Take pleasure in preparing for Civil Services exam

Staff Reporter
Interactive session held with last years topper

Evaluate previous years papers

Be consistent with preparation

HYDERABAD: A Civil Services aspirant should enjoy the process of preparation rather
than visualising it as a tough task ahead. Preparation of civil services is a way of life.
Thats the advice of Adapa Karthik, the topper of Civil Services 2007, to those
preparing for Civil Services Examination.
At an interactive session organised by the Hyderabad Study Circle for civil service
aspirants recently, he advised them to have clarity about why they wanted to become a
civil servant. The man who rejected the services offer in 2005 as it was not his preferred
service and who completed a Ph.D. fellowship from Harvard Medical School later, said
that entering Civil Services was the best opportunity to serve the deprived. This would
be wrong means for those who want to earn money. Getting away with corruption is
becoming increasingly difficult with rising awareness levels, active media and the
judiciary, he observed.
On selection of optionals, Dr. Karthik suggested that ones interest should guide him in
selecting optionals. Otherwise, sustaining interest for longer durations, which is
important while preparing for Civils, will become difficult, he said.
He cleared his prelims with psychology, which was never a popular optional.
Your attitude determines your aptitude. If you stick to the subject you love, you could
be one among the few to clear with that optional, he said.
He suggested a method to choose the optionals. Aspirants have to evaluate the syllabus
vis--vis the previous years question papers and understand the priority of the
questions. Then they should go through the basic books on the subjects and see how
they covered the syllabus. This would equip them with fair understanding about choosing
the optionals.
Brevity is crucial

Study means reading, verbalising (writing) and articulating (lecturing on) the topic. One
must be able to articulate the given theory or situation in ones own language. Such
study would equip the aspirant to answer questions precisely and effectively. Brevity is
crucial as it saves time enabling one to answer other questions, he said.

He recommended continuous preparation for general studies (GS) from the beginning as
it helps in prelims, mains, interview and in the service too. Dr. Karthik asked the
aspirants not only to aim the Civil Services, but also to be best in the profession

CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONSREQUIREMENTS:

Paper-I

One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the

candidate from the 18 languages included in the VIIIth 300 Marks
Schedule to the Constitution (Qualifying Paper)

Paper-II

English (Qualifying Paper)

300 Marks

Paper-III

Essay

200 Marks

Papers IV &
General Studies (300 Marks for each paper)
V

600 Marks

Papers VI, Any two subjects (each having 2 papers) to be selected

VII, VIII & from the prescribed optional subjects (300 marks for 1200 Marks
IX
each paper)

Total Marks for Written Examination

2000 Marks

Interview Test

300 Marks

Grand Total

2300 Marks

List of Optional Subjects - IAS (Main)

- (Total 25)
Agriculture

Management

Animal Husbandry & Vetinary Science

Mathematics

Anthropology

Mechanical Engineering

Botany

Medical Science

Chemistry

Philosophy

Civil Engineering

Physics

Commerce & Accountancy

Political Science & International Relations

Economics

Psychology

Geography

Sociology

Geology

Statistics

Indian History

Zoology

INDIAN CIVIL SERVICES : SCHEME OF

EXAMINATION
The Civil Services Examination is conducted by UPSC (Union Public Service
Commission)
every
year.
The
examination
has
three
stages
i.e.,
(1) Civil Services Preliminary Examinations (CSP) - normally conducted during the second
half
of
May.
(2) Civil Services (Main) Examinations conducted during the month of October/November.
Here, those who are selected in the preliminary examination only are eligible to appear.
(3) Those who are selected in the main examination will be eligible to appear before the
Interview Board at New Delhi.
Preliminary
Examination
(CSP)
CSP consists of two papers i.e., (1) optional subject to be selected from the listed
subject for 300 marks. (2) General studies for 150 marks. Total of 450 marks. Each paper is
of two hours duration. The course content of the syllabi for the optional subjects is at the
degree level. Normally, there are about 3 lakh applications for the preliminary examination.
From this, the UPSC selects 10 to 12 folds of vacancies for the main examinations. This is

only for the selection and not to be taken into consideration in the main ranking.
Subjects for Preliminary Examination: The General Studies syllabus is same for all.
Subjects for Paper II (one subject to be selected): Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and
Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce, Economics, Electrical
Engineering, Geography, Geology, Indian History, Law, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering,
Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration,
Sociology, Statistics, Zoology.
(The question papers are in Hindi and English and each paper is of two hours duration. The
course content of the syllabi is of degree level. Each paper is of two hours duration. Blind
candidates are allowed an extra time of 20 minutes for each paper.)
Main

Examination
Only those who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the
Preliminary Examination in a year, are eligible for the Main examination of that year, provided
they are otherwise eligible for the Main Examination.
Civil Services Main examination has two optional subjects (two papers each carries
300 marks), one General Studies (two papers each carries 300 marks), one essay (carries
200 marks) - total 2000 marks. Other than this, there are two language papers one in Indian
language and one in General English at the level of 10th standard. This is to test the ability of
the candidate's proficiency in his mother tongue / Indian language and English. Total nine
papers. These two papers carry 300 marks each but it will not be considered for the ranking.
It is must to clear these two papers. If a candidate fails to clear these papers, his other
papers will not be evaluated.
The Main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and the
depth of understanding of the candidates, rather than merely the range of their information
and memory. Sufficient choice of questions is allowed in the question papers.
Optional

Subjects
for
the
Main
Examination:
Optional subjects: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany,
Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce and Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering,
Geography, Geology, History, Law, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering,
Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology,
Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology. Each paper is of 3 hours duration.
Literatures:
Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi,
Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian,
Punjabi,
Russian,
Sanskrit,
Sindhi,
Tamil,
Telugu,
Urdu.
The
following
combinations
not
allowed
are:
Political
Science
&
International
Relations
and
Public
Administration
Commerce
and
Management
Anthropology
and
Sociology
Maths
and
Statistics
Agriculture
and
Animal
Husbandry
and
Veterinary
Science
Management
and
Public
Administration
Animal
Husbandry
&
Veterinary
Science
and
Medical
Science
Any
two
branches
of
engineering.
Combination of two literatures in the above list.
Interview:
At interview stage, two-fold vacancies are called to appear before the UPSC Board.
Interview carries 300 marks. Interview calls are sent on the basis of minimum marks fixed by
the UPSC at its discretion. The overall ranking is done based on the Mains performance (i.e.,
2000 marks) and interview. Therefore, the total marks involved in the ranking are 2300.
Candidates are allotted various services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and
preferences
given
by
them
in
their
main
application
form.
Note: If a person fails in either in mains or interview, he has to appear once again from the
preliminary
stage.
Eligibility

Conditions:

(i)
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
(c)
a
subject
of
Bhutan,
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, Srilanka, 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 by the Government of India.
(ii)
Minimum
Educational
Qualifications:
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.
Note I: Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render
them educationally qualified for the Commission's examination but have not been informed of
the results as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will
also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination. All candidates who are declared
qualified by the Commission for taking the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required
to produce proof of passing the requisite examination with their application for the Main
Examination failing which such candidates will not be admitted to the Main Examination.
Note II: In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate
who has not any of the foregoing qualifications as a qualified candidate provided that he has
passed examination conducted by the other Institutions, the standard of which in the opinion
of the Commission justifies his admission to the examination.
Note III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications, which are
recognised by Government, as equivalent to professional and technical degree would also be
eligible for admission to the examination.
Note IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S. or any other Medical
Examination but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their
applications for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the
Examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the
concerned authority of the University/Institution that they had passed the requisite final
professional medical examination. In such cases, the candidates will be required to produce
at the time of their interview original Degree or a certificate from the concerned competent
authority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including
completion of internship) for the award of the Degree.
(iii) Age limit: 21 years must be completed on 1st August of the year, which a candidate is
appearing. Maximum 30 for general category, 33 for OBCs and 35 for SCs/STs. Ex-servicemen
will get 5 more years exemption from the prescribed age limit.
(The date of birth accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation or
Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognised by an Indian University as
equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by a
University, which extract must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the
Higher Secondary or an equivalent examination certificate).
(iv) Number of Attempts: Four attempts for open, seven for OBCs and no limit for SCs/STs.
If a person appears in the Preliminary Examination or even one paper is counted as an
attempt.
(v)
Restrictions
on
applying
for
the
examination:
A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign
Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service

will not be eligible to compete at this examination.

How
to
Apply:
(a) The UPSC have developed an application form common for all their examinations, which
will be processed on computerised machines. This application form alongwith an Information
Brochure containing general instructions for filling up the form, an acknowledgement card and
an envelope for sending the application is obtainable from the designated Head Post
Offices/Post Offices throughout the country as against cash payment of Rs. 20/- (Rupees
twenty only). Form should be purchased from the designated Post Offices only and not from
any other agency. This form can be used only once and for only one examination. Candidates
must use the form supplied with the Information Brochure only and they should in no case
use photocopy / reproduction / unauthorisedly printed copy of the Form. Since this form is
electronically scannable, due care should be taken to fill up the application form, correctly.
While filling up the application form, please refer to detailed instructions given in the Notice.

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1. Preliminary examinations
The prelims are held around May-June.It has objective ie multiple choice questions. There are two papers (duration
of each being 2 hrs).
a)
b) Optional subject

General

studies

The prelims are held around May-June.It has objective ie multiple choice questions. There are two papers (duration
of each being 2 hrs). a) General studies and b)Optional subject: you can choose from Psychology, Sociology,
Philosophy, Agriculture, Maths, Phy, Chem, Stats etc. Important: It is not compulsory to choose the same subjects of
your graduation. The results are declared in July-August and the successful candidates are called for the main
examinations. PS. The prelims score has no bearing for determining the final merit list for the services.
2. Main examination
The main written examination usually takes place in Oct-Nov, it comprises of 9 papers in all (a lot more strenuous
than CAT!) Duration of each paper is 3 hrs. Language: one of the Indian languages, English, Essay GK and Current
Affairs: 2 papers on general studies Optionals: papers from two subjects that fall in optional-1 and two papers from
optional-2 (a choice of subjects is listed by the UPSC in the prospectus) Candidates who are successful in the main
examinations are eligible for an interview which plays a crucial part in the selection.
The main written examination usually takes place in Oct-Nov, it comprises of 9 papers in all (a lot more strenuous
than CAT!) Duration of each paper is 3 hrs. Language: one of the Indian languages, English, Essay GK and Current
Affairs: 2 papers on general studies Optionals: papers from two subjects that fall in optional-1 and two papers from
optional-2 (a choice of subjects is listed by the UPSC in the prospectus) Candidates who are successful in the main
examinations are eligible for an interview which plays a crucial part in the selection.
3. The Interview
The interview calls are sent in March-April of the following year and they take place in the month of April-May. The
Board of interviewers look for a well-adjusted personality with the social traits, integrity and qualities of leadership .
PS. The number of candidates called for the interview is normally twice the number of vacancies.

The interview calls are sent in March-April of the following year and they take place in the month of April-May. The
Board of interviewers look for a well-adjusted personality with the social traits, integrity and qualities of leadership .
PS. The number of candidates called for the interview is normally twice the number of vacancies.

Here is a list of subjects for IAS/UPSC exams. Under each subject is provided reources regarding the subject that
includes prelims and mains IAS syllabus as well as question papers, strategy and suggested readings for the subject.
The IAS Syllabus and other services like the IPS and Income Tax is the same.

Part A - UPSC Preliminary Examination - Optional Subjects

General Studies
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
Indian History
Law

Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology

Part B - UPSC Main Examination - Optional Subjects

General Studies
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
Indian History
Law
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology
Anthropology
Arabic
Assamese

Bengali
Chinese
English
German
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Malayalam
Manipuri
Marathi
Nepali
Oriya
Pali
Persian
Punjabi
Russian
Sanskrit
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu
Management

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Marks obtained by Toppers:

Subject

Maximum Marks 1st Rank1

Essay
General Studies Paper I
General Studies Paper II
Optional I - Paper I
Optional I - Paper II
Optional II - Paper I
Optional II - Paper II
Interview
Total marks

3rd Rank2

6th Rank3

7th Rank4

200

125

132

119

108

300

192

197

179

154

300

147

164

180

127

300
300
300
300
300
2300

173
180
190
157
230
1394

173
171
166
191
180
1374

165
180
181
200
174
1338

174
183
205
185
201
1337

3rd Rank2

6th Rank3

7th Rank4

Percentage of marks obtained by Toppers:

Subject

Maximum Marks 1st Rank1

Essay
General Studies Paper I
General Studies Paper II
Optional I - Paper I
Optional I - Paper II
Optional II - Paper I
Optional II - Paper II
Interview
Total marks

100

62.50

66.00

59.50

54.00

100

64.00

65.67

59.67

51.33

100

49.00

54.67

60.00

42.33

100
100
100
100
100
100

57.67
60.00
63.33
52.33
76.67
60.61

57.67
57.00
55.33
63.67
60.00
59.74

55.00
60.00
60.33
66.67
58.00
58.17

58.00
61.00
68.33
61.67
67.00
58.13

Optionals were Public Administration and Psychology, but order is not known.

Optionals were Physics and Geography, but order is not known.

Optionals were Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics, but order is not known.

Optionals were Physics and Chemistry, but order is not known.

Indian Civil Services Examination 2003 Results

Recommended Candidates - 2003*

General

OBC

SC

ST

Total

184 (Including
two physically
challenged)

129 (Including
two physically
challenged)

67

33

413

Vacancies - 2003

Category

General

OBC

SC

ST

Total

IAS

46

26

12

89

IFS

18

IPS

43

26

12

88

Group A**

111

61

39

20

231

Group B**

19

11

31

Total number
of vacancies

228

129

67

35

457

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