Civil Services Examination

Information, Syllabus, Nature & Scheme
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Civil Services Examination : Nature & Scheme

Historical Perspective : The concept of a merit based modern Civil Service in India was introduced in 1854. A Civil Service Commission was setup in 1854 in London and competitive examinations were started in 1855. Initially, the examinations for Indian Civil Service were conducted only in London. From 1922 onwards the Indian Civil Service Examination began to be held in India also, first in Allahabad and later in Delhi with the setting up of the Federal Public Service Commission. It was on October 1, 1926 that the Public Service Commission was set up in India for the first time. With the inauguration of the Constitution of India in January 26, 1950, the Federal Public Service Commission came to be known as the Union Public Service Commission.
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission to recruit candidates for Civil Services of the Government of India.

List of Services

There are around 24 services which are the integral part of these services. These services are broadly categorized into two categories as All India Services and Central Services. Central services are further categorized into Group A & Group B services.

1. All India Services
Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
Indian Police Service (IPS)

2. Central Services (Group A)
Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS)
Indian Civil Accounts Service
Indian Corporate Law Service
Indian Defence Accounts Service
Indian Defence Estates Service
Indian Information Service
Indian Ordnance Factories Service
Indian Postal Service
Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service
Indian Railway Accounts Service
Indian Railway Personnel Service
Indian Railway Protection Force Service
Indian Railway Traffic Service
Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
Indian Trade Service

3. Group B Services:
Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services
Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service
Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service
Pondicherry Civil Service
Pondicherry Police Service

Eligibility Conditions:

Nationality :

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

Age Limits:

(1) 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 in the year which he/she is appearing for.

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

 

• Up to a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;

• Up to 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;

• Up to 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;

 

• Up to a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs)/ Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs) who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August

 

• Up to a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st August

 

• Up to a maximum of 10 years in the case of candidates belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disabilities

Minimum Educational Qualification:


A candidate must hold a degree of any of the 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.


• Candidates who have appeared at a qualifying examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the Commission’s Examination but have not been informed of the result as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.


• 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 Civil Services Examination.


• Note‐IV : Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S or any other equivalent professional examination leading to a medical degree or certificate 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 Civil Services 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 examination.

How to Apply

Candidates are required to apply online using the website

https://www.upsconline.nic.in

Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are available on the above mentioned website.

The applicants are advised to submit only single application. However, if due to any unavoidable situation, if an apllicant submits another/multiple applications, then the applicant must ensure that application with the higher RID is complete in all respects like applicants’ details, examination centre, photograph, signature, photo ID, fee etc. The applicants who are submitting multiple applications should note that only the applications with higher RID (Registration ID) shall be entertained.

Plan of Examination

The Civil Services Examination will consist of two successive stages

(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and

(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination

Nature & Scheme

  • The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.
  • Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions) and each will be of two hours duration.
  • There will be penalty (negative marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Papers.
  • Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
  • The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
  • 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.
  • This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.
  • The number of candidates to be admitted to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this Examination. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination of that year.

Syllabus

Paper I
  • (i) Current events of national and international importance.
  • (ii) History of India and Indian National Movement.
  • (iii) Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
  • (iv) Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
  • (v) Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
  • (vi) General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization.
  • (vii) General Science.
Paper II
  • (i) Comprehension.
  • (ii) Interpersonal skills including communication skills.
  • (iii) Logical reasoning and analytical ability.
  • (iv) Decision making and problem solving.
  • (v) General mental ability.
  • (vi) Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. — Class X level)

Civil Services (Main) Examination

Nature & Scheme

  • The main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding of candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory.
  • The nature and standard of questions in the General Studies papers (Paper II to Paper V) will be such that a well-educated person will be able to answer them without any specialized study.
  • The questions will be such as to test a candidate’s general awareness of a variety of subjects, which will have relevance for a career in Civil Services. The questions are likely to test the candidate’s basic understanding of all relevant issues, and ability to analyze, and take a view on conflicting socio-economic goals, objectives and demands. The candidates must give relevant, meaningful and succinct answers.
  • The scope of the syllabus for optional subject papers (Paper VI and Paper VII) for the examination is broadly of the honours degree level i.e. a level higher than the bachelors’ degree and lower than the masters’ degree. In the case of Engineering, Medical Science and law, the level corresponds to the bachelors’ degree.
  • The question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type
  • Each paper will be of three hours duration.
  • Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the Qualifying Language Papers, Paper-A and Paper-B, in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India or in English. Notwithstanding this, the Candidate will have the choice to write the Optional Papers in English also if candidates opt to write Paper I-V except the Qualifying Language Papers, Paper-A and Paper-B, in any one of the language included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
  • Candidates exercising the option to answer Papers in any one of the languages included in the Eight Schedule to the Constitution of India mentioned above may, if they so desire, give English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms, if any, in addition to the version in the language opted by them. Candidates should, however, note that if they misuse the above rule, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to them and in extreme cases; their script(s) will not be valued for being in an unauthorized medium.
  • Candidates should note that if any irrelevant matter/signages/marks etc. are found written in the answer script(s), which would not be related to any question/answer and/or would be having the potential to disclose the candidate’s identity, the Commission will impose a penalty of deduction of marks from the total marks otherwise accruing to the candidate or will not evaluate the said script(s) on this account.
  • The question papers (other than the literature of language papers) will be set in Hindi and English only.
  • The papers on Indian languages and English (Paper A and paper B) will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
  • Evaluation of the papers, namely, 'Essay', 'General Studies' and Optional Subject of all the candidates would be done simultaneously along with evaluation of their qualifying papers on ‘Indian Languages’ and ‘English’ but the papers on Éssay', General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates will be taken cognizance who attain 25% marks in ‘Indian Language’ and 25% in English as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.
  • Marks obtained by the candidates for the Paper I-VII only will be counted for merit ranking.

The Written Examination will consist of the following papers:

Qualifying Papers:

Paper‐A (Indian Language)
300 Marks
Paper‐B English
300 Marks

Papers to be counted for merit:

Paper‐I Essay

250 Marks

Paper‐II General Studies‐ I

250 Marks

Paper‐III General Studies ‐II

250 Marks

Paper‐IV General Studies ‐III

250 Marks

Paper‐V General Studies ‐IV

250 Marks

Paper‐VI Optional Subject ‐ Paper 1

250 Marks

Paper‐VII Optional Subject‐ Paper 2

250 Marks

Sub Total (Written test)

1750 Marks

Personality Test
275 Marks

Grand Total

2025 Marks

Syllabus:

QUALIFYING PAPERS
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.

ENGLISH : 300 Marks
(i) Comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precise Writing.
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essays.

Indian Languages : 300 Marks
(i) Comprehension of given passages.
(i) Precis Writing.
(ii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iii) Short Essays.
(iv) Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice-versa
PAPER‐I - 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.
PAPER‐II General Studies‐I: 250 Marks

(A) Indian Heritage and Culture
• 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.

(B) 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.

(C) History and Geography of the World
• 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.
PAPER‐III General Studies‐ II: 250 Marks

(A) Governance, Constitution & Polity
• 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.
• 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.

(B) Social Justice
• 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.

(C) International relations
• 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: 250 Marks

(A) Economic Development
• 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.

(B) 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.

(C) Bio diversity, Environment

• Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

(D) Disaster and disaster management.

(E) 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.
PAPER‐V General Studies‐ IV : 250 Marks

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 :

(A) 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.

(B) Attitude
• Content, structure, function
• Its influence and relation with thought and behaviour
• Moral and political attitudes
• Social influence and persuasion.

(C) 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.

(D) Emotional intelligence
• Concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.

(E) Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.

(F) 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.

(G) 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.

(H) Case Studies on above issues.
PAPER‐VI & PAPER VII:

Optional Subject Papers I & II : 500 Marks ( 250 Marks each paper)
List of optional subjects for Main Examination:

(i) Agriculture
(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
(iii) Anthropology
(iv) Botany
(v) Chemistry
(vi) Civil Engineering
(vii) Commerce and Accountancy
(viii) Economics
(ix) Electrical Engineering
(x) Geography
(xi) Geology
(xii) History
(xiii) Law
(xiv) Management
(xv) Mathematics
(xvi) Mechanical Engineering
(xvii) Medical Science
(xviii) Philosophy
(xix) Physics
(xx) Political Science and International Relations
(xxi) Psychology
(xxii) Public Administration (xxiii) Sociology
(xxiv) Statistics
(xxv) Zoology
(xxvi) Literature of any one of the following languages:
Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali


Interview/Personality Test : 275 Marks

• The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of the candidate’s career. The candidate will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the Interview/Personality Test is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers.

• The Interview/Personality Test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. In broad terms this is really an assessment of not only 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, intellectual and moral integrity.

• The technique of the Interview/Personality Test 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.

• The Interview/Personality Test is not intended to be a test either of the specialized or general knowledge of the candidates which has been already tested through their 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.

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