What is Civil Services ?
Civil Services forms the backbone of all the dimensions of a government of any country. The services of the Civil Servants are needed from the beginning of any Policy or Program till its execution at the individual level of Towns or Villages. The Civil Servants perform a decisive role in all the levels of a government both Vertically (Central-State-Local Governments) and Horizontally (Ministries-Departments-Directorates etc.).
The role of Civil Services becomes more important in a Democracy as they work as Permanent Executives together with the Temporary Executives who are elected by the citizens periodically.
UPSC Civil Services Examination
In India the recruitment of the civil servants are done by Union Public Service Commission. It is a Constitutional Body which gains its powers from the Article-315 of Indian Constitution. Accordingly States Public Service Commissions are created in respective states.
UPSC conducts Civil Services Exams every year, which goes through out a year in three Phases- Preliminary Examination, Mains Examination and Personality Test.
All India Services
1. Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
2. Indian Police Service(IPS)
Central Services (Group A)
3. Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
4. Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS)
5. Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS)
6. Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS)
7. Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
8. Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS)
9. Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES)
10. Indian Information Service (IIS)
11. Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)
12. Indian Postal Service (IPoS)
13. Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)
14. Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)
15. Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)
16. Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT)
17. Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
18. Indian Trade Service (ITrS)
19. Railway Protection Force (RPF)
Group B Services
20. Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHCS)
21. Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS)
22. Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS)
23. Pondicherry Civil Service (PCS)
24. Pondicherry Police Service (PPS)
(I) Nationality:
For the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.
(II) Age Limits:
A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years, with relaxation of 5 years for SC/ST candidates and 3 years for OBC candidates for upper age limit.
(III) 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 result as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination.
(IV) Number of attempts:
Every candidate appearing at the examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six attempts at the preliminary examination.
General Category – 06
Other Backward Classes – 09
Persons with Benchmark Disability – 09
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes – Up to age Limits
A. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION:
The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.
Note :
(i) Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions) and each
will be of two hours duration.
(ii) The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a
qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
B. MAIN EXAMINATION:
|
Qualifying Papers : |
||
|---|---|---|
|
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 |
|
Paper-B |
English |
300 Marks |
|
Papers to be counted for merit |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Paper-I |
Essay |
250 Marks |
|
|
Paper-II |
General Studies-I |
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) |
250 Marks |
|
Paper-III |
General Studies -II |
(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) |
250 Marks |
|
Paper-IV |
General Studies -III |
(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) |
250 Marks |
|
Paper-V |
General Studies -IV |
(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) |
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 |
NOTE :
(i) The question papers for the main examination will be of conventional (essay) type.
(ii) Each paper will be of three hours duration.
C. Interview Test:
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. 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. 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. 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 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 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.
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.
(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.
Prelims (Out of 200)
|
Year |
General |
OBC |
SC |
ST |
|
2018 |
98.00 |
96.66 |
84.00 |
83.34 |
|
2017 |
105.34 |
102.66 |
88.66 |
88.66 |
|
2016 |
116.00 |
110.66 |
99.34 |
96.00 |
|
2015 |
107.34 |
106.00 |
94.00 |
91.34 |
Mains (Out of 1750)
|
Year |
General |
OBC |
SC |
ST |
|
2018 |
774 |
732 |
719 |
719 |
|
2017 |
809 |
770 |
756 |
749 |
|
2016 |
787 |
745 |
739 |
730 |
|
2015 |
676 |
630 |
622 |
617 |
Final (Out of 2025)
|
Year |
General |
OBC |
SC |
ST |
|
2018 |
982 |
938 |
912 |
912 |
|
2017 |
1006 |
968 |
944 |
939 |
|
2016 |
988 |
951 |
937 |
920 |
|
2015 |
877 |
834 |
810 |
801 |