NEW DELHI: Aspirants for the civil services will face a different pattern of examination from next year as the government has approved a proposal to introduce an aptitude test in place of the existing preliminary examination to shortlist candidates for the main exam.
Accordingly, the candidates will have to appear in two objective-type papers having special emphasis on testing their "aptitude for civil services" as well as on "ethical and moral dimension of decision-making" under a Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT).
Both these papers — having equal weightage — will be common to all candidates in place of the one common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any particular subject of choice) under the existing system which lays greater emphasis on subject knowledge.
The Examination shall comprise two
compulsory papers of 200 marks each.
NOTE (i) Both the question papers will be
of the objective type (multiple choice questions).
(ii) The question papers will be set both in
Hindi and English. However, questions
relating to English Language Comprehension
skills of Class X level will be tested
through passages from English Language
only without providing Hindi translation
thereof in the question paper.
(iv) Each paper will be of two hours duration.
Blind candidates will however, be allowed
an extra time of twenty minutes at
each paper.
SYLLABI FOR THE EXAMINATION
PART-A
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
Paper I- (200 marks)
Duration: Two hours
The Examination shall comprise two compulsory
papers of 200 marks each.
- Current events of national and international
importance
- History of India and Indian National
Movement.
-
Indian and World Geography - Physical,
Social, Economic Geography of
India and the World.
- Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution,
Political System, Panchayati
Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
- Economic and Social Development -
Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion,
Demographics, Social Sector
initiatives, etc.
- General issues on Environmental
Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate
Change - that do not require subject
specialisation
- General Science.
.
Paper II- (200 marks)
Duration: Two hours
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal skills including
communication skills
- Logical reasoning and analytical
ability
- Decision-making and problemsolving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy (numbers and their
relations, orders of magnitude, etc.)
(Class X level), Data interpretation
(charts, graphs, tables, data
sufficiency etc. - Class X level)
r English Language Comprehension
skills (Class X level).
Note 1 : Questions relating to English
Language Comprehension skills of Class
X level (last item in the Syllabus of Paper-
II) will be tested through passages from
English language only without providing
Hindi translation thereof in the question
paper.
Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple
choice, objective type.