General Studies Paper -1 consists of the below parts mainly.
| Arts & Culture | 10 -Questions |
| Modern Indian History | 10 Questions |
| Economy | 5-25 Questions Varying Each year |
| Environment & Ecology | 10-15 questions |
| Science & technology | 5-10 Questions |
| Indian Polity & Governance | 10-25 questions |
| Geography (overlapping with Environment) | 10-20 questions varying each year |
| Miscellaneous | 10-15 Questions |
| Current Affairs | 0-20 questions |
As far as Art & Culture is concerned, UPSC has been focussing on few areas like Buddhism & Jainism, Schools of philosophy like Sankhya, Charvaka, Vedanta etc . as well Indus Valley Civilisation, from culture point of view and not from Ancient History point of view. These topics will always be important for Civil Services Preliminary & will be the focus area of GS Test -1. Sangam period from South is again important for UPSC Prelims as well as Mains. From medieval India, the Cultural aspects of Bhakti & Sufi Movement are important. These are the areas which students must prepare.
Source: Let us be very clear that there can be multiple sources for preparing these topics. A good way to begin would be a preliminary reading of History Textbook of class XI of Tamil Nadu – Rise of Buddhism & Jainism. Those who have TMH’s General Studies Manual, may read the above topics from Indian History part of TMH Manual. A third source can be Lucent’s GK book, you may read selectively these topics for an overview. After the Prelims of 2014, a good, we observed that good many questions came from good old NCERT of Art & Culture – available as xerox in Rajinder Nagar & Mukherjee Nagar.
If you take a look at questions that have been asked from Ancient History, you will realise that questions have been invariably asked from areas where culture and history interface.
There are two sources for Indian History – Spectrum’s book & Bipan Chandra. Spectrum’s book covers almost every aspect of Indian History (post 1857). Only few topics need to be read from Bipan Chandra’s book.These include – Peasant Movements & Role of women in Freedom Struggle.
A common mistake students make while reading post 1857 history is that they invest a lot of energy in the initial few chapters like the 1857 revolution, and early part of Indian Revolution. If you take a look at the past few years question paper, UPSC has invariably focussed on the period after 1900, specifically 1919-1947.
Most students work very hard and cover history from the start. Covering history takes time and by the time students reach the period after 1919, a) they either do not have time left as Prelims is near or b) they develop fatigue and do not cover this part. They pay a heavy price for this subsequently as no matter how well you know the post early modern Indian history, the focus area of the questions is largely post 1919 developments. If you have not done this part well, you will miss out on a good no. of very easy and direct questions from Indian History. Hence while you must prepare all of Indian History, focus more on post 1919 part of the Freedom movement.
Some students also feel that they are not good at history. There are two things we want to tell you.
- History questions are some of the easiest questions and direct questions asked in Prelims Examination. Please try to score in this segment. Almost 70% of questions asked in Prelims from post 1857 history can be attempted with a thorough reading of Spectrum’s book.
- History is, and shall always remain, a subject that requires time. Your knowledge of history will be directly proportional to the time you have given to it. So if you are going to tell someone – I am bad at History, you better say – I haven’t given time to History.
- Indian Polity is again a scoring area for Prelims. One of the best books that compiles almost everything is Laxmikant’s. Indian Polity section in UPSC is going to have a mix of difficult questions as well as very easy questions. So remember that for every one tough question in Prelims, there is going to be one easy question. You don’t crack Prelims by solving the tough questions. You crack Prelims by NOT missing the easy ones.
Some of the areas of focus for UPSC would be Constitutional Framework. Topics would include Historical Background, Preamble, Salient Features, Fundamental Rights & Duties, Directive Principles of State Policy. Questions from this area will be conceptual and will test your understanding.
Yet another area of focus for Prelims Examination is Constitutional & Statutory bodies. Constitutional bodies (like Election Commission, CAG, Finance Commission, etc. )are covered in standard books including Laxmikant’s. For statutory bodies there are two kinds of categories .
The first category consists of old institutions like the Planning Commission, now replaced by Niti Aayog, National Development Council and Human Rights Commission etc. The second category of bodies consist of rather new institutions like the Competition Commission of India, the National Green Tribunal, and the recently created Lokpal.
While for older institutions, one may find relevant text in standard books, for the newer institutions, you are expected to make your own notes. Even a 3/4 to one page notes would be sufficient on most of these newer institutions. You may use the internet and visit govt. websites to collect such data and convert it into useful information by making notes. Magazines like chronicle also provide a good compilation from time to time.
A third area of focus for UPSC in Polity & Governance section has been social sector legislations. Social sector legislations would include acts like the Domestic Violence Act and various Rights based legislation. When you go through The Hindu, any articles on these must register a bell in your mind, and you must go through them carefully. This should help you prepare in an integrated manner for both Prelims and Mains. A good sourde for preparing bills (especially for bills & legilslations would be PRS Reserach website)
- Economy & Social Development
Here one may refer to Indian Economic Development Class XI NCERT & Macroeconomics – Class XII NCERT. However these are just the basic books and must be read once and twice to get some fundamental concepts of Economy. This would be necessary for those of you who are attempting the prelims for the first time AND have no background in Economy.
For those who have studied some level of Economy, a good book to read would be TMH’s Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh or Sanjeev verma’s book. They both are an excellent compilations and we have invariably seen questions asked in UPSC prelims covered in these books. This book can be read as a whole, but students must focus on chapters like Inflation, Economic Planning, Reforms, Indian Agriculture, Banking in India, Public Finance & Human Development.
For basic economic concepts like GDP, GNP, National Income, one may refer to a book most candidates still use selectively – PD Economy. PD Economy also has a good coverage of International Financial Institutions like World Bank, IMF and WTO
Questions in this area will be very conceptual and a thorough understanding of concepts is required. This can be done by doing the basics as well as regularly updating oneself with the business section of the Hindu.
Sriram IAS Coaching notes are one of THE best sources for preparing Economy for both Prelims & Mains. It is exhaustive, covers all questions asked in past ten years, and once done, you will not need any other source for the same.
- Geography & Environment
This can be divided into 3 broad categories.
- World Geography: This would include Principles of Geography, Map work, and Climatic and Vegetation zones. Classically the UPSC asks at least 1 question from map. This topic would also include climatic phenomena, Earthquakes and Volcanism. A good book to cover these would be Go Cheng Leong and NCERT Class XI Fundamentals of Geography. An Atlas is a must for preparing this area.
- Indian Geography: This would include questions on physical geography of India, including relief features, mineral resources distribution, vegetation and cropping patterns. Students may refer to NCERT for the same.
- Environment: This section deals with issues like biodiversity, ecology, human geography, climate change and pollution. The preparation for this needs to be done on the basis of issues. One may make one’s own notes for these topics. Monthly magazines also come up with special editions to compile a list of such topics. A list of important topics should be compiled by students and studied. The Hindu provides good coverage of such issues. This section must be studied with a current affairs orientation as well.
- Shankar IAS Environment Book is the best book available in the market that meets the latest requirements of UPSC as close as possible.
- For any residual topics in this section, TMH’s general studies manual can be very selectively read.
- General Science & Miscellaneous
Questions in this area have largely focussed on basic concepts of Physics, like the electromagnetic spectrum, reflection, refraction and diffraction etc. From biology section, until sometime back, questions pertaining to organ systems used to be asked. Biotechnology & public health and has been the focus area in recent times. Questions under this section are largely asked on something that has been in news, or some mass technology or day to day general awareness that a well read person is expected to know.
HOW TO BEGIN
Students may begin their preparation by taking a look at previous years question papers. This is the single most effective piece of advice we can give to you. You may list down the topics from which questions have been asked in the previous years. This will give you an idea of what to expect in the examination.
JOIN A TEST SERIES
If this is your first attempt, and unless you are very smart at CSAT paper, you will need to join a Test Series. Insights On India is a popular test series for students outside Delhi. Drishti IAS is the biggest online test series provider. Then in classroom, CL is the biggest player.
Once you enroll for the Test Series, start working hard for preparing for the Test Series.
Do not lose heart if you are not able to perform very well in the first few tests. By and by, your knowledge base shall increase and if you persevere without giving up, your performance shall improve with later tests. Clearing Prelims examination is not about knowing everything, it is also about how to practice and learn to solve questions by eliminating choices smartly. This will come by devoting time and energy into your preparation.
As you embark on this journey towards a career in Civil Services, we wish you the best.
