APPENDIX I

SECTION I : PLAN OF EXAMINATION

The Civil Services Examination comprises two successive stages:
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates
for Civil Services (Main) Examination; and
(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview/Personality Test) for the
selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.
2. The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type
(multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks in the subjects set out in
sub-section (A) of Section II. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks
obtained in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination by the candidates who are declared
qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for
determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Civil
Services (Main) Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number
of vacancies to be filled in the year through this Examination. Only those candidates who are
declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination in
the year will be eligible for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination of that year
provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination.
Note I : The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for Civil Services (Main)
Examination based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in General Studies
Paper-II of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and total qualifying marks of General Studies
Paper-I of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination as may be determined by the Commission.
Note II : There will be negative marking for incorrect answers as detailed below :
(i) 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.
(ii) If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one
of the given answers happen to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that
question.
(iii) If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty

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 for that question.
3. The Civil Services (Main) Examination will consist of a Written Examination and an
Interview/Personality Test. The Written Examination will consist of 9 papers of conventional
essay type in the subjects set out in sub-section (B) of Section-II out of which two papers will be of
qualifying in nature. [Also see Note (ii) under Para-I of Section II-(B)]. Marks obtained for all the
compulsory papers (Paper-I to Paper-VII) and Marks obtained in Interview/Personality Test will
be counted for ranking.
4.1 Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Civil
Services (Main) Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be
summoned by them for an Interview/Personality Test, vide sub-section (C) of Section-II. The
number of candidates to be summoned for Interview/Personality Test will be about twice of the
number of vacancies to be filled. The Interview/Personality Test will carry 275 marks (with no
minimum qualifying marks).
4.2 Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written part
as well as Interview/Personality Test) 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.

SECTION II: Scheme and Subjects for the Preliminary and Main Examination

A. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION:
The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.
Note:
(i) Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions) and
each will be of two hours duration.
(ii) The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a
qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
(iii) The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.
(iv) Details of the syllabi are indicated in Part A of Section III.
B. MAIN EXAMINATION:
The Written Examination will consist of the following papers:—
Qualifying Papers:
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
English 300 Marks
Papers to be counted for merit :
Paper‐I
Essay 250 Marks
Paper‐II

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General Studies‐I 250 Marks
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
Paper‐III
General Studies ‐II 250 Marks
(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
Paper‐IV
General Studies ‐III 250 Marks
(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster
Management)
Paper‐V
General Studies ‐IV 250 Marks
(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
Paper‐VI
Optional Subject ‐ Paper 1 250 Marks
Paper‐VII
Optional Subject ‐ Paper 2 250 Marks
Sub Total (Written test) 1750 Marks
Personality Test 275 Marks
Grand Total 2025 Marks

Candidates may choose any one of the optional subjects from amongst the list of subjects
given in para 2 below:—
Note :
(i) 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.
(ii) 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 Éssay', 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.
(iii) The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing
from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.
(iv) The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for Candidates
belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disability (only Hearing Impairment sub-category)
provided that they have been granted such exemption from 2nd or 3rd language courses
by the concerned education Board/University. The candidate needs to provide an
undertaking/self declaration in this regard in order to claim such an exemption to the
Commission.

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 (v) Marks obtained by the candidates for the Paper I-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.
(vi) For the Language medium/literature of languages, the scripts to be used by the
candidates will be as under :—
Language Script
Assamese Assamese
Bengali Bengali
Gujarati Gujarati
Hindi Devanagari
Kannada Kannada
Kashmiri Persian
Konkani Devanagari
Malayalam Malayalam
Manipuri Bengali
Marathi Devanagari
Nepali Devanagari
Odia Odia
Punjabi Gurumukhi
Sanskrit Devanagari
Sindhi Devanagari or Arabic
Tamil Tamil
Telugu Telugu
Urdu Persian
Bodo Devanagari
Dogri Devanagari
Maithilli Devanagari
Santhali Devanagari or Olchiki
Note : For Santhali language, question paper will be printed in Devanagari script; but candidates
will be free to answer either in Devanagari script or in Olchiki.

2. List of optional subjects for Main Examination:

(i) Agriculture
(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
(iii) Anthropology
(iv) Botany
(v) Chemistry
(vi) Civil Engineering
(vii) Commerce and Accountancy
(viii) Economics
(ix) Electrical Engineering

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 (x) Geography
(xi) Geology
(xii) History
(xiii) Law
(xiv) Management
(xv) Mathematics
(xvi) Mechanical Engineering
(xvii) Medical Science
(xviii) Philosophy
(xix) Physics
(xx) Political Science and International Relations
(xxi) Psychology
(xxii) Public Administration
(xxiii) Sociology
(xxiv) Statistics
(xxv) Zoology
(xxvi) Literature of any one of the following languages:
Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili,
Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu
and English.

Note :
(i) The question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type.
(ii) Each paper will be of three hours duration.
(iii) Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the Qualifying
Language Papers, Paper-A and Paper-B, in any one of the languages included in the Eighth
Schedule to the Constitution of India or in English. Notwithstanding this, the Candidate
will have the choice to write the Optional Papers in English also if candidates opt to write
Paper I-V except the Qualifying Language Papers, Paper-A and Paper-B, in any one of the
language included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
(iv) Candidates exercising the option to answer Papers in any one of the languages included in
the Eight Schedule to the Constitution of India mentioned above may, if they so desire,
give English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms, if any,
in addition to the version in the language opted by them. Candidates should, however,
note that if they misuse the above rule, a deduction will be made on this account from the
total marks otherwise accruing to them and in extreme cases; their script(s) will not be
valued for being in an unauthorized medium.
(v) Candidates should note that if any irrelevant matter/signages/marks etc. are found
written in the answer script(s), which would not be related to any question/answer
and/or would be having the potential to disclose the candidate’s identity, the Commission
will impose a penalty of deduction of marks from the total marks otherwise accruing to

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C. Interview/Personality Test
The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of the
candidate’s career. The candidate will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The
object of the Interview/Personality Test is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a
career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers. The
Interview/Personality Test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. In broad terms
this is really an assessment of not only intellectual qualities but also social traits and interest in
current affairs. Some of the qualities to be judged are mental alertness, critical powers of
assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest,
ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.

2. The technique of the Interview/Personality Test is not that of a strict cross-examination but
of a natural, though directed and purposive conversation which is intended to reveal the mental
qualities of the candidate.3. The Interview/Personality Test is not intended to be a test either of
the specialized or general knowledge of the candidates which has been already tested through
their written papers. Candidates are expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in their
special subjects of academic study but also in the events which are happening around them both
within and outside their own State or Country as well as in modern currents of thought and in new
discoveries which should rouse the curiosity of well-educated youth.

SECTION III: SYLLABI FOR THE EXAMINATION

Note: Candidates are advised to go through the Syllabus published in this Section for the
Preliminary Examination and the Main Examination, as periodic revision of syllabus has been done
in several subjects.
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.
Paper II‐(200 marks) Duration : Two hours
 Comprehension;
 Interpersonal skills including communication skills;

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  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);
Note 1 : Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with
minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
Note 3 : It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim)
Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in
case he/she does not appear in both the papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.
Part B—Main Examination
The main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of
understanding of candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory.

The nature and standard of questions in the General Studies papers (Paper II to Paper V) will
be such that a well-educated person will be able to answer them without any specialized study.
The questions will be such as to test a candidate’s general awareness of a variety of subjects, which
will have relevance for a career in Civil Services. The questions are likely to test the candidate’s
basic understanding of all relevant issues, and ability to analyze, and take a view on conflicting
socio-economic goals, objectives and demands. The candidates must give relevant, meaningful and
succinct answers.

The scope of the syllabus for optional subject papers (Paper VI and Paper VII) for the
examination is broadly of the honours degree 1evel i.e. a level higher than the bachelors’ degree
and lower than the masters’ degree. In the case of Engineering, Medical Science and law, the level
corresponds to the bachelors’ degree.

Syllabi of the papers included in the scheme of Civil Services (Main) Examination are given as
follows :—
QUALIFYING PAPERS ON INDIAN LANGUAGES AND ENGLISH
The aim of the paper is to test the candidates' ability to read and understand serious
discursive prose, and to express ideas clearly and correctly, in English and Indian language
concerned.
The pattern of questions would be broadly as follows :
(i) Comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precis Writing.
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essays.
Indian Languages :—

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(i) comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precis Writing.
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essays.
(v) Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice-versa.
Note 1 : The papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent
standard and will be of qualifying nature only. The marks obtained in these papers will not be
counted for ranking.
Note 2 : The candidates will have to answer the English and Indian Languages papers in English
and the respective Indian language (except where translation is involved).
PAPER‐I
Essay: Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. 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‐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 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
sub-continent); 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

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 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‐III
General Studies‐ II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International
relations.
 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

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 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‐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,
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.

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  Security challenges and their management in border areas - linkages of organized crime with
terrorism.
 Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.
PAPER‐V
General Studies‐ IV: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude
 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 weaker-sections.
 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‐VI & PAPER VII
Optional Subject Papers I & II
Candidate may choose any optional subject from amongst the List of Optional Subjects given
in Para 2.

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