Scheme and subjects for the Preliminary and Main Examinations.
Section‐I
Plan of Examination
The competitive examination comprises two successive stages:
Civil Services (Preliminary) Examinations (ObjectiveType) for the selection of candidates for Main Examination
Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various services and posts.
The 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 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 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 Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission, to the Main Examination.
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 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–Ito Paper‐VII) and Marks obtained in Interview for Personality Test will be counted for ranking.
Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Main Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for an interview for a Personality Test, vide sub‐section ‘C’ of Section II. The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled. The interview will carry 275 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks).
Section - II
Scheme and subjects for the Preliminary and Main Examination.
A. Preliminary Examination
The Examination shall comprise two compulsory papers of 200marks each.
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 | Subject Name | Marks |
| Paper-1 | Essay | 250 |
| Paper-2 | General Studies–I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) | 250 |
| Paper-3 | General Studies –II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) | 250 |
| Paper-4 | General Studies –III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio‐diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) | 250 |
| Paper-5 | General Studies –IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) | 250 |
| Paper-6 | Optional Subject – Paper 1 | 250 |
| Paper-7 | Optional Subject – Paper 2 | 250 |
| Sub Total (Written test) | 1750 |
| Personality Test | 275 |
| Grand Total | 2025 |
Candidates may choose any one of the optional subjects from amongst the list of subjects given below:
Language Script
Assamese Assamese
Bengali Bengali
Gujarati Gujarati
Hindi Devanagari
Kannada Kannada
Kashmiri Persian
Konkani Devanagari
Malayalam Malayalam
Manipuri Bengali
Marathi Devanagari
Nepali Devanagari
Oriya Oriya
Punjabi Gurumukhi
Sanskrit Devanagari
Sindhi Devanagari or Arabic
Tamil Tamil
Telugu Telugu
Urdu Persian
Bodo Devanagari
Dogri Devanagari
Maithilli Devanagari
Santhali Devanagari or Olchiki
List of optional subjects for Main Examination:
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce and Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Law
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Science
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science and International Relations
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Zoology
- Literature 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.
C. Interview Test
- The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of his career. He will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers. The test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. In broad terms this is really an assessment of not only his intellectual qualities but also social traits and his 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.
- The technique of the interview 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.
- The interview test is not intended to be a test either of the specialised 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.
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