Constitutional Provisions

• Article-315. Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the States.
• Article-316. Appointment and term of office of members.
• Article-317. Removal and suspension of a member of a Public Service Commission.
• Article-318. Power to make regulations as to conditions of service of members and staff of the Commission.
• Article-319. Prohibition as to the holding of offices by members of Commission on ceasing to be such members.
• Article-320. Functions of Public Service Commissions.
• Article-321. Power to extend functions of Public Service Commissions.
• Article-322. Expenses of Public Service Commissions.
• Article-323. Reports of Public Service Commissions.

Functions

1. Conduct examinations for appointment to the services of the Union.
2. Direct recruitment by selection through interviews.
3. Appointment of officers on promotion / deputation / absorption.
4. Framing and amendment of Recruitment Rules for various services and posts under the Government.
5. Disciplinary cases relating to different Civil Services.
6. Advising the Government on any matter referred to the Commission by the President of India.

UPSC CIVIL SERVICE EXAM PATTERN

PLAN OF EXAMINATION

About UPSC Civil Service Preliminary Exam

Article-315. Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the States.

• Each Question of General Studies (Paper I) consists of 2 marks. Similarly, every question asked in General Studies CSAT (Paper II) carries 2.5 marks.
• This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.
• The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total
• The General Studies (Paper II) CSAT will be of qualifying nature and it is mandatory for all candidates to score a minimum of 33% in the paper to qualify the Preliminary round.
• There will be negative marking for incorrect answers.
• There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.

UPSC Civil Service Preliminary Exam Pattern

Name of Paper	No of Questions	Total Marks	Duration
General Studies Paper - I	100	200	2 hours
General Studies Paper – II (CSAT)	80	200	2 hours

UPSC Civil Service Main Exam Pattern

• The Main Examination will consist of written examination and an interview test.
• The written examination will consist of 9 papers of conventional essay type in the subjects Language papers will be of qualifying in nature.
• 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 Essay, 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.
• The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim
• Marks obtained by the candidates for the Paper I to VII (GS Paper-I to GS Paper-VII) only will be counted for merit ranking. However, the Commission will have the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all of these papers.
• Paper-I to Paper-VII are compulsory papers and Marks obtained in Interview for Personality Test will be counted for ranking.
• The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice of the number of vacancies to be filled. The interview will carry 275 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks).
• Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine their final ranking. Candidates will be allotted to the various Services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and posts.

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

Paper	Subject	Marks	Duration
Paper - I	Essay	250	3 hours
Paper - II	General Studies-I(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)	250	3 hours
Paper - III	General Studies -II(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)	250	3 hours
Paper – IV	General Studies -III(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)	250	3 hours
Paper – V	General Studies -IV(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)	250	3 hours
Paper – VI	Optional Subject - Paper 1	250	3 hours
Paper – VII	Optional Subject - Paper II	250	3 hours
	Sub Total (Written test)	1750
	Personality Test	275
	Grand Total	2025

SYLLABI FOR THE 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.

• 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);

Part B—Main Examination

QUALIFYING PAPERS ON INDIAN LANGUAGES AND ENGLISH

• Comprehension of given passages.
• Précis Writing.
• Usage and Vocabulary.
• Short Essays.

• Comprehension of given passages.
• Précis Writing.
• Usage and Vocabulary.
• Short Essays.
• Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice-versa.

PAPER-I

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 fromancient to modern times.
• Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the presentsignificant events, personalities, issues.
• The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions fromdifferent 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, worldwars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies likecommunism, 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 anddevelopmental 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 sectorindustries in various parts of the world (including India).
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cycloneetc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (includingwater-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, significantprovisions and basic structure.
• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining tothe federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challengestherein.
• 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 andDepartments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and theirrole in the Polity.
• Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
• Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of variousConstitutional Bodies.
• Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising outof their design and implementation.
• Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groupsand associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and theperformance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for theprotection 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 & accountabilityand 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’sinterests.
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indiandiaspora.
• Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their 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,developmentand employment.
• Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
• Government Budgeting.
• Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation andirrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues andrelated constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
• Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; PublicDistribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks andfood security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
• Food processing and related industries in India- scope’ and significance, location, upstream anddownstream requirements, supply chain management.
• Land reforms in India.
• Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects onindustrial 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 developingnew technology.
• Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology andissues 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 socialnetworking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering andits prevention.
• Security challenges and their management in border areas linkages of organized crime withterrorism.
• Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

PAPER-V

General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

• Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-humanactions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships. Human Values lessonsfrom the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of familysociety 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 theweaker-sections.
• Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration andgovernance.
• Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
• Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethicalconcerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations andconscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengtheningof 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 ofpublic funds, challenges of corruption.
• Case Studies on above issues.

PAPER-VI & PAPER VII

Optional Subject Papers I & II

Economics	Philosophy	Public Administration
Geography	Political Science	Sociology
Indian History	Psychology	Law

Agriculture	Chemistry	Physics
Animal Husbandry and	Mathematics	Zoology
Veterinary Science	Statistics	Anthropology
Botany	Medical Science	Geology

Civil Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Commerce

Management

Assamese	Konkani	Sanskrit
Bengali	Maithili	Santali
Bodo	Malayalam	Sindhi
Dogri	Manipuri	Tamil
Gujarati	Marathi	Telugu
Hindi	Nepali	Urdu
Kannada	Oriya	English
Kashmiri	Punjabi