IAS 2011 Ranker Rohit Shukla Shares Strategy for IAS Mains

May 10, 2013, 12:04 IST

IAS 2011 Ranker Rohit Shukla in an interview to jagranjosh.com shares strategy for IAS Mains. He says that answer writing should be an integral part of the preparation for IAS Mains.

IAS 2011 Ranker Rohit Shukla in an interview to jagranjosh.com shares strategy for IAS Mains. He says that answer writing should be an integral part of the preparation for IAS Mains.

jagranjosh.com: When did you start preparing for the Main examination? What was your medium of the written exam? What were your optional subjects for the Main exam?

Rohit Shukla: In my first attempt, I had started mains preparation after prelims. In my seocnd attempt, it continued with prelims preparation. My optionals were Public Administration and Psychology.

jagranjosh.com: How much time one should devote in preparing for the Main exam? What according to you is the ideal time to start the preparation for Main exam?

Rohit Shukla: Mains preparation should start as early as possible and one should try to finish the optional syllabus at least once very early.If possible optionals should be read once before appearing for prelims.

jagranjosh.com: What was the basis for choosing optional subjects for the Main exam?

Rohit Shukla: My optional selection was based on interest, syllabus and the material available.

jagranjosh.com: Which books did you refer to for preparing for the Optional Paper-I?

Rohit Shukla: For Paper 1 of public administration, I read Fadia and Fadia, Administrative Thinkers by Prasad and Prasad and the book by Nicholas Henry. Apart from these I read class notes of Mr. Pavan Kumar.

For Paper 1 of Psychology I relied on NCERT books of class XI and class XII,books by Baron, Morgan and King, class notes of Goldi Sir .

jagranjosh.com: Which books did you refer to for preparing for the Optional Paper-II?

Rohit Shukla: For Paper 2 of Public administration I read books by Arora and Goyal ,Avasthi and Avasthi . But newspapers are a must for paper 2 since most questions are general and applied in nature.

For Paper 2 of psychology also newspapers are important. Books like Social Psychology by Baron help. But Internet is of great help for paper 2.

jagranjosh.com: What was your strategy to prepare for the optional papers? What should be the criteria to choose the optional subjects?

Rohit Shukla: Answer writing should be an integral part of preparation for optionals.Regular revision and syllabus completion is a must . Optional selection should be based on material available and one’s personal interest.

jagranjosh.com: What was the Indian Language you chose for the Main exam?

Rohit Shukla: Hindi

jagranjosh.com: Even though English and the Indian Language paper are of qualifying nature only, they cannot be taken lightly. What is your advice to IAS aspirants? How should one prepare for these papers?

Rohit Shukla: Yes, these subjects should not be taken lightly. Best way is to solve last ten years question papers of these subjects.

jagranjosh.com: The overall score of top scorers in General Studies has been falling down in the past few years. Do you think that there is a need for creative approach while choosing study material, resources, and making strategies for this exam?

Rohit Shukla: GS score has been falling recently due to UPSC’s more focus on understanding and analytical aspects.Questions are picked from day to day events. Hence only if one is alert , interlinks all subjects and can quickly analyse the question , good marks in GS would be possible.Instead of relying on last month study, GS study should focus on daily news, internet, TV debates and then interlinking these with basic concepts in text books.

jagranjosh.com: How did you plan for the General Studies in the main examination?

Rohit Shukla: I tried to attempt as much as possible those questions which I had some idea about .Writing speed is essential.Understanding of current issues, basics of Economy, Geography is very important. One should try to score maximum marks in the Statistics portion and practice it well.

jagranjosh.com: What was your strategy for the Essay paper? Any tips that will help IAS aspirants write good essay that fetches maximum marks?

Rohit Shukla: For essay, I did not specifically study anything. I just kept on increasing my knowledge base for GS which helped. For essay, correct understanding of the topic is very important. Essay should be interesting to the reader, then it should have a good introduction and conclusion .

jagranjosh.com: How important is time management while writing an essay?

Rohit Shukla: For essay we get 3 hours. One can use 45 minutes for planning and remaining time for writing the essay.

jagranjosh.com: What is your advice for candidates who did not do well in Main Exam?

Rohit Shukla: Once the UPSC provides the mains marks, they should be analysed as to which are the weak areas and then they should be improved. Guidance from teachers can also help.

jagranjosh.com: How important is answer writing practice in the IAS Main exam?

Rohit Shukla: This is the most important part of civil service preparation. Answer writing practice should start very early. Answers should be checked and reviewed periodically to see improvement and drawbacks.

jagranjosh.com: Would you like to give any tips for the preparation of Main exam to the future aspirants?

Rohit Shukla: Choose optionals carefully and then stick to a disciplined plan of study with focus on understanding and answer writing.