Preparation Strategy of Public Administration Paper I for IAS Main Exam

Public Administration is a popular subject among the candidates preparing for the UPSC Civil Services exam. In paper I of Public Administration of the Civil Services Main exam General concept of Public Administration is asked; theories of Public Administration, various thinkers, administrative thought, administrative behaviour, administrative law etc. fall under Paper I.

While preparing for Public Administration for the Main exam of the UPSC Civil Services candidates need to have clear understanding about the Parliamentary system and its different functions. As Public Administration student you should study the books on Governance by Arun Shourie and Bimal Jalan. This will help you understanding and answering some questions in the General Studies section also; especially it will help you in the Polity section of General Studies.

You need to focus on the critical aspects of the topics based on the Public Administration theories. You should study the government policies thoroughly and should be able to explain them nicely in the answers. Thinkers like Maslow, Herzberg and Macgregor are very important for the Civil Services Main exam. You should study them from the critical angle and should be able to make a comparison among all these thinkers. While writing an answer including the critical aspects of the topics fetches good marks.

Legislations like Right to Information, rendering administration through people-centric institutions like panchayats and nagar palikas should be studied in detail. You should also know in detail about social auditing and participatory governance.

Depending on the current trend of questions asked in the exam your focus should be on the issues like governance, rural development, privatisation and human rights in India, Brazil, China and South Africa.

In Administrative policies you will come across a number of administrative aspects like poverty alleviation, empowerment and administration machinery. So, you need to read and study a wide range of general information about all these and also you need to be updated with the current development in these areas. You should be fully aware of the anti-poverty programmes and how employment-generation schemes have been evolving all these years in India.

Issues related to the Parliament of India, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and their functions are asked in the exam. Thus you should always be updated with all the latest developments regarding the financial administration of India.