Strategies for the UPSC Prelims GS paper’s Polity Segment

By the Union Public Service Commission’s Civil Services Exam, Indian’s bureaucrats are chosen. To select the Administrative Officers UPSC conducts one Exam in three stages; (1) Preliminary Test, (2) Mains Examination, and (3) Interview. Here we will discuss about UPSC PT Exam and give strategies for the PT Exam’s preparation for the Indian Polity and Governance segment.

The First stage of the UPSC Exam is the Preliminary Test (PT). This stage is divided into two parts; (1) Paper I, (GS Paper) and (2) Paper II, (CSAT). In the PT Exam, Questions will be of objective nature and marks for both papers is 200 each. In the First paper of PT, questions will be asked from the General Studies (GS) portion and in the Second paper of PT, questions will be asked from Aptitude Test, Decision Making, Reasoning, English language etc.

In the First paper (GS), questions will be asked from Polity, History, Geography, Economy, Current Affairs and Environment & Ecology etc. The content of the GS paper is as it is the previous years’ GS paper; except a few topics’ inclusion and shuffling of some topics. In the 2011 PT, a few new topics have been included. They are - Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues in Polity, General issues on Environmental Ecology and Bio-diversity and Climate Change. Mental Ability has been removed from GS paper and put in the CSAT paper.

Let us discuss some of the strategies for the preparation of the Indian Polity and Governance for the 2011 PT Exam.

In Polity, you need to study the Indian Constitution and Constitutional processes, policies and provisions. In this section, three new topics have been included in 2011 UPSC PT; they are – (1) Panchayati Raj, (2) Public Policy, and (3) Rights Issues.

For the basic building, you start with the NCERT books of Civics and Indian Polity. The easy flow of these books will help you clearing your basics in Polity. Side by side keep going through P.M.Bakshi’s Indian Constitution (Bare Act) for referring the related Articles and their explanations.

You need to study the Indian Constitution thoroughly to develop a fair understanding regarding the Constitutional system running in India. A lot of questions are asked on the Current Constitutional changes, amendments etc. Study the Articles related to any issue that has recently been in news.

You can also go through D.D.Basu’s interpretation of the Indian Constitution for building up of a better concept of the provisions of the Indian Constitution. You can also refer to subhash Kashyap’s Indian Polity and Governance in this regard.

You should be updated with the Current issues and happenings in the Indian Government. Loads of questions are asked from the current government schemes and policies. Once you have a base in polity, a national daily newspaper or a standard magazine for Current Affairs will help you for this segment.

In PT, a number of questions are asked from the Indian political system. So, you need to be familiar with the terms and languages used in the system.

In addition to all these, you have to study on three newly included topics in Polity.

In Public Policy, you need to study about the structure, processes of Public Policy and the initiatives taken to facilitate it, and the criticisms of it. In this segment, you have to study about the organizations associated with the structure of Public Policy.

In the Panchayati Raj section, you have to study the Panchayati Raj System thoroughly. The developments that took place in India in the past are also to be covered in studies. You are also supposed to study the initiatives taken by the Indian government for the betterment of the Panchayati Raj System and their effects on the prevailing society etc.

In Rights Issues, you need to study the Government initiatives taken regarding the rights and problems related to Women, Children, Orphans, Old men etc. In addition to these, it is necessary to study about the other burning problems of the society such as Corruption, Immorality, harassment etc.