for everyone; be it person taking it for the first time or the last; both have an equal chance of cracking it. In fact, the person attempting the IAS exam for the last time would have the advantage of experience and years of preparation to help them along the way. In other terms, you are already half way there, where many others will take years to reach. If you are also worried about taking up the last attempt of IAS exam, here are a few tips that you can use to your advantage.

You are already familiar with the drill

Like stated above, you are at a great advantage if you are appearing for the IAS exam for the last time. You have already faced majority and figured out solutions to the challenges that plague the freshers during the initial period of IAS preparation. Being familiar with the regular drill, puts you at a great advantage, as you are better equipped both mentally and resource-wise to handle the problems. While the exam pattern, exam format, and even subjective priorities might change over the years; the knowledge accumulated by you over the years will remain constant and will help you ace the exam in your last attempt.

Find out what was missing earlier?

One the best ways to begin preparation for the final attempt of IAS exam is by conducting an extensive review of the preparation strategy of previous years. This exercise is not only aimed at finding loopholes and things that might have been missed by aspirants in the previous attempts but also to find out the true strengths and ways in which the same can be used to plug the existing loopholes in the IAS preparation strategy. In addition to this, self-evaluation also helps in improving the overall IAS preparation strategy and rebooting the same to make it more streamlined as per the changes, trends and requirements of this year.

Use academic background to your advantage

It is a common practice among IAS aspirants to completely ignore their academic background and pick optional subjects on the basis of on-going trends and sometimes as per peer pressure. However, just because a subject worked for someone else, doesn’t necessarily mean it may work for you. Apart from this, we have already discussed that the IAS exam is a great equalizer and, therefore, it is very unlikely that some subjects will help you crack the exam more easily than others. Therefore, even if you have ditched your academic background for IAS exams previously, you might want to go back to it again. The main advantage of depending upon your academic background is that you have already spent a good part of your life studying it at school as well as graduation level. Therefore, when it comes to preparing the subject for IAS exam, you may not face so much of a challenge compared to preparing a subject that is completely new or alien to you.

Avoid being an expert, be a hard-working generalist

Many experts have suggested that the key reason for the continued failure in the IAS exam is not due to lack of knowledge or commitment from the students, but the focus. The Indian education system is aimed at creating subject matter experts with the academics being more concentrated on the in-depth study of a single subject rather than the general study of everything. Such an approach in for UPSC exam can spell doom for the aspirants. The coveted IAS exam is aimed at screening generalists that have a thorough knowledge of a diverse range of subjects, rather than just deep understanding of a single subject. In other words, the exam looks to shortlist generalists and not subject matter experts. Therefore, if you are at your last attempt for civil services exam, you should keep this factor in mind during the course of your study period.

Don’t Follow; Lead

For an IAS aspirant, it is very easy to fall prey to the culture of being blind followers of toppers. Reading success stories and preparation tips is a good exercise to get to know different methods and techniques. However, every aspirant will have to design their own preparation method and strategy that suits their pace, study requirements, strengths, and weaknesses. This factor becomes even more important for candidates, who would be attempting the IAS exam for the last time. Such aspirants would already have relevant knowledge and experience for IAS preparation and would be able to pinpoint specific needs in order to drive a strategy that meets their goals. Moreover, if you are giving your last shot at IAS exam, it better be at terms that are defined by you and not derived from the collective consciousness of toppers, mentors, and peers.

While the aforementioned points may seem generic in some sense, they are in no way ineffective when it comes to cracking IAS exam at the last attempt. Like any competition, the rules remain the same, be it your first game or the last; the difference in this equation is marked by your positive outlook, self-confidence and learning from past experiences and failures.

Click here for IAS Prelims Current affairs
Click here for UPSC IAS Main exam 2015 question paper
Click here for Motivation during IAS prepartioon

Motivation during IAS Preparation

Unknown 6:16 am No comments:

Taking on IAS exam - one of the toughest recruitment tests in the world presents itself with its own set of problems and challenges. Among the many challenges faced by IAS aspirants, the most common and probably most exigent one is of motivation. All aspirants would be aware of the fact that IAS Preparation is a long game, in fact very long and taxing game. The only thing that keeps aspirants going on this difficult and perfidious path of IAS preparation is motivation. As a word ‘motivation’ may not sound all that important, but it plays the role of a game changer for aspirants, when it comes to IAS preparation.

What is Motivation?

As a literary term, motivation means ‘a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way‘; and in the case of IAS preparation, the reason for committing yourself to working very hard lies in the reward of clearing the UPSC exam and being an IAS officer. While being an IAS officer remains the ultimate motivation for the aspirants, but it rarely inspires the kind of commitment and hard work that is necessary to take on the daily challenges faced during the preparation phase. Like all other factors, motivation also has a shelf life, so while being an IAS officer may be the ultimate goal; its shelf life and effectiveness in tackling the daily challenges is quite limited. Therefore, aspirants must look at other factors and reasons that can help them focus and stay on course to crack the IAS exams.

Tips to stay motivated for IAS Preparation

While there are many articles related to practical aspects of staying motivated during the IAS preparation phase, not many focus upon the psychological aspects. Below, we shall discuss how you can shape your psyche to help you stay motivated and inspired during the course of IAS Preparation.

Most of IAS aspirants being their preparation phase with the expectation of a fairy tale ending. Having dreams, ambitions and confidence to achieve them can be a very good motivator to start off things, but when it comes to actionable steps, such factors fall short in putting things in perspective. For the majority of the time, aspirants end up dreaming about the fairytale ending of achieving their goals rather than building a reliable path that leads to it. Merely, fantasizing about being an IAS officer is not going to change things, it would require proper planning and executable preparation strategy.

Build an actionable IAS Preparation strategy

The second and probably the most important motivating factor for an IAS aspirant would be devising an actionable preparation strategy for IAS exams. Building a strategy that takes care of all the challenges that you would encounter en-route to IAS success will act as the best motivating factor for candidates. Moreover, having a strategy that is effective and shows its results immediately also boosts the confidence of candidates helping them to devise innovative solutions for unique problems.

Remove the pressure

One of the first steps in being motivated for the long term challenge of preparing for IAS exams, is to be free from any kind of pressure; be it social, peer, familial or any other. It may not strike as a direct form of pressure, but opting for IAS examination to prove a point or show your abilities to other is also a kind of pressure. While aspirants may not realize it, but constantly comparing yourself to others is also a kind of peer pressure that keeps you focused upon merely matching the competition rather than competing against yourself and improving your abilities from the point they stood at yesterday. These are the factors that will let you down soon and have you searching for the reason you opted for the tough choice of IAS exams in the first. Therefore, the first thing, any aspirant should do to get rid of any kind of pressure they may be facing, which may have compelled them to take up IAS as a career choice.

Find purpose

While it is obvious for IAS aspirants to pitch cracking the coveted IAS examination as their ultimate goal, it doesn’t serve the purpose then it comes to being an inspirational factor. Like any other examination, the IAS exam is just another test – a means to an end; and until that end is etched clearly in your mind it wouldn’t help you to focus and workout all the modalities required to clear the exam. For some the end might be to serve the country by being part of the bureaucratic setup at the highest echelons, for some it may be to prove a point to someone, for many others it may be something as simple as cracking it because people say it’s very tough. Whatever the reason may be, finding the purpose for which you want to clear the IAS exam, will act as the best motivator, whenever you feel down in the dumps. While, many may find it contradictory to the earlier point about eradicating pressure; the fact is, as far as it works as a motivation and doesn’t lead to performance pressure, such pressures can work in your favour.

Make today’s goals your top priority

The best way to tackle IAS preparation is by looking at it as a large project divided into daily tasks and goals; rather than a one long and extensive on-going process. This essentially means, setting daily goals and task list that needs to be achieved in terms of preparation details and strategy. Committing yourself to fulfilling your daily tasks and goals at hand will help you gradually chip-off the rock and give it a shape of your choice. The more you work, the more tasks you complete and the more goals you achieve, it will have a spiral effect and you will get the necessary confidence and motivation to continue doing so every day. However, aspirants must keep in mind that this strategy will work only if you have clearly outlined your IAS preparation strategy with daily goals. While focusing on daily goals is very important, it is also vital to evaluate and self-inspect if the goals you are achieving daily are helping your long-term cause of cracking the IAS exam. Therefore, aspirants must also decide in advance time to self-evaluate the preparation strategy and daily goals and what is their impact on the long-term goal.

Click here for IAS Prelims Current Affairs
Click here for How to Prepare for the last attemp of IAS Exam
Click here for Life after IAS Exam Preparation
Click here for UPSC IAS Main Exam 2015 question paper

Civil Services Examination

Unknown 9:13 pm No comments:

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide Competative Examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commision for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Govenment of India, including Indian Administration service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue Services (IRS) among others.The examination is the toughest examination in India with success rate of 0.1%-0.3% with more than 900,000 applicants and also has the least success ratio in the entire world. It is conducted in two phases - the Preliminary examination, consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies and Aptitude Test), and the Main examination, consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type followed by the Personality Test (Interview). The entire process from the notification of the Preliminary examination to declaration of the final results takes roughly one year.

Process

The Civil Services Examination is based on the British Raj-era Imperial Civil Service, as well as the civil service tests conducted by old Indian Empires such as in the Mauryan Empir and the Muga lEmpire Civil Services Examination of India is considered to be one of the most difficult and competitive examinations in India. On an average, 9 to 10 lakh (900,000 to 1,000,000) candidates apply every year and the number of candidates appearing is roughly451602 lakh for the examination. However, the challenging aspect of this exam is that aspirants must complete a three-stage process, requiring in depth knowledge, rational thinking, drafting skills, creativity, language competency, and a can do and empathetic personality.

Stage I: Preliminary examination - This is qualifying test held in August every year. Notification for this is published in May. Results are published in mid-October.
Stage II: Main examination - This is the main test, held in December every year. Results are usually published in the second week of March.
Stage III: Personality Test (Interview) - It is the final test and is held in April/May every year. Final results are usually announced in the month of May every year

The training program for the selected candidates usually commences on first Monday of September every year.

Eligibility

The eligibility norms for the examination are as follows:

Nationality

For the Indian administrative Services, the Indian Foregin Services and the Indian Police Services a candidate must be a citizen of India.
For the Indian Revenue Services, a candidate must be one of the following:
- A citizen of India
- a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India
For other services, a candidate must be one of the following:
- A citizen of India
- A citizen of Nepal or a subject of Bhutan
- a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India

Education

All candidates must have a minimum of any of the following educational qualifications:

A degree from a Central, State or Deemed university
A degree received through Correspondence Education or Distance
A degree from an Open University
A qualification recognized by the Government of India as being

equivalent to either of the above The following candidates are also eligible, but have to submit proof of their eligibility from a competent authority at their institute/university at the time of the main examination, failing which they will not be allowed to attend the exam.

Candidates who have appeared in an examination, the passing of which

would render them educationally qualified enough to satisfy any of the above points

Candidates who have passed the final exam of the MBBS degree but

have not yet completed their internship

Candidates who have passed the Final exam of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India(ICAI), ICSI and ICWAI
A degree from a private university
A degree from any foreign university recognized by Association of

Indian Universities.

Age

A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on August 1 of the year of examination. Prescribed age limits vary with respect to the caste reservations. For OBC category upper age limit is 35, and for SC/ST it is 37 years. Upper age limit relaxation is provided to certain candidates who are backward with respect to other factors and physically handicapped people.

Numbers of attempts

The number of attempts a candidate can give the exam is limited as follows:

General Category Candidates and OBC Category Candidates under the Creamy layer = 6 attempts
OBC Category Candidates = 9 attempts
SC/ST Candidates = ANY NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS

However these candidates are requested to bear in mind:

An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be considered to be an attempt at the Examination.
If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, he/she shall be deemed to have made an attempt at the Examination.
Not withstanding the disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.
Candidates just applied but not appeared at the exam is not an attempt.

Vacancies and Selection

Generally the number of vacancies varies every year. In the preliminary examination, the number of candidate selected for the mains is 11 or 12 times the number of vacancies and in case of the main examination, the number of candidates selected for the interview is twice the number of vacancies. As per existing policies, reservation for SC/ST/OBC is applied to each level of the selection process. For example, if the number of vacancies in a given year is 1000, and 100,000 candidates appear for the preliminary examination; the top 11,000 or 12,000 scorers will be selected for the mains and similarly, out of those 12,000 only the top 2,000 scorers will be called for the interview subject to their respective reservation quota.

In 2006, around 400,000 candidates applied for fewer than 500 vacancies and around 7,500 got through the preliminary and appeared in the Mains exam. In 2010, 5,47,698 candidates appeared for the preliminary exam.

To secure a place in the highly sought after Indian Administrative Service (IAS), a candidate must secure a rank in the top 70, a success rate of around 0.025 percent.

The number of vacancies in 2011 was approximately 880.kk

Preliminary

The pattern of the Preliminary examination up to 2010 was based on the recommendations of the Kothari Commission (1979). It included two examinations, one on general studies worth 150 marks, and the second on one of 23 optional subjects worth 300 marks. Until 2011, when it was revamped, the preliminary pattern was sustained with only minor changes once every ten to fifteen years. It is possible that in the coming years there can be some more changes in the format.

From 2011 onwards, the Preliminary examination, now popularly known as the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT)( officially it is still called General Studies Paper-1 and Paper-2), intends to focus on analytical abilities and understanding rather than the ability to memorize. The new pattern includes two papers of two hours duration and 200 marks each. Both papers have multiple choice objective type questions only. They are as under:

Paper I tests the candidate's knowledge on current events, history of India and Indian national movement, Indian and World Geography, Indian Polity and governance, Economic and social development, environmental ecology, biodiversity, climate change and general science. To qualify minimum marks should be 30.

Paper II tests the candidates' skills in comprehension, interpersonal skills, communication, logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making, problem solving, basic numeracy, data interpretation, English language comprehension skills and mental ability. To qualify minimum marks should be 70.

In August 2014, the Centre announced that English marks in CSAT-II will not be included for gradation or merit and 2011 candidates may get a second chance to appear for the test next year.

In May 2015, the Government of India announced that Paper II of Preliminary Examination(CSAT) will be of qualifying in nature i.e. it wouldn't be graded for eligibility in Mains Examination & a candidate needs to secure at least 33% marks in order to be eligible for graded on basis of Marks of Paper I of Preliminary Examination.

Note: These papers are qualifying in nature and are not used for ranking. Hence their marks are not added to the total. Candidates who fail these papers as per the Commission's standards are not eligible for the mains.

Mains

The Civil Services Mains Examination consists of a written examination and an interview.

Examination

The written examination consists of nine papers, two qualifying and seven ranking in nature. The range of questions may vary from just one mark to sixty marks, twenty words to 600 words answers. Candidates who pass qualifying papers are ranked according to marks and a selected number of candidates are called for interview or a personality test at the Commission's discretion

According to the new marks allocations in Civil Service Examination 2013 there are some changes made in the examination according to the suggestion of the Prof. Arun.S. Nigavekar Committee. However, after some controversy, the qualifying papers for Indian languages and English were restored to the examination.

Civil Services New Mains Format
Paper	Subject	Marks
Paper A	(One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution)(Qualifying)	300
Paper B	English(Qualifying)	300
Paper I	Essay	250
Paper II	General Studies I ((Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)	250
Paper III	General Studies II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)	250
Paper IV	General Studies III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security andDisaster Management)	250
Paper V	General Studies IV(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)	250
Papers VI, VII	Any one subject (having 2 papers) to be selected from the prescribed optional subjects (250 marks for each paper)	500
Sub Total (Written Test)		1750
Personality Test (Interview)		275
Total Marks		2025

List of Languages

For the Language medium/literature of languages, the scripts to be used by the candidates will be as under

Language	Script
Assamese	Assamese
Bengali	Bengali
Gujarati	Gujarati
Hindi	Devanagari
Kannada	Kannada
Kashmiri	Persian
Konkani	Devanagari
Malayalam	Malayalam
Manipuri	Bengali
Marathi	Devanagari
Nepali	Devanagari
Oriya	Oriya
Punjabi	Gurumukhi
Sanskrit	Devanagari
Sindhi	Devanagari or Arabic
Tamil	Tamil
Telugu	Telugu
Urdu	Persian
Bodo	Devanagari
Dogri	Devanagari
Maithili	Devanagari
Santhali	Devanagri or Olchiki

Optional Subjects

List of optional subjects for Main Examination:

Agriculture	Geography	Physics botany
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science	Geology	Political Science and International Relations
Anthropology	History	Psychology
Botany	Law	Public Administration
Chemistry	Management	Sociology
Civil Engineering	Mathematics	Statistics
Commerce and Accountancy	Mechanical Engineering	Zoology
Economics	Medical Science	Literature of any one of the following languages
Electrical Engineering	Philosophy	Geology

Interview

Officially called the "Personality Test", the objective of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a board of competent and unbiased observers. The test is intended to evaluate the mental calibre of a candidate. In broad terms, this is really an assessment of not only a candidate's intellectual qualities, but also social traits and interest in current affairs. Some of the qualities to be judged are mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, and intellectual and moral integrity.

The technique of the interview is not that of a strict cross-examination, but of a natural, though directed and purposive conversation that is intended to reveal the mental qualities of the candidate.

The interview is not intended to be a test either of the specialised or general knowledge of the candidate, which has been already tested through written papers. Candidates are expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in their special subjects of academic study, but also in the events which are happening around them both within and outside their own state or country as well as in modern currents of thought and in new discoveries which should rouse the curiosity of all well-educated youth.

UPSC Papers

Blogroll

Sports

2016/02/20