- Prelims — General Studies Paper I
- Current events of national and international importance; history of India and the Indian national movement; Indian and world geography, physical, social and economic; Indian polity and governance covering the Constitution, political system, panchayati raj, public policy and rights issues; economic and social development including sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics and social sector initiatives; general issues on environmental ecology, biodiversity and climate change; and general science.
- Prelims — CSAT Paper II
- Comprehension; interpersonal skills including communication; logical reasoning and analytical ability; decision making and problem solving; general mental ability; and basic numeracy and data interpretation at approximately class 10 level. Qualifying at a prescribed percentage — and a paper that has ended candidacies for those who assumed it would look after itself.
- Mains — General Studies Paper I
- Indian heritage and culture; modern Indian history from the mid-eighteenth century, the freedom struggle and post-independence consolidation; the history of the world from the eighteenth century; salient features of Indian society, diversity, the role of women, population issues, poverty, urbanisation, globalisation, secularism and communalism; and physical geography, resource distribution, industrial location and geophysical phenomena.
- Mains — General Studies Paper II
- The Constitution — its features, amendments, basic structure and comparison with other constitutions; the union and states, separation of powers, parliament and state legislatures, executive and judiciary; governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance, citizens’ charters; welfare schemes and social sector development in health, education and human resources; and India and its neighbourhood, bilateral and global groupings and international institutions.
- Mains — General Studies Paper III
- The Indian economy, planning, resource mobilisation, growth and employment; inclusive growth; government budgeting; agriculture, cropping patterns, subsidies, food processing, storage and public distribution; land reforms; liberalisation and its effects; infrastructure and investment models; science and technology and its applications, including IT, space, biotechnology and intellectual property; environment, conservation and impact assessment; disaster management; and internal security including its linkages with development, cyber security, money laundering and border management.
- Mains — General Studies Paper IV: Ethics
- Ethics and human interface, human values, attitude, aptitude and foundational values for civil service, emotional intelligence, contributions of moral thinkers, public and civil service values, probity in governance, and case studies. The paper that rewards clarity of principle far more than volume of reading.
- Optional Subject
- Two papers of 250 marks each in one subject chosen from a prescribed list covering the humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, medicine, commerce, management, law and a range of literatures. The syllabus for each is roughly postgraduate in depth.
The practical way to read this syllabus is as a set of themes to build views about rather than facts to accumulate. Mains questions rarely ask what something is; they ask you to examine, critically analyse or discuss. A candidate who has read broadly but never formed a position finds that the reading does not convert into marks.
