Why Civil Service?
Naeem Iqbal
--
Why Civil Service?
Civil Services are the premier
job in the country, every second students wants to become a Civil Servant. But
as compared to the private sector this job offers less at some instances in their
perks and salary are three times high. Even though private sector offers best
of salaries a majority of students as well as parents wants their children to
be an IAS or IPS or IFS officer and many more. Here it is true that it doesn’t
offer perks and benefits as other sectors (private etc.) are offering but it
offers an opportunity to lead and to work with the common people and at the
grassroots level. It always gives you opportunity and chance to impact people's
lives across a variety of domains such as health, education, water, sanitation,
roads and electricity. In the private sector job you won’t get such privilege.
However, the debate is still on whether the civil services should be a best
career option for young people or not will remain unanswered. The very nature
of work of civil servant is not only to maintain law and order but also
implementing programmes of the popularly elected governments as heads of
district administration to jobs at the United Nations and the World Bank,
formulating policies which touch the lives of millions of people across the
globe.
Choosing Civil Services as a Career Goal
Before going into the preparation of the Civil Services Exam assess your potential, interests, circumstances, time resources & financial sustainability so that you can reach a firm, determined & practicable decision. The first step towards your success is to choose your goal honestly. I mean you shouldn’t choose Civil Services as your goal simply because your father or mother has a dream or there is a pressure from your social circle. It should come from your heart; this shouldn’t be the criteria for the selection. The whole examination demands firm patience and clear determination towards goal. It should clearly understand here that if any aspirants have done good and have excellent in their academics will get success in its very first attempt. It is one sort of presumptions. But the fact is shows other story there is no any such need, it doesn’t matter here at all you need not to have a splendid academic background besides you only need clear determination and firm belief that you can go through all the way. It is rightly said "The difference between possible and impossible lies in the person’s determination”
Academic Eligibility
Graduate in any discipline aged
between 21-30 years. Age relaxation for OBC/SC/ST candidates as per GOI rules. Candidates
who have appeared or intend to appear for the qualifying examination and are
awaiting results are also eligible to appear for the Preliminary Examination.
Stages of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT)
(A) Preliminary Examination
The preliminary exam is the first stage of the whole examination process. The very nature of the exam is to screen to select to the next level of exam that is mains. It is seen that more than three lakh candidates appear for the Prelims but only less than fifteen thousand made it to the Mains. The introduction of the Preliminary Examination was introduced to weed out non-serious candidates and select those who deserve. Preliminary Examination is an objective type (four alternatives for every question) exercises meant to serve as a screening test/qualifying paper only. The exam is usually held in the month of May every year and it consists of two objective type papers which carry a maximum of 400 marks.
Paper 1. 100 questions based on General Knowledge were asked, each carrying two marks and,
Paper 2. 80 questions based on Aptitude Test were asked.
(B) Main Examination
The Main examination comprises a total of nine (9) papers of two types: 2 papers of non-ranking types only qualifying in nature & 7 papers of ranking type.
Two papers of non-ranking type include one paper of an Indian language, to be selected by the candidate out of languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution, and the second paper is of English, which is a compulsory paper. Both these papers are very simple in nature (10th standard) and, in a way, mentally prepare the candidate for writing the subsequent exams.
Among the ranking or scoring papers, there are three groups of papers, which are:
Two optional subjects with two papers each – 4 papers in all (comprising a total of 1200 marks)
Essay – 1 paper (200 marks)
General Studies – 2 papers (total 600 marks)
List of Optional Subjects - CSAT (Main) - (Total 25)
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Anthropology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce & Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, Indian History, Law, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science & International Relations, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology.
List of Optional Subjects (Literature) - CSAT (Main) - (Total 26)
Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu & Urdu.
Candidates have the option to answer all the question papers, except the language papers, viz, Paper-I and Paper-II, in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in English. Candidates who have opted for an Indian Language as language medium for the Main Examination have an option of being interviewed either in English or in the same language which they have opted for the Main Examination.
(C) Interview Test
Personality Test or Interview Test is the last level of the Civil Services selection process. It carries 300 marks, though it doesn’t carry much marks but it plays decisive role for the final ranking. One can get more marks than the other candidates, here it makes difference. The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled. The interview test is sometimes called and also known as the personality test because of its nature of the Exam.
List of Best Coaching Centres in India
Vajiram and Ravi IAS Study Centre, New Delhi
Rau's IAS Study Circle, New Delhi
Delhi's IAS Study Circle, New Delhi
Sachdeva New P.T. College, New Delhi
Chanakkya IAS Academy, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Reddy's IAS Study Circle, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Shankar IAS Academy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
National I.A.S. Academy, Mumbai, Maharashtra
List of Coaching Centres
in Kerala
Kerala Civil Service Academy, Trivandrum
Kerala Civil Service Academy, Ponnani, Malappuram
PM
Institute for Civil Service, Farook
College, Calicut
List of Coaching Centres Outside Kerala (Providing
free coaching for OBC/SC/ST)
Centre for Coaching and Career Planning, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Hamdard Study Circle, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi
Residential Coaching Academy, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
Mahatma Gandhi All India Services Coaching Institute, Kurukshetra
University, Haryana
Sir Syed Coaching & Guidance Centre, Zakat Foundation of India, New Delhi
Alif Academy,Mumbai, Maharashtra
Crescent Career Guidance and Coaching Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Crescent Educational Foundation, Bangalore, Karnataka
Haj Committee of India ,Mumbai, Maharashtra
India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi
Noor Jahan Foundation, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Periyar I.A.S. & I.P.S. Coaching Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Service Guidance Bureau, Jaipur, Rajasthan
Taha Educational Trust, Bangalore, Karnataka
Regards,
Naeem Iqbal