UPSC Syllabus – Civil Services Preliminary Exam

UPSC Syllabus for Paper-I – 200 marks

This objective paper is for a duration of two hours. There will be 100 questions. Marks of only this paper is counted to decide the toppers of the preliminary exam. The syllabus of GS Paper 1 is given below.

• 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.

UPSC Syllabus for Paper-II – 200 marks

This objective paper is for a duration of two hours. There will be 80 questions. This paper is only qualifying in nature. Aspirants just need to ensure that they score at least 33% marks in this paper. The syllabus of GS Paper 2 (CSAT) is given below.

• 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).

UPSC Syllabus - MAINS

• The Mains examination is the 2nd phase of the UPSC examination
• The Mains examination consists of 9 papers, out of 9, two papers are qualifying papers of 300 marks each
• These two qualifying papers are English Language Papers and Any Indian Language
• The papers on General Studies, Essay and Optional Subjects of only those candidates who gets 25% marks in both language exam papers

PAPER - I

• Essay: Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics (Generally 2)

UPSC Mains GS-I (Paper II)

• Indian Heritage and Culture, Geography and History of the World & Society
• Modern Indian History from about the middle of the 18th century until the present, personalities, issues, significant events
• Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of literature, architecture, art forms
• The freedom struggles of various stages and contributions from different parts of the country
• History of the world will include the events from the 18th century as an industrial revolution, colonization, political philosophies, communism, capitalism, etc. their forms and effects
• Salient features of Indian Society and Diversity of India
• Role of women and women’s organizations
• Poverty and developmental issues, urbanization and their problems and remedies
• Communalism, social-empowerment, secularism and regionalism
• Salient features of the world’s physical geography
• Distribution of key natural resources across the world
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, cyclones 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

UPSC Mains GS-II (Paper III)

• Indian Constitution – Historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges about 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, the conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these
• Structure, organisation 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 the 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 neighbourhood- 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

UPSC Mains GS-III (Paper IV)

• Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, 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 liberalisation on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth
• Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways and others
• Investment models
• Science and technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
• Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and development of 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 the 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, the 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

UPSC Mains GS-IV (Paper V)

• 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; the 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 weaker-sections
• Emotional intelligence concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance
• Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the 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, Utilisation of public funds, challenges of corruption
• Case Studies on the above issues

IAS Syllabus for UPSC Mains Optional Paper (VI & VII)

• Agriculture
• Animal husbandry and Veterinary Science
• Anthropology
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Commerce and Accountancy
• Economics
• Electrical Engineer
• Geography
• Geology
• History of India
• Law
• Management
• Maths
• Mechanical Engineer
• Medical Science
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Political science and International relations
• Psychology
• Public administration
• Sociology
• Statistics
• Zoology

The Literature optional subjects 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 and English.