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Law, government & policy

Civil Service

Civil servants run the government's departments and put its policies and services into practice for the public. Indian citizens with a degree in any subject can sit the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) Civil Services Examination between the ages of 21 and 32, and it leads to services such as the IAS (Indian Administrative Service), IPS (Indian Police Service) and IFS (Indian Foreign Service).

This guide is maintained by WonderSkool. Course requirements, fees and admissions information can change; always confirm time-sensitive details with the relevant institution or authority.

INTRODUCTION

The primary goal of civil service is to provide services to the public. The way to serve public is constantly evolving. It involves working with the government to create and implement new policies and services, dealing directly with the public.
Civil service, the backbone of the Indian government machinery constitutes all the departments which run the State administration.

SKILL SET

  • Analytical
  • Self motivated
  • A responsible attitude
  • Excellent communication skills
  • A hunger for improving knowledge
  • Keen interest in the General Studies
  • Individual player
  • Socialist

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

  • Nationality: A citizen of India
  • Age Limits: Candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st August of the year in which examination is being held. Some relaxations for special categories.
  • Qualification: Graduation in any stream

Career options in CIVIL SERVICES

Following are the services which one gets on qualifying the Civil Service Examination.[12]

All India Services

  • Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
  • Indian Police Service(IPS)

Central Services (Group A)

  • Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
  • Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS)
  • Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS)
  • Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS)
  • Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
  • Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS)
  • Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES)
  • Indian Information Service (IIS)
  • Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)
  • Indian Postal Service (IPoS)
  • Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)
  • Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)
  • Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)
  • Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT)
  • Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
  • Indian Trade Service (ITrS)
  • Railway Protection Force (RPF)

Group B Services

  • Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHCS)
  • Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS)
  • Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS)
  • Pondicherry Civil Service (PCS)
  • Pondicherry Police Service (PPS)

Way to Civil Service

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to various Civil Services.

It is conducted in Following phases

  • Preliminary examination,
  • Main examination,
  • Personality Test (Interview)

The entire process from the notification of the Preliminary examination to declaration of the final results takes roughly one year.

First Stage-Preliminary Exam

This is qualifying test held in August every year, Notification for this is published in May and results are published in mid-October.

Both papers have multiple choice objective type questions only

Paper No.

Subject

Details

Duration

Marks

1

General Studies

Will be counted for qualifying to the Mains exam

2 Hours

200

2

Aptitude Test

Of qualifying nature, must score at least 33%. Marks not counted for going to mains

2 Hours

200

The merit determined purely on the basis of marks obtained in the General Studies Paper I, provided the candidate has minimum qualifying marks for General Studies Paper II. Prelims merit ranking will be out of 200 marks

Second Stage- Main Examination

  • Main Examination includes written examination and an interview test.
  • 9 papers of conventional essay type.
  • Duration: 3 hour each
  • First two papers (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.
  • 25% marks in Paper A and 25% marks in Paper B as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.
  • 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.

Test Pattern of Civil Services

Paper No

Type

Marks

1

Essay

250

2

General Studies – I

(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World & Society)

250

3

General Studies – II

(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)

250

4

General Studies – III

(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security & Disaster Management)

250

5

General Studies – IV

(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)

250

6

Optional Subject – Paper 1

250

7

Optional Subject – Paper 2

250

Sub Total (Written test)

1750

Personality Test

275

Grand Total

2025

Disclaimer: The information provided here is best to our knowledge. It is highly recommended that you should cross-check the source of information through the specific Colleges and Institutes. WonderSkool (CareerPrabhu Education Private Limited) is in no way responsible for the decisions made solely on the basis of this document.