Paper I

Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society: The subject is
like a story and there could be linkages between two questions. Students thus need to ensure that the
entire syllabus is covered. They can do so without preparing portions which appeared last year in the
mains examination. The general trend is that there are no repetitions from last year's papers, but once
in a while students could be in for a surprise. The part relating to Indian heritage and culture will cover
all aspects from ancient to modern times. In the segment History and Geography of the world society,
students should concentrate on human and economic aspects. There could be questions based on
the Human Development Report prepared by United Nations Development Programme. The World
Development Report of World Bank deals in different aspects of economic geography and such areas
should be stressed in preparation of GS paper one.
Paper II
Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations: The role of
government in public life and giving direction on different policy matters like social work has to be
covered under governance. The other focus here could be role of the government in providing
budgetary support to areas like atomic energy, manufacturing of military goods and the utility of public
sector. Different aspects of the Constitution like Supreme Court judgment during the past one year
are important in the constitution segment. At macro level, students need to know in detail issues that
pertains to Indian political system for instance reorganization of Indian states. Significance of India's
foreign policy with focus on India's interaction with rest of the world is a separate area. Indian's
relations with major world powers like US, China, Russia, France, UK and European Union should be
covered in detail. Immediate neighbours too play an important role in India's foreign policy. Reforms in
United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India's bid for permanent seats in the Security Council are
some of the areas that require attention.
Paper III
Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster
Management: Scientific and technological development during the last one year, with focus on
development of AIDS vaccine, stem cell research, non-renewable sources of energy and
development of Indian space programme has to be given importance. Regarding economic
development, how we manage our economy and issues related to taxation and spending pattern
should be covered comprehensively. There should be emphasis on the social sector, issues related to
Foreign Direct Investment, disinvestment policy etc. Environmental security is big issue these days
and so is the disaster management. In wake of 2004 Tsunami and 2013 Utrakhnd floods the issue of
disaster management has gained currency. The probable question could be; Is it justified to spend
heavily on space research, when we are unable to manage our natural disaster.
Paper IV
Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude: Ethics and integrity is a new section that's added from 2013. This is
more of general nature and answers can be framed on the spot but some basic understanding of the
concepts. The issues associated with it are like, corruption, black money, criminal tendencies, doing
things that are unlawful etc. Some very good thought have to be given to ethics and integrity section.
However, the aptitude section needs special attention. Statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams are
the key feature of this section. This tests the candidates' ability to draw conclusions from information
presented in statistical, graphical or diagrammatical form and to point out deficiencies therein. This
segment has to be practiced.
Finally, the General Studies preparation for mains is all about writing so students should be focussed
in terms of language, and they should ensure that the answers are concise and analytical. The
examiner is usually in a hurry and if provided with facts and coherent replies, his job becomes easier.
The answers should be written in a precise manner. Word limit should be adhered to, wherever
mentioned. Students should focus on providing their side of justification in a logical manner.
Repetitive and elaborate replies should be strictly avoided.

This is a broad strategy for the preparation of the civil services general studies paper. One can add
and improvise this strategy in order to get better results. However, the fact that has to be underlined
is, there is no short cut to success in Civil Services.