Entry to the Civil Services
The Civil Services Examinations conducted for recruitment to All India Services like Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Services as well as Central Services (Group A and Group B) have been the most popular examinations in India since a long time which draws nearly 1,50,000 candidates on an average every year.
With the introduction of the objective type Preliminary Examination for recruitment to Civil Services, there has been considerable proliferation of candidates. However, statistics shows that almost 40 % candidates do not run the race seriously and only 8-9 % candidates qualify for the main examination.This leaves a very microscopic fraction of the total numbers who finally throw their hats in the ring. Take these statistics as an example---In 1994 main examination 10500 candidates appeared of which 1450 were interviewed and finally 705 were selected. In terms of percentage, 1.27% only were called up to Viva Voce Test. Let us now consider the number of vacancies. For 897 vacancies in the Civil Services candidates who have applied was 1,45,012. This meant that the vacancy-applicant ratio for the Civil Services worked out to 1:161 and vacancy-candidate ratio 1:94.86. It means, for every vacancy, 161 applied and 95 (rounded) took the Preliminary Examination and 10.3 competed at the Main Examination. For Personality Test for every vacancy 2.05 candidates faced the Selection Board conducting only the interviews.
This is in sharp contrast to the position in 1950 when the vacancy-candidate ratio was 1:15 only. Total number of vacancies were 240 only which had to be shared by 3,647 aspirants and those who qualified were interviewed and selections made out of them. This pattern was changed in 1980 following reforms introduced in accordance with recommendations made by Kothari Committee. But the competition remains a tough one.
Pattern of Civil Services Examination
The Civil Services Examinations are held in two phases - the first is called the Preliminary Examination (‘Prelims’) and the second Main Examination (‘Mains’). After that, there is the Personality Test or Viva-Voce before the final selection.
Advertisement - November. Test - Prelims December.
Eligibility - Candidates must be Indian citizens between the ages of 21 and 30 as on 1st August of the year of application (relaxable for special categories). For Assistant Commandant Group 'A' in CISF age limit is 28 years. (Age limit relaxable for special categories). They must be graduates from any recognised Indian university or deemed university or must possess an equivalent qualification. Candidates are allowed to take the Civil Services Examination only thrice - and even dropping out in the middle of an examination is counted as appearing for these once. There are some other restrictions and concessions for particular categories.
Preliminary examination
The Prelims consist of two objective-type multiple choice question papers and carrying a maximum of 450 marks. The first paper of 150 marks is on General Studies. The second one requires candidates to answer questions from any one of the following subjects of their choice (300 marks): Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, Indian History, Law, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics and Zoology.
The question papers are set both in Hindi and English and each paper is of two hours duration. The course content of the syllabus for the optional subjects is of the degree level.
The Prelims are meant to serve only as a screening test and the marks obtained are not counted for determining the final order of merit of the candidates to the Civil Services examination.
Main examination
The number of candidates generally admitted for the Mains is about 12-13 times the total number of estimated vacancies to be filled in that year in the various services and posts. Those obtaining such minimum qualifying marks, as fixed by the Commission, are called for an interview. The number of interviewees is approximately twice the number of the vacancies. Aggregate marks obtained in the Mains (written as well as interview) determines the final ranking of the selected candidate. Selected candidates are then allotted to various services keeping in view their ranks and expressed preferences.
Written examination
The Written Examination consists of eight papers of conventional subjective (essay) type questions each carrying 300 marks. The details are as under :
Paper I One of the Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.)
Paper II English
Paper III Essay
Paper IV and V - General Studies
Paper VI, VII, VIII and IX –
Any two of the following subjects: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Anthropology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce and Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, History, Law, Literature of any one of these languages - Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Marathi, Malayalam, Oriya, Pali, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Arabic, Manipuri, Nepali, Konkani, Assamese, Persian, German, French, Russian and English, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics and Zoology.
Combinations not allowed
- Political Science and Public Administration
- Commerce, Accountancy and Management
- Anthropology and Sociology
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Management and Public Administration
- Engineering Subjects, Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering : not more than one of these subjects.
Question papers are of the conventional essay type, each carrying 300 marks.
The papers on Indian languages and English (I and II) are of qualifying nature and the marks obtained in these are not counted for the ranking. Their standard is of Matriculation level. It is to be noted that the papers on General Studies and the optional subjects (Papers III - VIII) are evaluated only if candidates attain a certain minimum standard in the qualifying papers of Indian languages and English.
There is no compulsion to offer the subjects studied at the graduate level for the Prelims or Mains examination. Many candidates select subjects that are entirely new by them. The trends shows that History, Sociology, Physics, Public Administration and languages like Hindi, English, Language, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil are better scoring.
Interview - It is the last leg of the selection procedure carrying 250 marks with no minimum qualifying marks. The candidate is interviewed by a Board, having before them a record of his/her career. The interview technique used a natural one. Through directed and purposive conversation an attempt is made to understand the candidate’s mental qualities.
The prospective civil servant is expected to show understanding of national and international affairs, trends, currents of thought, new discoveries, etc., besides a firm grasp of the subjects of academic study.
