How to get into the IAS

Many times you may have heard about IAS and IPS officers and you would have also seen them on tv speaking to the media, accompanying, assisting our ministers or also about them getting caught in corruption cases and wondered who these guys are really ? How did they get into this position of power ?. They are the civil servants who run our country’s administrative system, the guys who are part of the elite, topmost and highly respected services in India.

If you want to join it, then you have to crack a particular exam. There are many of you who want to take this exam maybe now or in the near future, but may not have sufficient information about it. So I will try my best and explain about the process of getting into the civil services in the simplest possible way.

This exam is one of the toughest exams in the country. If one goes by the amount of hard work, determination, time length required for preparation, then perhaps I think, it is the toughest of them all. This exam is conducted yearly by a central affliated body called the UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION(UPSC). This exam is held to select suitable candidates for various services e.g. IAS, IPS.

The INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE(IAS) constitutes the topmost service in the country followed by the INDIAN POLICE SERVICE(IPS) and the other services.

Just like IAS,IPS there are more than 30 other services like the INDIAN REVENUE SERVICE, CUSTOMS SERVICE and so on. Every year the number of vacancies on offer are usually in excess of 400. This exam is open to all those who have a bachelor’s degree. Also there are certain restrictions with regard to age. For general candidates the age limit is 30 yrs and higher in case of reserved candidates. Also there are restrictions with regard to the number of attempts, each general candidate is permitted a maximum of 4 attempts and higher in case of reserved candidates.

This exam is divided into 3 stages :-

• Preliminary exam which is of Objective type(multiple choice) and it’s main objective is elimination and selection of candidates for the Mains exam.
• Mains exam which is of written Essay type
• Interview

Each stage is a progressive one that is, you have to clear each stage one by one and even if you fail in a particular stage then you will have to start it fresh all over again next year.

The Notification for the exam is usually in the 3^rd or 4^th week of December of the previous year of selection. It is published in all the major national dailies.The application form is available in all the major head post offices of your city on payment of certain fee.There is a month’s time for submission of completed applications.

For preliminary stage there are 2 subjects that is one is compulsory and common subject for all (General Studies) and the other is the Optional subject that is left to your choice. In case of optional subject you can select from a wide range of subjects that includes History, Political Science, Geography, Physics, Chemistry and so on.There are 150 marks allotted to General Studies and 300 marks to the optional subject so a total of 450 marks. This exam is of objective type and there is negative marking. The criteria for selection to next stage is undisclosed and there may be individual cut off for both subjects or combined cutoff. But normally the more the no of questions you get right in both the subjects, the better the chances of you qualifying for the mains.This exam is normally held in the month of May that is usually on 18^th of May.Normally It takes nearly 3 months for the result, that is 2^nd week of August. but immediately after prelims you have to start preparing for mains without wasting time.

With regard to the syllabus of the subjects it is wide and extensive particularly in case of General Studies which comprises of History, Economics, Geography, Indian Polity, General Science,General mental ability, Current affairs and General Knowledge. But in case of optional subject it is defined comparatively better. The marks of this stage are not counted for overall marks.

The next stage of the exam is the Mains. It is usually held in the month of OCT/NOV and it’s duration extends for nearly a month with gaps in between. This stage is of written type and one has to write both short and long essay kind of answers. In this Stage you have to select a 2^nd optional subject besides the earlier one you have selected, for example : if you have selected geography in prelims you can select physics or any of the other subject as your 2^nd optional. The syllabus for mains is in depth and detailed.

There are totally the following papers in Mains:-

• English Language paper of qualifying nature, that is you just need to pass and marks not counted for your total score. It’s purpose is to test one’s basic english.
• Indian Language paper of qualifying nature and marks not counted for total. You can select your mother tongue language, kannada, hindi and so on.
• Essay Paper of which marks are counted and is of 200 marks
• Optional 1 paper 1 – 300 marks
• Optional 1 paper 2 – 300 marks
• Optional 2 paper 1 – 300 marks
• Optional 2 paper 2 – 300 marks
• General Studies Paper 1 – 300 marks
• General Studies Paper 2 – 300 marks

So the sum total of above marks is considered for selection to Interview Stage.

Normally the result for Mains is announced in the month of Feb/March and the Interview is held from the month of April to 1^st of week of may. The personality of candidate is assessed here and weightage is given to various factors. Interview is for 300 marks. The interview is conducted by a Eminent panel of UPSC Members which consist of former high ranking bureaucrats that is former secretaries to govt of india, DGP’S, foreign secretaries and persons of eminence in academic fields.

So the total marks of both 2^nd and 3^rd stage is taken into account for calculating the ranks.The top ranked candidates usually get the topmost services like the IAS, IPS etc. The Final results are announced normally in 3^rd week of may. But the services and to which State Cadre belong is announced later and during the course of training and after which they are given postings.

So as seen above this exam is a long drawn one and one needs to be mentally well prepared. In order to succeed in this exam one needs to maintain absolute focus, be ready to face initial failures and learn quickly from them and also one should be ready to work very hard.

With regard to preparation one can opt for coaching to develop an approach and get necessary inputs or can study by himself, if so comfortable. Delhi is the Best place to get the required coaching.But there is no hard and fast rule. One needs to develop habit of regularly reading daily newspapers and keeping track of the current happenings in various fields.If possible try and consult the people who have taken this exam earlier.One should be very careful in selecting one’s optional subjects so that he is comfortable with the subjects. It would be better if one selects his/her graduation subjects so that he will have basic knowledge and will save time instead of studying a entirely new subject. Currently majority of people select humanities or arts subjects since they are considered easier compared to science subjects.

Atleast a year of serious preparation is required before the exam. I Hope all of you who have gone through this have been benefited by the above mentioned information.

Serve your country.

Feedback is welcome.

(Also if you have any specific question, then you can ask me in the comments section,I will answer them to the best of my knowledge)

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