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General Studies -  Paper 1 Syllabus

Marks: 200; Duration: 2 Hours; Number of Questions: 100

1.     Current Affairs: Current events of national and international importance

2.     History of India and Indian National Movement

3.     Indian and World Geography: Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

4.     Indian Polity and Governance: Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

5.     Economic and Social Development: Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

6.     General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change (no subject specialization required)

7.     General Science

CSAT -Paper 2 Syllabus

Marks: 200; Duration: 2 Hours; Number of Questions: 80

1.     Comprehension

2.     Interpersonal skills including communication skills

3.     Logical reasoning and analytical ability

4.     Decision making and problem solving

5.     General mental ability

6.     Basic numeracy - numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc. (Class X level)

7.     Data Interpretation - charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. (Class X level)

 

Marking Scheme: 

·     Total 80 questions of 200 marks, thus each question is of 2.5 marks. There is a negative marking of 33%.

·     Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination is a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.

·     The questions are of multiple choice, objective type.

Some Important Facts for Preliminary Exams Preparation-

1.           Current Affairs are centered around the events and occurrences of the year preceding the date/ month of the exam i.e. If the Preliminary Exam is in 
June 2022 then the Current Affairs from May 2021 - April 2022 are relevant. But the current affairs are not restricted to his timeline and 1 - 2 questions may come from earlier issues.

2.          History of India not only includes the political history but also has Art and Culture of India from ancient to the modern period as well. This includes - art, architecture, sculpture, literature, dances, theatre, music and festivals.

3.          Geography also entails map based questions, even though the map is not provided. The candidate must be familiar with the political and physical maps of India and the world.

4.           Environment and Ecology have increased in importance since the preliminary exam for Civil Services is also the preliminary exam for Indian Forest Services. 
This part includes both current affairs as well as static portion.

5.           The Paper consists of 100 questions of 2 marks each. A correct answer fetches +2 marks and a wrong answer gets -0.67 marks. The duration of the paper is 2 hours.

6.          The General Studies I Paper is qualifying with the cut off being decided based on the number of vacancies. The marks from this stage are NOT added to the final total to ascertain the merit list.

7.           CSAT Paper tests basic aptitude with the difficulty level set more or less at the Class X level.

8.            CSAT is not counted towards the merit and the candidate only needs to score 33% of the marks

9.           CSAT Paper consists of 80 questions with each wrong answer fetching a negative 1/3rd marks. The duration of the paper is 2 hours.

 Stage 2- MAINS EXAMINATION

         UPSC Mains Exam Pattern

Paper	Subject	Duration	Total marks
Paper A	Compulsory Indian language	3 hours	300 (Qualifying)
Paper B	English	3 hours	300 (Qualifying)
Paper I	Essay	3 hours	250
Paper II	General Studies I – Indian Heritage & Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society	3 hours	250
Paper III	General Studies II – Governance, Constitution, Welfare Initiatives, Social Justice & International Relations	3 hours	250
Paper IV	General Studies III – Technology, Economic Development, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management	3 hours	250
Paper V	General Studies IV – Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude	3 hours	250
Paper VI	Optional Subject – Paper I	3 hours	250
Paper VII	Optional Subject – Paper II	3 hours	250

      Language Papers (Paper A- Indian language and Paper B- English)

      Although both these papers are only qualifying in nature, candidates should not be complacent as if they fail to score below 25% in either of them, their remaining answer sheets won’t even be evaluated. Both the papers follow a similar pattern of questions as given below.

• One essay question for 100 marks – candidates have to select one out of a few given topics
• Reading comprehension and related five-six questions for a total of 60 marks
• Precis writing for 60 marks – the answer sheet will have a separate grid structure where this has to be written
• Translation from English to chosen language for 20 marks
• Translation from chosen language to English for 20 marks
• Grammar and basic language usage such as synonyms, sentence correction etc. for a total of 40 marks.

    PAPER 1 - ESSAY (250 MARKS)

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.

1.     The Paper consists of two essays of 1000 - 1200 words each.

2.     The candidate is given four choices from which to choose which essay to write for each of the two essays.

3.     The space is limited for writing as answer sheets have been replaced by Question- cum-Answer Booklets (QCABs).

 GENERAL STUDIES 1 (250 MARKS)

SUBJECT	DETAILED TOPICS
Art and Culture	Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times
Modern History	Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present significant events, personalities, issue
	The     Freedom    Struggle    —    its    various    stages     and    important contributors/contributions from different parts of the count
Post-Independence India	Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country
World History	History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redraw of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society
Society and Social Issues	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
Geography	Salient features of world’s physical geography
	Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); 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

    GENERAL STUDIES 2 (250 MARKS)

SUBJECT	DETAILED TOPIC ANALYSIS
Constitution	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 redressed 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
Governance	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
	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
Social Justice	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 Resource
	Issues relating to poverty and hunger

     GENERAL STUDIES 3 (250 MARKS)

SUBJECT	DETAILED TOPICS
Economy	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
	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
Ecology and Environment	Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Disaster Management	Disaster and Disaster Management
Internal Security	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

GENERAL STUDIES 4 (250 MARKS)

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.

SUBJECT	DETAILED TOPICS
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 Services	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
Thinkers	Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world
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	Case studies on the above topics

The Paper consists of two parts - Part A and Part B. Part A consists of theory comprising of 130 marks and Part B consists of Case Studies comprising 120 marks.

OPTIONAL PAPER (500 MARKS)

The Candidate may choose any optional subject from amongst the List of Optional subjects  given.

List of Optional Subjects- 

 

Agriculture	Assamese Literature
Animal husbandry and Veterinary Science	Bengali Literature
Anthropology	Bodo Literature
Botany	Dogri Literature
Chemistry	Gujarati Literature
Civil Engineering	HIndi Literature
Commerce and Accountancy	Kannada Literature
Economics	Kashmiri Literature
Electrical Engineering	Konkani Literature
Geography	Maithili Literature
Geology	Malayalam Literature
History	Manipuri Literature
Law	Marathi Literature
Management	Nepali Literature
Mathematics	Odia Literature
Mechanical Engineering	Punjabi Literature
Medical Science	Sanskrit Literature
Philosophy	Santhali Literature
Physics	Sindhi Literature
Political Science and International Relations	Tamil Literature
Psychology	Telugu Literature
Public Administration	Urdu Literature
Sociology	English Literature
Statistics	Zoology

PERSONALITY TEST (275 MARKS)

1.     The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of his career. He will be asked questions on matters of general interest.
2.     The object 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.
3.     The test is intended to judge the mental caliber of a candidate. In broad terms this is really an assessment of not only his intellectual qualities but also social traits and his interest in current affairs.
4.     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, intellectual and moral integrity.
5.    The technique of the interview is not that of a strict cross-examination but of a natural, though directed and purposive conversation which is intended to reveal the mental qualities of the candidate.
6.    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.
7.     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 well educated youth.

The Candidate is interviewed by a Board of five members of which the Chairman of the Board is a member of UPSC while the rest will be experts from various fields. The Board is  provided with the Detailed Application Form (DAF) that the candidate fills before the Written  Part of the Mains Examination. The interview lasts from 30-35 minutes on an average but may be shorter or longer depending on the candidate and board.
There is no set syllabus but the general direction of preparation should include:

a.     Detailed Application Form - basic information, hobbies, education, work experience etc.
b.     State of Residence/ State to which one belongs
c.     City of Residence
d.     Events of national and international importance that are in the news during that duration.