Civil Services: What, Why and How?

Civil Services: An Overview

IAS is seen as one of the most reputed careers in India. Every year, the Union Public
Service Commission (UPSC) conduct the civil services examination for making the
recruitment to the various post under the Indian administration, like the IAS, IPS, IFS
and other Allied Services. The examination is conducted to recruit the administrators,
who are supposed to administer the different departments of the governmental
machinery. Thus, UPSC expects the aspirants to have a wide knowledge base.
The examination is conducted in three stages. The first stage is the Civil Services
(Preliminary) Examination, which is generally conducted in the month of May every year.
However, due to the upcoming General Elections, it would be held in August in 2014.
The Preliminary examination is conducted to test the basic understanding and
awareness of the candidates. The exam consists of two paper:
PaperI of General12/18/2014 (Getting Started) Civil Services Exam: What, Why and How? |
, which includes Indian history, geography, polity, science and technology,
economy and current affairs.

PaperII, the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) was

introduced in 2012, and includes questions to test general aptitude of the candidates,
and include questions on Reasoning, English comprehension, Basic Mathematics,
Decision Making and Data interpretation.
IAS Examination is open to any citizen of India, who is between the 21 to 30 years of
age, for the General category. However, UPSC has come up with the notification giving
relaxation in number of attempts and age eligibility of different candidates. But the
notification is vague and unclear about the various technicalities. We would clear the
present situation as soon as UPSC comes up with further notifications.
There is no restriction on candidates, for their educational background. The only criteria
being 'the candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of
the Central or State Legislature in India...'

Tackling the Preliminary Examination: PaperI

The level of difficulty of the civil services preliminary examination is not too high.
Generally, it is of the level that any person, with basic awareness of the world around

us, can qualify. However, it is important to keep in mind that tackling the civil services
preliminary examination requires a comprehensive understanding of the subjects
covered by the examination.
Given the nature of the exam and level of competition, an aspirant should prepare a
study plan, keeping in mind his/her strengths and weaknesses.
Thus, the preparation should start with a plan to create a basic understanding of the
different subjects. It should be noted that, since the task of an administrator is to
manage the different aspects of the administration, a civil servant should be aware of
the different issues and disciplines.
Thus, the first task that confronts an aspirant is to understand the different subjects.
The understanding should not limit to just 'mugging up' the topics, but, to understand
the logic and learn the ideas behind it. The recent trends of the UPSC examinations have
witnessed a shift from the traditional descriptive questions to more analytical questions.
Thus, UPSC has been trying to look out for the candidates who are able to link the
different topics and make connections between them.
Thus, the aspirant should study, with an aim of understanding the underlying logic of the
subject. A more logical approach, in this regard is to select the subjects, that the
aspirant is comfortable with, and then to move towards more complex topics.
Let's take up an example of how to prepare for the Prelims PaperI:
Possible Strategy for Science Studentsfor
a person with a Science Background, the preparation might start with geography. It
is important that while studying any subjects, logical connections are established
between the theory and practice. For example, while studying geography, study the
theory and try to link it with the reality. This would help in keeping the facts in mind.
Next, complete the subject, and move to the other subject of interest. For instance,
after geography take history, and then Polity, and then Economy, and so on.
This systematic approach would help the candidate move ahead with a comprehensive
knowledge base, while ensuring the linkage between different subjects.
Note: the idea given here is just indicative. You must prepare as per your understanding
and comfort level.
Possible Strategy for a Commerce Student for this section, the preparation might start with an indepth
study of Indian economy and the latest trends. Since the basics are already clear, the person might
move to studying polity, history, science, environment, and so on.
It shall be noted that it is important to maintain a continuity in the study plan. A rational

study plan can help in maintaining the flow of the studies, which can maintain the
interest and productivity.
Note: the idea given here is just indicative. You must prepare as per your understanding
and comfort level.
Possible Strategy for an Arts/Humanities Student the study, for this section, might begin with the reenforcement of the social science subjects, and then move towards economy, science and
environment.
Note: the idea given here is just indicative. You must prepare as per your understanding
and comfort level.

Express Points:
1. Don't try to mug up every thing that is covered under the Preliminary examination
syllabus.
2. Always maintain a proper link between the different subjects and topics. This will
help you in the Long run.
3. Try to know your areas of strengths and weaknesses, and prepare the study plan
according.
4. If something is too difficult to understand or too complex to grasp, don't stress
yourself by Overindulging in it. Rather, try to compensate for the topic by
strengthening the other topics.
5. It might not be rational to take risk by attempting the questions that you are not
What's the CSAT Riddle?
The CSAT examination is conducted to test the general aptitude of the candidates. An
advantage for the civil services aspirant is that the level of difficulty is not as high as it
is in the CAT or other management examinations. Thus, any serious aspirant can fetch
as high as 170+ marks in the CSAT examination.
Tackling the CSAT is a simple task. Since the level of difficulty is not high, a candidate
can fetch high marks by understanding the basic concepts of reasoning, English, decision
making, and data interpretation. This does not require as much effort as needed for
PaperI. Initial preparation can be done by studying any basic material on aptitude.
However, to fetch good marks, practice is very important. For example even if you
practice 50 questions daily, for about 50 days, it would suffice.

For decision making, it is important to understand the basic principles that guide the
decision making process of an administrator. An added advantage of the decision
making section, in the CSAT, is that there is no negative marking. Thus, a candidate can
attempt all the questions in this section, without the fear of negative marking. Thus, an
understanding of the decision making section can help in giving a boost to the aggregate
marks of the candidate.

Express Points:
IAS PRE 2014: The Right Approach
sure about. A more rational approach is to secure your place in the merit list, and
not taking risk of attempting all the answers.
6. PaperII (CSAT) is more scoring, as compared to the PaperI. Thus, the candidate
should try to fetch maximum marks in the second paper.
1. In CSAT, the old saying follow 'Practice makes a Man perfect'. So practice some
questions daily.
2. The difficultly level of CSAT is not too high. Thus, there is no need to feel
panicked by the aptitude section.
3. It is a MYTH that CSAT favors the students with science and commerce
background. In fact, the level of Questions in CSAT is that of Class X, and can be
handled with simple Understanding.
4. The biggest advantage of CSAT is that it does not need a whole year for
preparation. It can be easily prepared in 34 months.
The Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2014 is scheduled to be held in August 2014.
Therefore, the time has come that a serious aspirant shall start preparing for the same.
However, there are certain points that should be remembered to the upcoming
examination:
How to Cover the Syllabus?
The syllabus of the civil services is a giant. It might not be possible to cover each and
every topic with full understanding and expertise. Therefore, one must adopt a strategy
that can ensure maximum possible marks.
The first thing is to understand is the structure of the examination. Given the multiplicity
of the disciplines and issues, the weightage of every topic is in a fixed proportion. Once
that is understood, it is important to decide, before hand, which sections to be prepared
strongly, and which ones are to be left feeble.

1. The First and Most Important 'Mantra' for any Civil Services Aspirant is to be
consistent with the studies. Once you loose touch with the study plan, things start
to deteriorate. Thus, it is a sacred duty of any civil servant to maintain consistency
in the study plan. However, it is also important to maintain the contact with the
outside. Civil Services, in these days, is not the forte of the bookworms.
2. Make a concrete plan of study. The amount of time does not matter. What matters
is the matter that you can grasp with an adequate level of understanding. Thus,
don't fall for the market rumors of 1012 hours study. Rather, prepare a short and
longterm goal for yourself, based on you strengths and weaknesses.
3. Don't get demotivated by the market claims. Have trust in yourself and the
material you have. However, it is also important to check the authenticity and
reliability of the resources that you are relying on.
4. Read NEWSPAPER daily, whether Hindu, Indian Express, or any other reputed
paper. It is a cliche, but a necessary one. Learn how and what to read in a
newspaper. Also, instead of jumping between different papers, stick to a good daily
and develop a comprehensive understanding, by linking what you read with what
you have read. It is also important to keep a track of major event and
developments. Since, it is humanly impossible to remember everything for a long
time, it is advisable to maintain a record of the major developments and event
from the newspaper. However, it is also an art to develop notes from the
newspaper. Instead of cutting the strips of the paper, just write down the main
development. This would hardly take an hour, but can be very productive in the
long run.
5. Write down the syllabus and the different areas, and keep a record of your
progress.
This would help in evaluating your performance. After all, selfstudy is
nothing but a psychological game. Thus, evaluate yourself regularly.
However, leaving a topic does not mean complete abandonment of it. Even if a topic is
difficult, an attempt should be made to go through it a few times, so as to get some
elementary knowledge.
The questions asked in the civil services preliminary examination are categorized,
according to their difficulty level. Thus, going by the recent trends, about 70% of the
questions lie in the intermediate level of difficulty, while about 15% questions fall under
the category of Easy level. The remaining 15% questions come under the high difficulty

level. Therefore, an aspirant shall not waste the time in digging deep in search of
resources, rather, one must reinforce the knowledge base and understand the various
disciplines. A basic understanding of the different subjects can secure one's place in the
next stage of examination process.