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Hello All ,

This document is my effort to render a helping hand to all those who are studying
for UPSC - public administration exam.
Before you start reading this document- its a formality to read to Disclaimer
As far as content available on this blog is considered it is FREE of cost .All I am
expecting is kind words of THANK YOU and some words of encouragement from
the readers if it helps.
Most of the information presented here are my personal experience.However I
have not restricted myself only to sharing my experience but have liberally used
lot of information available over the internet for FREE of cost. For example the
cover page image is taken from one of the document of Administrative Reforms
Comission.
As far as possible I have given the reference of the sources where I took the
information from - but becoz of human error - I may have missed the source
infomation.
The guidelines given here are only suggestive and readers are requested to use
their own rationality before adopting the same. The author bears no responsibility
for the negative consequences of these guidelines.
For more updates visit gmstudycenter.blogspot.com where I will be updating
main answer writing techniques and more study materials.
Thanks
G M Bhat

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UPSC - Public Administration Exam Preparation - Tips

Dear All ,
Here we discuss some general tips for upsc public administration exam
preparation. The examination is of 3 steps - prelims / mains /
interview. We are discussing some strategy for prelims and mains.The
prelims and mains both tests your conceptual as well as factual
understanding of the topic.Prelims is multiple choise questions and you
need to answer 120 questions in 120 mins ( i.e 2 hours - and you
get 1 min for each question).Mains asks for subjective answers and
you will have to answer essay type questions.
Without beating around the bush lets directly deal with preliminary
strategy.
This is strategy assumes the syllabus of current UPSC examination
pattern ( as of Aug 2009).UPSC may change the exam pattern and this
strategy may have to be suitably modified. We are trying ourbest to
illustrate each and every stuff with clear examples.
Strategy generally consists of the following Planning
Reading ( Questions First)
Recalling
Revising ? What new things you learnt while revising.
Explain
Maximise Your Effort by Discussion
Concepts / Factual information
Study Time table - -( Initially Study more Later Revise more)
Micro notes / Memory aids
Rough Notes
Daily 1 hour solve Questions.
One subject continuously.
My memory is not good.
Build a physical fitness routine.
Take a break to have fun.
Do I have to go Delhi for studying

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If you are taking coaching ?
BURNING DESIRE
Last but not the least ????

Lets deal all the above aspects individually Planning

Planning is a continuous process.Because you need to find best plan
which suits U.And this is going to be trial and error method.Is planning
necessary ? YES , infact big yes.The syllabus for the examination is
very vast and without a plan you are never going to get confident
about the exam. Also plans help in tracking your progress on a daily or
weekly basis.Tracking your progress is verymuch necessary
because you need put focussed effort not just effort.
How to plan ?
This is one of the difficult queston to answer.Becoz plng is easy when u
know what all to be studied and when you know the extent ofstudying.
Most of the plans fail becoz planning would have been done without
actually understanding or without getting the bird's eye of what and
how much is to be studied.
Let me help you with this . Approximately you need to study 5 books
of around 500 pages that makes 2500 pages and then
contemporarypublic administration updates ( or current affairs as far
as pubad is considered),which adds toaround 500 pages.So you need
to be prepared for around 3000pages plus nearly you need solve 6000
multiple choice questions. ( the more MCQs are always better).This
much information naturally needs min 6months of preparation for the
who understands the concepts at one shot because understanding is
one part and remembering is another part. If you are taking the exam
with some work experience /with some corporate exposure / with
some public administration background/then you will be spending most
of the time in remembering the topics because you can understand
pubad topics easily. But if you r taking the exam soon after your
college with non-pubad back ground then you will take time to
understand the concepts and you may need around 8 -to-10 months of
preparation.

(The duration I mentioned includes your preparation for General

Studies Prelims too along with pub ad)

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And you need to change your plan once you get the gist of the
subject.That means initial 2-to-3 months you make one plan to get the
ABC of the subject and remaining 3 months exam oriented plan.Becoz
almost all students with non-pubad background spends initial 2-to-3
months simply studying the subject without understanding the head
and tail of the subject and only after 2-to-3 months they start to feel
the subject. And once you FEEL the subject planning for examination
would be easy.

Initial planning

Public Administration - by Lakshmikanth(In this book

author has combined information from multiple books from
the famous international personalities in public
administration.So this bookis a public administration notes.
And you have to have this book at the back of your
hand.That mean to say you have to byheart this book word
to wordsentence to sentence line to line TAKE MY WORD
FOR IT THERE IS NO OTHER GO , YOU JUST HAVE TO DO
IT.So you need to have N number of revisions of this
bookminimum 5 times.)
Public Administration - by Mohit Bhattacharya -This is a
standard book well written with slightly high level of
english ...a well researched book...gives solid
understanding of the concepts)
Indian Administration - by Rajani Goyal and Arora -Book
which specifically discusses Indian perspective of public
administration ... a well composed book which also gives
an idea how you need to writeanswer in your main
examination.I will discuss this in my mains answer writing
techniques part)
Administrative Thinkers - by Prasad and Prasad.-This
books gives various theories of different thinkers like
Taylor , Weber,Mary Parker Follett etc ...all the theories
are explained in plain englishand easy to understand)
Public Administration - Spectrum Series.

Though there are no fixed set of books that can guarantee you the
success in the examination - there are few books which you should not
miss at any costand they are - You will study the syllabus - you need
to be well aware of the syllabus. So pls write the syllabus twice.

Public Administration - Avasthi and Maheshwari

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Organisation behaviour Stephen Robins ( only topics

mentioned in the syllabus )
India Year Book of the current Year polity topics.

In the initial planning you need to cover these books.

How to read these books I will discuss this in reading section.
Planning 2nd phase
This is say after 3 months - you started studying public
administration.By this time you would have got ABC of the subject and
have an idea of 'what needs to be studied'.Also you would have found
out - which part is difficult for you and which part you can comfortably
handle.This stage for another 1.5 months.By now you would have
spent around 4.5 months
Planing 3rd phase
This is around 1.5 months before the exam.You should have covered
all the portion by now.Here you will have to take mock exams between
say morning 9:30 to 11:30 because pubad exam will be in the morning
you need to get used to exam takingin this time slot. You will be doing
only revision by now ...there is no new books that you are going to
study at this time...because that may lessen your confidence if you see
something which you didnt read till now .May be if you get good
questions you can have a look at that.
Is there any ideal plan ?
No Becoz UPSC examination is such an examination where two people
following same strategy will find on the different side of the line called
success.so there is no ideal plan which suits everyone and hence ...it is
a trial and error method to find a plan which suits you.
Reading and Revising
UPSC examination is different from all other examination in India and
especially optional subjects are going to be really tricky.Questions will
become tough because the four options given will be very close.When
you look at the first instance all the options look correct - this is very
difficult situation to be in and to select correct answer in this scenario
you need to be crystal clear of your concepts and facts.So you need to
be thorough with both conceptual as well as factual information. You
need to memorise Factual information and should be able to identifies
the right answer when you are posed with 4 very tricky options. The

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examiner will be playing with WORDS here.So you have to do lot of

revisions to get the clarity.

I would like to give an example - which probably makes it clear - what

is conceptual and what is factual info.India got independence on Aug
15 1947 is a factual information.Nehru was the first PM of India is a
factual information .But - from what India got independence - are we
really independent after independence - Why Nehru became first PM what is the meaning of independence- how we got independence Why british left India - etc are conceptual understanding.And will differ
from experts to experts.
So when you are reading the books mentioned above pls keep two
different coloured highlighter with you when you are reading the books
- use one to underline factual information and other
to highlight conceptual information . Factual information includes books written by a specific person - quotes said by someone important dates - important criticisms by administrative thinkers important milestones etc
Conceptual aspects has to be analysed in terms of - Original thought who gave the theory firstAdvantage of the thought - disadvantage of
the thoughtCriticism of the thoughtPresent day relevance of the
thought ( i.e is the thought still relevant now if so how it is
relevant )Has this thought been already said by some one else in the
past - if so whats different about the original opinion and the new
one.Comparison of different thoughts
Once you are done with highlighting factual/conceptual information in
all the books - you need to right down it in the form of micro
notes..This micro notes helps for revising again and again.And this
micro notes has to be updatedas and when you get new information.It
has to be easily carriable with you where you go - and when ever you
get even 10 mins you should revise it.Revising is more impt than
reading. When solve the MCQs most of the time you feel like - yeah I
have seen this some where - I have read it somewhere- but but ...
I am not able recollect it - this happens because you have only read
the subject but not revised it.Revision is needed to achieve the
clarity.Revision helps you to hit the bull in the eye.And you must
revise all you have read as for as the examination is considered.I have
given some sample notes below which has been prepared by folding

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A4 sized paper in middle and written really small for convenience.You

need to revise when you eat /drink/and when you travel in a bus or in
a metro transit....if you are having difficult to remember the facts.Also
when you are revising you are bound to find out new things about the
subject and you need write down those in your micro notes. For
samples of Mininotes / Memory aids refer the section below.
Micro notes / Memory Aids
These are the tools which helps to revise and remember.We are
attaching some samples at the end of this document.
Explain and Discussion
When you read someting take sometime say 10 mins to explain what
you study to your friends - you dont get anyone - then talk to your
self.Say it loudly about what you read just now.By explaining your
learning will be doubled.This also helps in your interview.(Remember
you need to prepare for all the three steps together - but giving
sufficient importance to immediate goal - that is first highest
importance to prelims.).Find a like minded friend and discuss about
what you think about a particular theory and what he thinks about the
same - share your doubts and maximise your effort. However it is very
important to find the like minded people becoz - not many will like
discussion and prefer individual study also if your discussion partner
always finds mistake in what your tell / or says you are wrong then
STAY AWAY from them- it will impact on your confidence.
Study Time Table
I will tell you one thing before hand almost 99% of your time table will
be a failure initially.So you need to get used to following time table this for a determined person will take around month.But many people
will never be able to stick to study hours.But for UPSC examination
you need to be stay focused and it is very important to stick to a fixed
and consistent study hours. It is also trial and error method - you
make a time table - find out if it is working for you - if not working
then change it - I am giving below some examples of study pattern
that I have seen
morning 6 to night 12 - - Early raisers
Afternoon 12 to morning morning 3 to 4 - - Late raisers.

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Basically almost all students fall in either of these two categories- and
you need find out which one you belong to.Many students feel ,
consistent and daily 10 to 12 hours of study will be sufficient to clear
the exam

Daily 1 hour solve Questions.

Ask yourself one simple question - what are preparing yourself for - to
take the exam - and what you need to practise - you need to
practiseto take exam. so there is no better way of achieving this
except by solving questions on a daily basis. Spend one hour every
day to solveMCQs - which will actually help to improve your - thinking
speed - your good guessing ability - your ability to eliminate wrong
answers.
While solving questions use this trick - when you select the right
answer - find out why other answers are wrong.I will give you simple
example Consider a sample question below -

When did India Got Independence ?

A.Aug 15
B Jan 26
C.Oct 2
D.Jun 5
Obviously you know the answer i.e Aug 15 but try to think why not Jan
26 - its becoz its republic day .Its not Oct 2 - becoz its the birthdate of
Gandhi and shastri - Its not Jun 5 because its word environment day.
One subject continuously.
For this examination you need to study various other subjects like
Geography , Economics , Polity,Science etcBut your optional carries
120 Questions and 300 marks but GS carries only 150 marks. So you
need to studying your optionals dailyand remaining all the subjects
require one week to 15 days each , to complete.But study one subject
continuously that means - say if you start with Polity - study only
polity till you finish it dont mix up things in between - like studying
polity today - geography tomorrow economis day after that - complete
one subject and prepare notes for the same - and keep revising it.By

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doing this even if you are not able to complete all the subjects you will
be confident that atleast I am good in whatever I have studied.
Rough Notes
I hope most of you are having scratching something while you read or drawing a figure to understand a concept or making some points
which all of a sudden strikes you - this I would call as rough notes - pls
preserve those date wise. Which may help you at a later datewhen you
backtrack your efforts .
My memory is not good
Actually this is a myth. If you ask me everyone is having a good
memory and they will remember whatever they enjoythe most. For
example if you watcha movie you will remember it for a long time
why ? because you would actually involve yourself in the movie.You
enjoy the movie.You devote your full concentration to movie.So pls do
not ever worry that you dont have good memory -all you need is
interest - remaining things will follow.
Build a physical fitness routine
In order to stay focussed mentally it is veryimportant to maintain good
physical health.So pls keep atleast 30mins of exercise routine.It could
be as simpleas walking or skipping.Anything which relaxes you.
Take a break and have fun
Pls remember to weekly break.Break is very essential because it
energises your body and mind.
Do I have to go Delhi for studying?
This depends on couple of things - your resolve to study - your nature
- and ofcourse your financial status.There is only one advantage of
being in Delhi is - availability of study materials. And you will have and
get to see people who are really studying for exam and may get some
motivation to study . But there is a flip side - becoz not all the people
who come to Delhi will study - by looking at them you may get carried
away too. So pls dont be under the impression that to clear the exam
you need to be in Delhi.Offlate you are getting all the materials that
are available in Delhi in almost every major cities. But If you ask me
my suggestion - if you can afford financially and if you are going for
studying then pls go to Delhi and stay there but again this is only my
opinion.
If you are joining any coaching class
Before joining any coaching classes - pls make yourself aware of the
subject - how ? - by reading the book your self.And enquire about the
different coachingclasses available. As the role of coaching institute is
only 25 %. The remaining 75% effort is yours. As far as study

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technique is considered any coaching class may not give you anything
better than what I have mentioned here.
BURNING DESIRE
This is a kind of examination which you cant clear if just wish to clear
but there should be a burning flame inside yourself.I am directly
copying below some texts which I read somewhere " The path to the coveted Civil Services is full of ups and downs and is
a highly uneventrack to traverse. Before taking a decision about Civil
Services as your career, it isexpedient to check up oneself and remain
determined after wards.The first step towards your success is to
choose your goal honestly. I mean youshouldnt choose Civil Services
as your goal simply because your father or motherhas a dream or
there is a pressure from your social circle. It should come from your
heart. This exam is not like IIT-JEE or any other
Engineering/Medical/UniversityEntrance Examination. It demands at
least one and half-year full time preparationwith solid determination,
which is possible only if the desire for Civil Services isburning your
heart incessantly"
Last but not the least
Clearing the UPSC exam is not everything in life. Ofcourse its a big
thing but there are much more things which you can achieve even
without IAS/IPS.Remember not everyone who clear IAS are
successful ...many leave IAS job because they feel their power is
limited and sometime feel suffocated.

Your preparation should give you confidence but not make you weak.If
you are not able to clear, you should develop an attitude to do well in
othersector of life. And success in rate UPSC is very very less. So you
should always have a backup plan in your mind. If I dont clear what do
I do.
And remember to make your first attempt the best attempt.

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Memory Aid the images below gives an example of notes preparation

Mary Parker Follett is one administrative thinker who spoke about
almost everything like leadership , authority , conflicts etc a sample
one page Mininotes has been prepared as it is below.You need to
prepare one page notes for each thinker which will help you during the
revision.

One page notes is also given for Citizen Charter.

Memory Aid In history you need to remember Governer General in
Chrono an example image shown below contains short cuts to
remember them in chronology.