BY Ashirwad Publications
The Civil Services Examination is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India. The eligibility is simple, you just have to be of Indian nationality and be a graduate from any recognized institute. The exam is conducted in three phases - a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II also popularly known as Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT), and a main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted followed by a personality test (interview).
Stage I is the Preliminary Examination which is held in June every year and its results are announced in August. Stage II is the Mains for which the examination is held in October every year and the results are announced in January. It is followed by a Personality Test (interview) which is held in March and the final results are usually announced in May. The training program for the selected candidates commences the following September and they will recruit people for the posts of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Forest Service (IFoS), and Indian Police Service (IPS). The pattern of the Prelims includes two papers of two hours duration and 200 marks each. Both papers have multiple choice objective type questions only. So you have to study from the best books for upsc to keep up with the tests.
Now that you are well versed with the structure of the exam, you need to focus on the syllabus for each exam separately. Syllabus for Paper I includes current events, history of India and Indian national movement, Indian and world geography, Indian polity panchayati Raj system and governance, economic and social development, environmental ecology, biodiversity, climate change and general science, Art and culture. So it is advised to get history books for upsc to start off your preparation. Once done with it, you can go ahead with the rest of the subjects.
Syllabus for paper II includes comprehension, interpersonal skills, communication, logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making, problem solving, basic numeracy, data interpretation, English language comprehension skills and mental ability. It is qualifying in nature and the marks obtained in this paper are not counted for merit, it makes you eligible for the Mains. This is generally a tougher level examination and the books for upsc mains are more diverse. The range of questions may vary from just one mark to sixty marks, twenty words to 600 words answers. Apart from the two papers that are only qualifying in nature, paper I is essay, paper II is Indian heritage and culture, history and geography of the world and society, paper III is Governance, constitution, polity, social justice and international relations, paper IV is Technology, economic development, biodiversity, environment, security and disaster management and paper V is ethics, integrity and aptitude. The last two papers are on one subject that is to be selected by the candidate from a list of optional subjects.
Our advice would be to take things one day at a time. Get your books for upsc prelims, make a schedule and include in it only the syllabus which will help you in scoring for the next stage. Get your books for each subject and keep going through them. After you have spent days on one book, pick it up the next day for a revision. The UPSC are a big commitment and you must only invest in the best study material. To keep a check on your syllabus you can join a coaching centre and take tests.