A.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
B. MAIN EXAMINATION
Part A—Preliminary Examination Paper I - (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

 Current events of national and international importance.

 History of India and Indian National Movement.
 Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
 Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues,
etc.
 Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social
Sector Initiatives, etc.
 General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject
specialization.
 General Science.
Paper II-(200 marks) Duration : Two hours

 Comprehension;
 Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
 Logical reasoning and analytical ability;
 Decision making and problem solving;
 General mental ability;
 Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation
(charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. — Class X level);

Note 1 : Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum
qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
Note 3 : 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.
 Part B—Main Examination

QUALIFYING PAPERS ON INDIAN LANGUAGES AND ENGLISH

Paper-A (One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in
the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution). 300 Marks
For the Language medium/literature of languages, the scripts to be used by the candidates will be
as under :—
 Language- Script
 Assamese -Assamese
 Bengali-
 Gujarati - Gujarati
 Hindi - Devanagari
 Kannada - Kannada
 Kashmiri - Persian
 Konkani - Devanagari
 Malayalam - Malayalam
 Manipuri -- Bengali
 Marathi - Devanagari
 Nepali - Devanagari
 Odia - Odia
 Punjabi - Gurumukhi
 Sanskrit - Devanagari
 Sindhi - Devanagari or Arabic
 Tamil -Tamil
 Telugu - Telugu
 Urdu - Persian
 Bodo - Devanagari
 Dogri - Devanagari
 Maithilli - Devanagari
 Santhali - Devanagari or Olchiki
The aim of the paper is to test the candidates's ability to read and understand serious discursive prose,
and to express his ideas clearly and correctly, in English and Indian language concerned.
The pattern of questions would be broadly as follows :
(i) Comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precis Writing.
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essays.

Indian Languages :—
(i) comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precis Writing.
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essays.
(v) Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice-versa

Note : 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.
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 : Indian Heritage and Culture, History and
Geography of the World and Society.

 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.
 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.
 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: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and
International relations.

 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.
 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.
 Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governanceapplications, models, successes,
limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
 Role of civil services in a democracy.
 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 foratheir structure, mandate.
PAPER-IV General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment,
Security and Disaster Management

 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; etechnology in the aid of farmers.
 Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution
Systemobjectives, 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.
 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, biotechnology and issues relating to intellectual
property rights.
 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
 Disaster and disaster management.
 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; moneylaundering 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: 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 :
 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 Service, integrity, impartiality and
nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and
compassion towards the weaker-sections.
 Case Studies on above issues.
 Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and
governance.
 Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
 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.
 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 on above issues.
PAPER-VI & PAPER VII

Paper-VI Optional Subject - Paper 1 (250 Marks )

Paper-VII Optional Subject - Paper 2 (250 Marks )
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, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit,
Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.
Sub Total (Written test) - 1750 Marks
Personality Test - 275 Marks
Grand Total - 2025 Marks