IAS officer is considered a symbol of power and prestige in Indian society. The keys to all government machinery in India are in the hands of IAS officers. It is also worth knowing that the city's superintendent of police also works under the IAS (DM) in most of the states. The IAS officer has unlimited powers, due to which the responsibilities and prestige of this post increase further.
Choosing the right person for such a huge responsibility is a very big responsibility in itself, so the Civil Services Examination is designed in such a way that only talented candidates can pass this exam. In the Civil Services Examination, only 1000 out of 6 lakhs candidates are selected, and from ordinary graduates to doctors, engineers, scientists all compete in this examination. Therefore, the selection in this examination is very difficult, hence the Civil Services Examination is considered the most difficult exam in our country.
Every student thinks of becoming an IAS officer once in his life. The honour, social prestige, and power associated with this service are so high that it motivates every individual to become an IAS Officer. The power of this service is not limited to a blue beacon car or a hooter but it also has the ability to influence and change the life of every single person. This is India's top government job, which affects every citizen's life.
How to get selected in IAS Exam
IAS is not a service but it is a big responsibility. The IAS officer provides the right direction to all the efforts of all stakeholders at more than one level. He works as a leader in the district and motivates everyone to do good work.
Whether it is a city or a district, be it a State Government or a Government of India, IAS officers are posted at the top of every department. Let us see the journey of becoming an IAS Officer from IAS Form filling.
Notification
Every year, the Union Public Service Commission issues the notification for Civil Services Exam in the month of February, which includes advertisements for approximately 24 Central Civil Services along with IAS. In India, IAS - Indian Administrative Service, IPS - Indian Police Service and IFoS -Indian Forest Service are notified as All India Service. The remaining services come in Central Civil Services. They have IFS - Indian Foreign Service at the top.
About 6 lakh candidates fill the form every year for the Civil Services examination but only 1000 candidates are finally selected. This means that passing percentage is very low. In addition to that, if the number of seats decreases, the passing percentage will decrease further.
Eligibility Conditions
Citizenship
The citizens of Tibet's Refugee Families, Nepal, and Bhutan, along with Indian citizens, can apply in this examination, but for recruitment in IAS and IPS, the candidate must be a citizen of India. In this examination, people of Indian origin who are in different countries can also fill the form.
Educational Qualification
The educational qualification required for this examination is Graduate in any discipline. There is no minimum percentage required in graduation. The only essential condition is that the graduate degree should be from a Government recognised University. The exam is so designed that the persons from different backgrounds are placed at the level playing field. There is no advantage to the candidates, who have better marks in their degree course only the civil services exam marks matters.
The candidates who are in the final year of their graduation course can also apply with the condition that they shall reproduce their graduation mark sheet at the time of verification.
Age Criteria
Candidate must have attained a minimum age of 21 years for this examination. The separate maximum Age limit has been set for different categories. 32 years for general category, 35 years for OBC and 37 years for SC and ST have been prescribed. There is even more relaxation in the disabled category.
Age will be calculated from date 1st August of the notification year.
Restriction on the filling of forms
Candidates who have been selected in the IAS-Indian Administrative Service or IFS - Indian Foreign Service in any of the previous exams and continue to be a member of that service, cannot fill the civil services exam form again.
Some important facts related to filling the form
When filling the form, the candidate has to fill all the basic information such as name, father's name, mother's name etc. The centre for the Civil Services Exam is also to be marked. This examination is conducted simultaneously at different centres of 72 cities in the country.
Another important thing is that the candidates will also have to choose an optional subject for the Civil Services Main Examination when filling the form. In the Notification, one of the 26 optional subjects is to be selected and to be marked in the form. When filling the form, the candidates are also required to fill the medium of their examination. They can take the exam in Hindi as well as English in the IAS Prelims Exam.
When filling out the form, the candidates need to specify the services of their choice. This is also called as the service preference. At the same time, the candidates have to give a list of states of their choice in a serial number format where they would like to serve. For this, the candidates would not have asked any questions while filling the form.
Attempts
An attempt has been set for candidates of each category in this examination. Attempt means that the candidates of any category can participate in this examination. 6 Attempts are set for the general category. There is no limit for 9 Attempts and SC-ST for the Other Backward Classes. The point of attention is that the attempt is not counted to fill the form. An attempt is included in any one paper of the initial examination as an Attempt.
Plan of Exam
The UPSC conducts this examination in two phases: - The first stage is the Preliminary examination and the second stage is the main examination. The main exam consists of two parts - the first main written examination and the second- interview phase. The marks of IAS Preliminary Examination are not added to the final merit. This examination is just to reduce the number of candidates so it is only qualifying. The final merit list is formed on the basis of earned marks in both parts of the main exam.
Civil Service Prelims Exam Syllabus
The Civil Services Prelims Examination consists of two papers. First paper covers all areas of General Studies. These topics include History, Geography, Economy, Current Events, General Science, Environment, Technology, Indian Polity, and Governance etc.
The second paper s only qualifying in nature. The second paper consists of English Comprehensions, logical reasoning, basic numeracy, and other aptitude related topics.
Civil Service Prelims Examination
The first stop for Civil Services Examination Civil Services is the preliminary examination which is organized jointly at various centers of 72 cities across India in the month of June. Civil Service Prelims Examination is organized every year by the UPSC, the country's most prestigious institution. About 6 lakh people fill the forms for the exam and about 5 lakh people take the exam.
This examination is organized in two shifts. There are two papers in the IAS Prelims Examination. The first is General Studies I which is linked to general study subjects and the second is a General Studies II paper which is associated with Aptitude and only qualifying in nature and does not add to the merit of the Prelims examination.
The first paper consists of 100 questions and the time limit is 2 hours. Each question is of 2 marks. In the same way, the second paper has 80 questions and the time limit is 2 hours. There is a negative marking of 1/3 in this examination.
About 5 lakh candidates participate in this one-day exam. Only about 15 thousand candidates are selected in this exam for the IAS Main Exam.
Details about the IAS Prelims Exam
Civil Services Main Examination / Civil Services Main Examination
The result of the IAS Prelims Examination is declared by the end of July and every candidate who passes it, they have to apply online again to fill the Civil Services Main Examination form, for which about 20 days are given. It is also called the Detail Application Form. It is of great importance in the IAS Interview. All papers in this examination are subjective and all have a time limit of 3 hours.
There are two types of papers in the Civil Services Main Examination. One, those papers which are common to all, and there are other optional subject papers which are different for each subject. Candidates choose an optional subject and give their papers. The Civil Services Main Exam consists of 9 papers, which have a total of 1750 marks. In this, you have to focus more on 7 out of 9 subjects. Because merit is created from 7 subject papers. English and general language paper only have to be passed and its marks are not counted for the final merit. The candidates need to write the answers in the medium specified in the application form.
English and Indian language paper are required to get only 25% marks. Compulsory paper of Indian language is not mandatory for the candidates of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim. Both of these papers are of 300 marks. All the remaining papers are of 250 marks.
Number of papers in IAS Main Exam
The Civil Services Main Exam consists of 9 papers, which have a total of 1750 marks. There are 4 papers of general studies. There is a paper of essay, one English and one language paper. Two paper options are of the subject. All of these papers are conducted on weekend, so this test lasted for two weeks. After the paper, the result of the Civil Services Main Exam comes in March of the following year.
Civil Services Main Exam Syllabus
Civil Services Essay Paper - 2 essays have to be written in 3 hours out of the given topics in this paper. Each essay is of 125 marks. Topics are given from Indian Polity, Society, Technology, Philosophy etc.
General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History, and Geography of the World and Society.
General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.
General Studies Paper IV has Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude.
Generally speaking, what do you think, how your thoughts are. (Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude) How do you react to an event? What is happiness like?
The answer is different for different people. A soldier may be happy to win on the front and a student may be happy to top it in the exam.
Most Important topics for IAS Prelims Exam
Civil Service Main Examination
There are 20 questions in all General Studies papers, which have to be answered in 3 hours. 150 words for every 10 marks and 250 words for 15 marks have also been set. But there are case studies in ethics paper, so only 12 questions are asked in it. Paper structure is not fixed and it can change any year. There are 8 questions in the Optional Subject paper, which have to answer within 3 hours.
The number of selected candidates in the Civil Services Main(written) Exam is 2.5 times the number of the advertised seats. That is, out of approximately 15,000, only 2500 are selected for the IAS interview. This is the toughest phase of civil service, and if the selection is made here, then the final selection of the chances is greatly increased.
Personality Test or IAS Interview
The result of the Civil Services Main Examination (written) comes in the month of March of the following year. The interview is the second part of the Civil Services Main Examination. This is called Personality Test. This interview is of 275 marks. It is also called IAS interview in general parlance. Its syllabus is not fixed and most of the questions are asked by the Detailed Application Form (DAF). Therefore, DAF should be filled with very caution and truth.
Candidates for the IAS interview are required to come to the UPSC, Dholpur House building located in the Delhi. Verification of all the original documents of the candidates is done here and it is done in a common hall. An interview panel is formed, under the chairmanship of the UPSC's members, to take interviews. Veterans associated with different areas of the country are invited in the interview panel. In the IAS Interview, the candidate's confidence, attitude, and problem-solving skills are checked. Here the subjective assessment of the candidate’s personality is done and marks are given in maximum 275 marks.
Civil service interviews last for about 20 days and only 10 days after the end of the interview, the final result is declared. The final merit list is compiled by adding the marks of the candidates in the IAS Main Exam. This means that the merit list is generated from the maximum of 2025 marks on the basis of which the services are provided. Candidates up to 100 ranks generally get IAS. A few days after the result, the UPSC sends its recommendation to the Ministry of Personnel, after which all the appointment letters are issued.
Those candidates who can not make room in the final result, they have to go through the whole process again. We hope that the candidates find this information helpful. All the Best!
