UPSC civil services : Answers to all your Doubts ~ Career India

Application Procedure
The Application Procedure for the Civil Services Examination is pretty simple. Electronically scannable Application Forms along with the Information Brochure can be obtained from the designated Head Post Offices / Post Offices throughout the country. The duly filled in Application Form with the acknowledgement card should be sent to – Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, New Delhi – 110011. For more details regarding Syllabi, Examination Centres and other clauses, interested candidates are advised to check UPSC’s Notification issued during December in ‘Employment News’ and all major newspapers.

Academic Eligibility for IAS Exams

A degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be a Deemed University under the UGC Act, 1956, or an equivalent qualification.
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. All such candidates who qualify to appear for the Civil Services Main Examination must produce proof of having passed the said examination along with their application for the Main Examination.
The UPSC may in exceptional cases treat a candidate without the foregoing requisite qualification as an eligible candidate if he / she has passed an examination conducted by other institutions, the standard of which justifies his / her admission in the opinion of the Commission.
Candidates with professional and technical qualifications recognised by the Government as equivalent to professional and technical degrees.
Candidates who have passed the final year of MBBS or any Medical Examination but are yet to complete the internship can also appear for the Main Examination. However they must submit along with their Main Examination application, a certificate from the concerned authority of the University / Institution that they have passed the final professional medical examination. At the Interview stage they must then produce a certificate from a competent authority that they have completed (including internship) all the requirements for the award of the Medical Degree.

Other Eligibility Conditions for IAS Exams
(1) Nationality
i. Only Indian nationals are eligible for IAS and IPS.
ii. For other services a candidate can be either of the following:

(2) Age Limit
i. A candidate must have attained 21 years and not be over 30 years on August 1 of the year of examination.
ii. The upper age limit is relaxed in specific cases as mentioned below:

on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from August 1 of the year of examination) otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency, or
on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service, or
on invalidment.

f. upto a maximum of 5 years in the case of ECOs / SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment (5 years Military Service) as on August 1 of the year of examination and whose assignment has been extended beyond 5 years. Such candidates will have to provide a certificate from the Ministry of Defence stating that they can apply for civil employment and they will be released on a notice of 3 months, upon selection, from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.
g. upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and orthopaedically handicapped candidates.

Job Prospects :

Depending upon his rank, a candidate is recruited to services such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and other departments including Finance, Post and Telegraph, Revenue, Secretariat and so on. The appointment offers executive power. Promotions are time bound and increase in privileges are automatic. Selected candidates are first put through a training session for a short period. He is usually sent to an academic staff college associated with the service to which he is allocated. The greatest thing about civil service is the job security. Special facilities include subsidised accommodation, telephone and transport facilities, medical benefits, leave travel concession, etc. After retirement, there are very good social welfare facilities. Last but not the least is the immense satisfaction one derives at being able to participate in the development process of the country.

Remuneration :

The Government of India has fixed salary grades for Civil Servants. Approximately the range of salaries drawn at various levels is as follows:
Junior Officers: Rs. 8000-275-13500
Senior Officers: Rs. 10650-325-15200
Junior Administrative Grade: Rs. 12,750-375-16,500
Selection Grade: Rs. 15,100-400-18,300
Additional Secretary: Rs. 22400-525-24500
Secretary/Cabinet Secretary: Rs. 26,000/30,000
(The above scales only provide an idea of the pay scales. Different branches of the service have different scales of pay.)
In addition to the salary civil servants receive various allowances such as Dearness Allowance, City compensatory Allowance, Leave Travel Allowance, Medical and subsidised housing.

List of Head Post Offices/Post Offices where UPSC application forms are available

Andhra Pradesh Circle : Hyderabad GPO, Hyderabad Jubilee, Kachiguda Stn., Khairatabad, Secunderabad, Trimulgherry, Adilabad, Anantapur, Arundelpet (Guntur), Chittoor, Cuddapah, Eluru, Kakinada, Karimnagar, Khammam, Kurnool, Machilipatnam, Mahboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nellore, Nizamabad, Ongole, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Vijayawada, Vikarabad, Visakhapatnam, Warangal.
Assam Circle : Guwahati, Barpeta, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Diphu, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Jorhat, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Mangaldoi, Nagaon, Nalbari, North Lakhimpur, Sibsagar, Silchar, Tezpur, Tinsukia.
Bihar Circle : Patna, GPO, Bankipur, Arrah, Aurangabad, B. Deoghar, Bokaro Steel City, Banka, Battiah, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Biharsharif, Buxar, Chaibasa, Chapra, Daltonganj, Darbhanga, Dhanbad, Dumka, Gaya, Giridih, Gopalganj, Gumla, Hajipur, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Katihar, Madhubani, Motihari, Munger, Muzaffarpur, Nawada, Purnea, Ranchi, Saharsa, Samastipur, Sasaram, Sitamarhi, Siwan.
Delhi Circle : Delhi GPO, New Delhi, Indra Prastha, Ramesh Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, Lodi Road, Krishna Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Parliament Street, UPSC PO.
Gujarat Circle : Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Amreli Anand, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Dahod, Godhra, Himatnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kheda, Mehesana, Navrangpura, Navsari, Palanpur, Patan, Porbandar, Rajkot, Revdi Bazar, Surat, Surendranagar, Valsad, Vadodara.
Haryana Circle : Ambala GPO, Ambala City, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hissar, Jind, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Narnaul, Panipat, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonepat.
Himachal Pradesh Circle : Shimla, Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Keylong, Kulu, Mandi, Nahan, Recong, Peo, Solan, Una.
Jammu & Kashmir Circle : Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla, Jammu, Kathua, Leh, Rajouri, Udhampur.
Karnataka Circle : Bangalore GPO, Bangalore City, Basavangudi, HAL II Stage, Jayanagar, R.T. Nagar, Bagalkot, Raichur, Rajajinagar, Belgaum Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Devengere, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulbarga, Hassan, Haveri, Hubli, Karwar, Kolar, Madikere, Mandya, Mangalore, Manipal, Mysore, Nanjagud, Shimoga, Sirsi, Tumkur, Udupi.
Kerala Circle : Trivandrum, Alleppey (Alappuzha), Calicut, Cannanore, Ernakulam, Kalpetta, Kasargod, Kattappana, Kottayam, Malappuram, Palghat, Pathanamthitta, Quilon, Trichur, Kavaratti, (Lakshadweep).
Madhya Pradesh Circle : Bhopal GPO, Bilaspur, Ambikapur, Balaghat, Betul, Bhind, Chhatarpur, Chhindwara, Damoh, Dewas, Dhar, Durg, Guna, Hoshangabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jagdalpur, Jhabua, Khandwa, Khargone, Lashkar, Mandla, Mandsaur, Morena, Narsinghpur, Neemuch, Raigarh, Raipur, Raisen, Rajgarh (Biora), Rajnandgaon, Ratlam, Rewa, Sagar Cantt., Satna, Sehore, Seoni, Shahdol, Shajapur, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Tikamgarh, Ujjain, Vidisha.
Maharashtra Circle : Mumbai GPO, Andheri, Borivili, Chembur, Chinehbunder, Dadar, Girgaon, Kalbadevi, Mahim, Mandvi, Mumbai Central, Ahmednagar, Akola, Alibag, Amravati, Aurangabad, Beed, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Jalagaon, Jalna, Karad, Kolhapur, Latur, Nagpur, GPO, Nanded, Nasik, Osmanbad, Parbhani, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Sawantwadi, Solapur, Thane, Wardha, Yeotmal, Margaon (Goa), Panaji (Goa).
North East Circle : Agartala, Aizwal, Dharmanagar, Imphal, Itanagar, Kohima, Radhakishorepur, Shillong, Tura.
Orissa Circle : Bhubaneswar GPO, Angul, Bolangir, Balasore, Bargarh, Baripada, Berhamapur, Bhadrak, Bhawanipatna, Cuttack GPO, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jeypore (K), Jharsuguda, Kendrapara, Keonhargarh, Koraput, Nayagarh, Parlakhemundi, Phulbani, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sundargarh.
Punjab Circle : Amritsar, Bhatinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar City, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Moga, Patiala, Ropar, Sangrur, Chandigarh.
Rajasthan Circle : Jaipur GPO, Jawahar Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Baran, Barmer, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dausa, Dholpur, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Hindaun, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Kankroli, Kota, Nagaur, Pali Marwar, Sawaimadhopur, Shastri Circle Udaipur, Sikar, Sirohi, Sriganganagar, Tonk.
Tamil Nadu Circle : Chennai GPO, Anna Road, St. Thomas Mount, T. Nagar, Bodinayakanur, Chengalpattu, Chidambaram, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Kanchipuram, Karur, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Nagercoil, Namakkal, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Salem, Sivagangai, Tambaram, Thanjavur, Thiruvannamalai, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruvallur, Tiruvayur, Turaiyur, Tuticorin, Udhagamandalam, Vellore, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Pondicheerry.
Uttar Pradesh Circle : Lucknow, Lucknow Chowk, Agra, Akbarpur, Aligarh, Allahabad, Allahabad Katchery, Almora, Auraiya, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Ballia, Balrampur, Banda, Bansi, Barabanki, Bareilly, Basti, Bijnor, Budaun, Bulandshahr, Dehradun, Deoria, Dhampur, Etah, Etawah, Faizabad, Fatehgarh, Fatehpur, Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Ghazipur, Gonda, Gopeshwar, Gorakhpur, Haldwani, Hamirpur,Hardoi, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Kheri, Lalitpur, Mainpuri, Mathura, Mau, Meerut, Mirzapur, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Nainital, Orai, Pauri, Padrauna, Pilibhit, Pithoragarh, Pratapgarh, Rai Bareli, Rampur, Roorkee, Saharanpur, Shahajahanpur, Sitapur, Sultanpur, Tehri, Unnao, Varanasi.
West Bengal Circle : Calcutta GPO, Alipore, Barabazar, Beleghata, Belghoria, Cassipore, Park Street, Tollygunge, Balurghat, Bankura, Barasat, Berhampore, Burdwan, Chinsurah, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Krishnagar, Malda, Midnapore, Purulia, Suri, Siliguri, Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands), Gangtok (Sikkim).
Selected Field Postoffices through 1 Central Base Post Office (CBPO),56 APO; 2 CBPO (99 APO)
Students often have doubts at the time they begin IAS preparation for the IAS exams. But before they can start any preparations they are siezed by a number of questions. Here we address some of those questions that arise while you prepare for the IAS exams.

Q1. What is the restriction on number of attempts in the Examinations?

Ans. Number of attempts – General-4, OBC-7, SC/ST- No restriction

Q2. Is there any relaxation in number of attempts for physically handicapped?

Ans. No. However physically handicapped candidates belonging to SC, ST and OBC categories will be eligible for relaxation in number of attempts provided to such categories.

Q3. Can a candidate who has completed his education from an open school/ University apply for Commission’s Examination?

Ans. Yes, provided it is a recognized University and he possess the educational qualifications prescribed for the exam and is otherwise eligible.

Q4. Whether a candidate belonging to a community included in the OBC list of states but not in the Central list of OBCs is eligible for age relaxation, reservation etc. for Commission’s Examinations?

Ans. No. Only candidates belonging to communities which are included in the Central list of OBC’s are eligible for such concessions.

Q5. Can a candidate choose an optional subject, which he has not studied at graduate/PG level?

Ans. Yes.

Q.2. Is it necessary for a candidate to take the same optional subject in the Main Exam, which he had taken in the prelims Examination?

Ans. No.

Q.3. If a candidate has applied for the CS (P) Examination but has not appeared at any paper in the CS (P) Examination will it be counted as an attempt?

Ans. No. An attempt is counted only if a candidate has appeared in at least one paper in CS (P) Examination.

Q4. Is a candidate who has done his graduation without passing class X and class X11 eligible for Civil Service Examination?

Ans. Yes.

Q.5. Can a candidate write different papers of Civil Service (Main) Examination in different languages?

Ans. No, Candidates have the option to write their answers either in English or in any one of the Eighth schedule languages.

Q.6. Can a candidate write the Civil Service (Main) Examination in English and take the interview in Hindi or any other Indian language?

Ans. If a candidate opts an Eighth schedule language for the CS (Main) Examination he will have the option to take the interview in same language or in English.

Q.7. How to choose a subject?

Ans. Normally one should select optionals, which one is familiar with, or has at least studied till the graduate level. If you are not comfortable with the subject, you should not select the subject as an optional. But the choice should not only be as per your interests but also be baed on the study material available. Even science and engineering students take up subjects like history, sociology, anthropology, grography, political science, psychology and public administration because there is a huge amount of study material available in these subjects. Also keep in mind that you may have been proficient in a subject, but lack of touch may make it tougher to crack technical subject where freshers may do better. The competition is among the people who have opted for the same subject. One should top in his/her subject to succeed in the examination. The Point is, if you are an electrical engineer with 2 years of experience go for a new subject like pub adm or sociology.
Analyse the syllabus of previous years and the question papers, and analyse past trends. Get some feedback/advice from seniors and fellow students who are well versed in the subject. Remember no subject is bad. History is good if you can spend more than 4-5 hours everyday. Geography is a good option if you can spend at least 4 hrs every day. Pub Ad, more than 3 hours. Sociology, more than 2 hours and so on…. So, it all depends on how much time you can spend a day and your liking of the subject. You have a very good memory then a technical subject may help else a social subject would be better. Lastly look for overlap in subjects like, sociology and pubad; history and political science etc.

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