UPSC Mains Exam Syllabus
Civil Services (Main)
Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the
various services and posts
The written examination will
consist of the following papers:
Paper-I and II:
There will be two qualifying
papers in any Indian language and English each of 300 marks.
Paper-III : Essay 250 Marks
Candidates will be required to
write an essay on a specific topic. The choice of subjects will be given. 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-IV
General Studies-I (Indian
Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) of 250
marks which may include following topics:
- 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 subcontinent); 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-V
General Studies -II
(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
of 250 marks which may include following topics:
- 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-governance- applications, 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 fora- their structure, mandate.
Paper-VI
General Studies -III
(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and
Disaster Management) of 250 marks which may include following topics:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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; 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-VII
General Studies -IV (Ethics,
Integrity and Aptitude) of 250 marks which may include following topics:
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 non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weakersections.
- 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-VIII & PAPER IX
Optional Subject Papers I
& II
List of optional subjects for
Main Examination:
Agriculture ; Animal Husbandry
and Veterinary Science ; Anthropology ; 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 and Zoology .
Literature of any one of the
following languages:
Assamese, Bengali, Bodo,
Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam,
Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil,
Telugu, Urdu, English.
Candidates may choose any
optional subject from the list of subjects
Note: The candidates would be
allowed to use any one language from the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution or
English as the medium of writing the examination.
Union Public Service
Commission conducts Civil Services Examination for recruiting IAS officers.
This examination is conducted every year and is one of the toughest competitive
examinations in India. Lacs of candidates take part in the recruitment
procedure of IAS every year. The recruitment procedure for the post comprises
three stages: Preliminary Examination, Mains Examination and Interview. While
the Preliminary Examination consists only objective type questions the Mains
Examination is of subjective type and is aimed to test the academic excellence
and the ability of the aspirants in presenting the answers in a coherent
manner. The objective of the mains examination is to check the overall
knowledge and intellectual traits of the candidates rather than their range of
memory and information.
To become an IAS is the dream of the most of the youngsters in India. Millions of candidates work hard to crack this examination in order to get this reputed job. But due to cut throat competition and lack of proper knowledge of the examination syllabus and pattern, very few candidates are able to realise this dream. To help them in getting the right information about the examination syllabus and pattern, we are discussing it them below in detail.
The UPSC has revised the examination pattern of the Civil Services Mains Examination, 2016 recently. Now the aspirants will have to answer 7+2 papers or total 9 papers in the mains examination. All of which will be of descriptive type. From now onwards, there will be two qualifying papers namely any modern Indian language, which will be of 300 marks and English Language, which will also be of 300 marks. However, the score of the candidates in these two papers will not be considered for the final merit.
Now the candidates can choose English or any one language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution as the medium of writing answers in the examination.
As per the latest examination pattern, there will be “Four” General Studies paper, each of which will be of 250 marks with a total of 1000 marks. All these papers will be compulsory. The syllabus of these papers will be of degree level.
Candidates have to choose one optional subject from the subjects listed by the commission. This subject will comprise of two papers each of 250 marks. So the optional paper will be of 500 marks in total. Candidates can also take literature as the subject for the optional paper. The range of the syllabus for optional paper is more than the Bachelor's Degree level but less than Master's Degree level.
Personality test or Interview is of 275 marks and candidates can choose the language in which they would like to be interviewed. As per their preference, the commission will arrange the translators.
Total marks of the written examination will be 1750 Marks and for the interview will be 275 marks.
To become an IAS is the dream of the most of the youngsters in India. Millions of candidates work hard to crack this examination in order to get this reputed job. But due to cut throat competition and lack of proper knowledge of the examination syllabus and pattern, very few candidates are able to realise this dream. To help them in getting the right information about the examination syllabus and pattern, we are discussing it them below in detail.
The UPSC has revised the examination pattern of the Civil Services Mains Examination, 2016 recently. Now the aspirants will have to answer 7+2 papers or total 9 papers in the mains examination. All of which will be of descriptive type. From now onwards, there will be two qualifying papers namely any modern Indian language, which will be of 300 marks and English Language, which will also be of 300 marks. However, the score of the candidates in these two papers will not be considered for the final merit.
Now the candidates can choose English or any one language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution as the medium of writing answers in the examination.
As per the latest examination pattern, there will be “Four” General Studies paper, each of which will be of 250 marks with a total of 1000 marks. All these papers will be compulsory. The syllabus of these papers will be of degree level.
Candidates have to choose one optional subject from the subjects listed by the commission. This subject will comprise of two papers each of 250 marks. So the optional paper will be of 500 marks in total. Candidates can also take literature as the subject for the optional paper. The range of the syllabus for optional paper is more than the Bachelor's Degree level but less than Master's Degree level.
Personality test or Interview is of 275 marks and candidates can choose the language in which they would like to be interviewed. As per their preference, the commission will arrange the translators.
Total marks of the written examination will be 1750 Marks and for the interview will be 275 marks.
