Road Map

Civil Services is considered to be the mother of all exam, primarily due to the to
role, responsibility and prestige associated with the position. Hence there is high
aspiration of large no of students to clear this exam. State Civil Services Exam is
conducted by the State Public Service Commission, as per the
requirements/vacancies of Executive and Allied posts in the state.

The Exam is conduction in following three steps

1. Prelims
 Qualifying exam to select 15-20 times the advertised vacancies.
 MCQ based exam
 Comprises to 2 exams a) General Studies b) CSAT
Detailed Syllabus attached
 Marks of this exam are not added in the final merit

2. Mains
 Exam selects number of students, which is about 3 times the
advertised post.
 Marks of this exam are added in the final Merit
 Subjective Style Exam to check detailed understanding of concepts,
language, outlook, coherence and expression of thoughts
 Comprises multiple exams of General studies, Languages and Essay
3. Interview
 Viva conducted by a Panel
 Marks added in the final Merit
 To understand the personality and outlook of the student

Strategy to prepare for the Exam

Understand Motive of the Exam: The exam process is formulated to select best
fit for the post of a civil servant. Since the job responsibility is to execute the
policies and hence serve the society, the idle sort for traits are self-motivation,
empathy, ability to execute, solution oriented approach, observant nature etc. So
the candidate needs to inculcate these attributes in his/her personality, while
studying issues and writing exams or taking the interview. For example if you
see a problem arising due to increasing traffic, instead of blaming government or
people for the problem enlist what all could you be done to solve the problem.

Read the Syllabus in Detail: The syllabus is prepared in very detail, precisely
giving the topics and subtopics too. Hence one needs to read the syllabus
multiple times, while preparing so as to focus on right content and do precisely
what is required. This would improve your quality of preparation, reduce the
time required and also help in keeping the topics at top of the mind. Say, if the
topic in syllabus is unemployment - one needs to observe related news in the
paper, case studies or schemes.
Back to Basics: Examination calls for sound understanding of the basics, with 12
or Basic Graduation level preparation. Hence instead of wasting time on reading
very high level books, focus of strengthening your concepts by reading NCERT,
class notes, study material or suggested reference books. It is better to read one
book 10 times than reading 10 books once.

Correlate with Current: It is highly important to be aware of current issues/

happenings of state/national and international importance. Current affairs
should not be restricted to just reading the newspapers or magazines instead the
underlying concept should be understood in depth. The best way to do so is by
understanding the basic concept from your books and hence making notes on all
related topics, for E.g.: If the you read ‘ Mr Trump has been elected as President
of US, dig deeper on how Presidential elections are conducted in US as compared
to India, where else are the election going to be conducted in this year, how is
this going to change US-India relations etc. or if you read about ‘ Drying of
Sukhna Lake’ understand what are the reasons, how is it going to impact the
surroundings or the habitat, brief history of Sukhna lake, what steps could be
taken to solve this problem etc.

Balanced PRE cum Mains Strategy: The focus should be to clear all the three
steps of the exam, hence the strategy should be such that it strengthens all three
arena- Pre, Mains and the Interview. While reading a topic, always think what
kind of pre or mains questions can be asked. Also, do refer/solve related prelims
and mains questions while studying a topic so as to get a fair idea about what all
need to be covered. Never think that I will do just prelims first and them prepare
for the mains after the results; it is a recipe for disaster!

Regularity is the Key: Civil services are like running a marathon, so you need to
adjust you pace accordingly and be consistent in your effort. Make sure you set
achievable targets, make a schedule and put in fixed nunber of hours daily. Its
important to take defined breaks of day off to feel refreshed and come back with
more zeal.

Test yourself Regularly: One is never 100% prepared to take the exam, but you
always need to test what to know at a given point in time and what needs to be
improved. Hence it is required to take the tests as per the given schedule. The
Test series have been specifically framed by the experts in Chanakya to evaluate
your knowledge on regular basis and to complement your preparation schedule.
Hence always be punctual with test series!

Involve In discussions and take the lead: To understand a topic better and
gain multiple viewpoints, have discussions with your friends or classmates on
issues of importance. While engaging in a discussion, listen to understand and
not to not just answer back. This will help to understand pros/cons/solutions of
an issue in depth. Also watch debates on TV preferably Doordardhan, Lok sabha
or Rajya Sabha etc.

Stay Motivated: The preparation cycle is long and students at times get
demotivated due to various reasons like bad test results, peer or family pressure
 etc. So always understand that your target is just to prepare for the exam in a
sincere way so as to prepare the entire syllabus strongly and a good rank will
automatically follow. Set small goals; make sincere efforts because you have just
three things to do: 1) Read 2) Test 3) Revise

List of Suggested Reference Material

Newspapers
 One National Newspaper- Hindu, Tribune, Indian Express etc
 One State newspaper- Ajit, Tribune (Punjab), Dainik Bhaskar(Haryana),
Amar Ujala, Divya Himachal ( Himachal Pradesh)
Magazines
 Yojna, Kurukshetra (Recommended both)
 And one out of Chronicles, Pratiyogita Darpan, Civil Services times etc
 Punjab
o Axiom Updates – Tits Bits
 Himachal Pradesh
o Himachal Competition Focus- Sarla Publications
 Haryana
o Kushmanda IAS HCS Times

Websites:
Press India Bureau Sites
Government of the State Sites

TV Shows
Watching Doordarshan, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha recommended
Pradhanmantri , Savidhan Series

Recommended Books

GS Syllabus and Books/Study material

Topics
Ancient History  A History of Ancient and Early Medieval (Choose 1 of these)
 India's Ancient Past New (its also Called Old NCERT) (Must
have book)
Medieval History  History Of Medieval India (its also Called Old NCERT)
 NCERT New
Modern History  From Plassey to Partition : A History of Modern India OR
 History of Modern India - Bipin Chandra (it is also Called
Old NCERT) OR
 History of Modern India - Spectrum (Very Brief one) (Must
 have book)

World History  World History - Arjun Dev (Old NCERT) OR

 World History – Norman Lowe OR
 World History – Norman Lowe (Brief Edition)
Society  Social Problems In India – Ram Ahuja
 NCERT 11th & 12th Sociology,
 Internet, Current
 IGNOU
Culture  Indian Art & Culture - Nitin Singhania OR (Must have book)
 Facets of Indian Culture – Spectrum / Here
 NCERT 11th & 12th
 NIOS/IGNOU Study material on Indian Culture and Heritage

Indian Freedom Struggle  India's Struggle for Independence - Bipin Chandra (Must
have book)
Geography  Certificate Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng
Leong ( Physical Geography) Important Book
 India: A Comprehensive Geography -
D.R.Khullar / Geography of India – Majid Husain /
(Indian Geography) (Choose one) (Must have book)
 World Geogarphy - Majid Hussain (World Geography)
 The Orient BlackSwan School Atlas / Here / Oxford School
Atlas by Oxford University Press (Choose one Atlas) (Must have
book)
 NCERT class 6th to 10th social science/ or ICSE Board
Books 7th to 10th
 NCERT Geography class 11th, 12th ( Very Important and
Needed)
 NOS Study material on Geography [ if Available]

Indian Polity  Indian Polity – M. Laxmikanth Must have book)

 Introduction to the Constitution of India – DD Basu
 NCERT/NIOS of Class 6th-10th Social Science
 NCERT/NIOS of Class 11th-12th Political Science
Ethics  Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude - M Karthikeyan OR
 Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude – S. Rao & Roy
chowdhury OR
 Lexicon For Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude (Choose any 2 of
these)
 IGNOU Notes
Economic & Social  Indian Economy - Ramesh Singh (Must have book)
Development  The Indian Economy - Sanjiv Verma
 Economic Survey (Economy) Very Important
 Yojna & Kurukshetra
 NIOS/IGNOU Study material for Economy [If available]
 NCERT 10th 11th, 12th Economics
 
International Relations  Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking India's Foreign Policy -
Rajeev Sikri
 Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century - Shashi
Tharoor
 Current Affairs, Newspaper, Internet
Environment &  Environment - Shankar IAS (Choose any 1 of these) (Must
Biodiversity have book)
 Environment for Civil Services - D R Khullar , J A C S Rao
 Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure - Rajagopalan
 Ecology And Environment - P.D Sharma / Here
(Environment) Excellent Book
 Environment & Ecology - Biodiversity, Climate Change and
Disaster Management - Majid Hussain (Environment)
 Tata MacGrawHill General Studies Manual
: English / Hindi (Must have book)
 IGNOU/NIOS Books Related Environment (if Available)
 Internet

General Science  Science and Technology for UPSC by Tata Macgraw Hill
 Tata MacGrawHill General Studies Manual
: English / Hindi (Must have book)
 Developments in Science And Technology - Spectrum
 Science & Technology - Ashok Singh
 NCERT/NIOS of Class 9th, 10th, 12th Science
 For Latest technology related News read
Magazines/Newspaper, Internet

Current Affairs  India Yearbook 2016 / Bharat 2016 (Current Affairs)

 Newspapers : The Hindu, The Indian Express, Frontline

Misc.  Tata MacGrawHill General Studies Manual: English / Hindi