Even though the Prelims is the first step for clearing the Civil Services Examination, it is the Mains that defines your chances of being there in the coveted list. It consists of nine papers that are of descriptive type. Out of these two language papers are of qualifying nature and require only minimum marks to clear. The rest of the papers carry 250 marks each making a total of 1750 marks which would be considered for calculating the final ranks.
There are four General Studies Papers (GS I, GS II, GS III and GS IV) for the Mains. Roughly the syllabus for GS Prelims has been further elaborated for the Mains in the papers GS I-III. GS IV is on Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude and is a paper specifically designed for the Mains. I will be speaking about the GS I, GS II and GS III papers in this post.
As is the usual case, to make our work smart, let us initially study the syllabus for the General Studies papers (GS I, II & III) for the Mains. UPSC has given a very elaborate syllabus for the three papers. It is literally a jigsaw puzzle with many repetitions and overlaps of different topics that are spread across the three GS papers . Let us try to put these jumbled pieces in place and thus make things a lot simpler. In this post, I have tried to list out the exact contents of each paper. I have given a comparison with the Prelims syllabus and highlighted the topics specifically for the Mains. I have also tried to club up those topics that are spread across the GS papers.
Paper I
This paper consists of the subjects History, Geography and Sociology.
History
The following sections are covered:
- Modern Indian History from the mid of the eighteenth century (i.e. right from the period of British domination in India) through the Indian freedom struggle and the post independence consolidation.
- Indian art and culture.
- Modern world history (i.e. from the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century) - This is a section specifically for the Mains and is not covered for the Prelims syllabus.
Geography
The subject is traditionally divided into three parts - physical, economic and human geography. We need to club up the different topics which are rather spread across in the syllabus as follows:
Physical geography
- Salient features of world physical geography, their changes and effects
- Geophysical phenomena such as earthquake, tsunami etc.
- Distribution of key natural resources across the world;factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India)
- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc - This section finds mention only in GS III, but it fits better here. Accordingly, it is better to study this section under Economic Geography.
Human Geography
- Population and associated issues
- Urbanization and globalization and their effects on Indian society.
Sociology
A part of this subject is studied in the Prelims under the head social Geography. But we have to elaborate it further for the Mains. The important sections as given in Mains syllabus are:
- Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India
- Role of women and women’s organization
- Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism
Paper II
This consists of Indian Polity, Governance and International Relations.
Indian Polity
All the conventional areas given in the Prelims related to Indian Polity need to be covered. The GS II syllabus specifically mentions about some new topics also. They are as follows
- Dispute Redressal Mechanisms
- Representation of People Act
- Statutory, regulatory and quasi-judicial bodies
- Dispute Redressal Mechanisms
- Representation of People Act
- Statutory, regulatory and quasi-judicial bodies
Governance
Under Governance, there are certain new areas that are not part of the Prelims syllabus. Hence they have to be studied separately for Mains.
- Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications,models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
- Pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
- Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders
- Role of civil services in a democracy.
International Relations
This is a topic specifically for the Mains. It consists of:
- India and the world
- Global, regional and bilateral groupings, and international institutions related to India.
Paper III
This paper consists of a wide range of topics - Indian Economy, Agriculture, Environment, Science & Technology and Internal Security.
Indian Economy
It consists of the following traditional areas of Indian Economy:
- Issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
- Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
- Government Budgeting.
- Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
Agriculture
This topic is shared conventionally by Geography and Economy. But for the Mains, it is better to deal it as a separate topic since UPSC gives special stress to it. As per the syllabus, agriculture consists of the following sections:
- Major crops and cropping patterns in the country
- Types of irrigation systems
- Storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and related issues
- Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices;
- Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping;
- Technology in agriculture.
- Food processing and related industries in India
- Economics of animal-rearing.
- Land reforms in India.
Environment
It covers the traditional topics of Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation and is similar to the Prelims syllabus. Apart from these, there are new topics for the Mains as follows:
- Environmental impact assessment
- Disaster and disaster management
Science and Technology
The following sections are mentioned under S&T for the Mains- S&T in everyday life
- Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology and bio-technology
- Achievements of Indians; indigenization of technology.
- Intellectual property rights.
While the initial two are also covered for the Prelims, the final two are to be covered specifically for the Mains.
Internal security
This is a topic specifically for the Mains. It contains the following sections:
- 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
- Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism
- Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate
Government Programmes and Policies - a common factor in GS
A major portion of the questions for both the Prelims and Mains are related to this topic. The Prelims syllabus mentions about the "Current Affairs" or "Public Policy". For the Mains, the GS I and GS II syllabi refers to welfare schemes in different contexts. These can be asked in GS III also though its syllabus do not specifically refer to such a topic. Summing up, the following sections are listed in the syllabus:
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
- 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.
Strategy for the Mains
The core topics for the Prelims and Mains are almost the same. We have to further elaborate on the Prelims subjects while preparing for the Mains. While the Prelims relies on conceptual understanding of the subjects, Mains focuses upon the application of these concepts. As a result, there is greater stress on the current topics and the candidate should be able to connect this to the basic concepts that he/she has learnt. This is particularly important to GS papers II and III. Lastly, since the Mains is of descriptive nature mere learning won't help us that much. Ability to express what you have learnt clearly and precisely within the stipulated time is the key to succeed in Mains. Though this is a gradual process, the candidate need to consistently practise and perfect his/her writing as part of the preparation for Mains.
