What is PCS Officer? PCS Exam Eligibility, Paper Pattern, and Syllab

PCS stands for Provincial Civil Service, which is one of the state services in India. Different states have different PCS services and recruitment systems. For example, UPPSC ( Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission)  conducts the PCS examination of Uttar Pradesh. It comes under Group A and Group B of the executive branch of the government of different states.

How to be a PCS Officer?

PCS Exam Eligibility

• The candidate should hold the citizenship of India.
• Candidates must possess the domicile of the state of the respective PCS exam, i.e., you must have the domicile of UP for the UPPSC, and the domicile of Haryana for HPSC.
• Candidates must be a graduate. Other than this, he or she can also be a Post Graduate/Diploma or equivalent from a recognized university.
• The minimum and maximum age are 21 years-40 years.
• Candidates from some reserved categories may have age relaxations.

PCS Exam Pattern

1. Uttar Pradesh PCS Preliminary Exam Pattern: It is the first stage of the UPPSC paper. It consists of two question papers where the questions are objective. It also involves the negative marking of 1/3rd marks for every incorrect answer.

Paper Name	No of Questions	Total Marks	Duration
CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test): Qualifying in Nature	80	200	2 Hours
General Study	100	200	2 Hours

1. UP PCS Main Exam Pattern: It is a written exam of 1500 questions. Unlike the previous stage, the mains examination consists of eight different papers, namely:

• Four General Studies papers each of 200 marks
• Two optional papers of 200 marks each
• One general Hindi paper of 150 marks
• One essay paper of 150 marks

1. Interview: Like the UPSC examination, UPPSC also has the interview as the last stage of the examination. The qualified candidates of the mains examination are allowed to sit for the interview. The interview stage is not based on a prescribed syllabus and is prepared by the candidate on their own.

What is the PCS Exam Syllabus?

UPPSC Prelims Syllabus: Paper I

• Current events of National and International importance
• General Science
• Indian History
• Indian and World Geography
• Indian Governance and Polity
• Social and Economic Development
• Environmental Ecology, Climate Change, and Biodiversity

UPPSC Prelims Syllabus: Paper 2

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal skills (including communication skills)
• Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability
• Decision Making and Problem Solving
• General Mental Ability
• Elementary Maths (class X level – Algebra, Statistics, Geometry, and Arithmetic)
• English (class X level)
• Hindi (class X level)

Mains Paper Syllabus

The paper-wise official UPPSC syllabus is given below.

Paper-II: Essay Paper Syllabus

In the essay paper, you have three essays of 700 words each. The paper has three sections out of which at least one essay has to be attempted. The section-wise syllabus is as follows:

• Section A:  Literature and Culture; Political Sphere; Social Sphere.
• Section B:  Economic Sphere; Agriculture, Industry, and Trade, Science, Environment, and Technology;
• Section C:  International and national Events; Natural Calamities, Landslide, Earthquake, Deluge, Drought, etc.; National Development Programmes and Projects.

General Studies I (Paper III):

• Modern Indian history (from A.D.1757 to A.D. 1947)
• The freedom struggle
• History of Indian culture, art forms, literature, and architecture from ancient to modern times.
• Post-independence (till 1965A.D.).
• History of the world (events from the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century)
• Indian culture and society
• Role of women in the society and women’s organization
• Liberalization, privatization, and globalization
• Social empowerment, regionalism, secularism, communalism.
• Distribution of major natural resources
• Physical Geography- ocean currents, earthquake, tsunami, volcanic activity, cyclone, winds, and glaciers.
• Oceanic resources of India and their potential.
• The human migration-refugee problem of the world
• Frontiers and boundaries concerning the Indian sub-continent.
• Population and settlements
• Specific knowledge of states – history, culture, art, architecture, festival, folk-dance, literature, regional languages, heritage, social customs, and tourism.
• Specific knowledge of the states.- geography- human and natural resources,  soils, climate, forest, wildlife, mines, sources of irrigation.

General Studies II Syllabus (Paper-IV):

• The Constitution of India
• Functions and responsibilities of the union and states
• Finance commission’s role in centre-state financial relations.
• Dispute redressal mechanisms, separation of powers, and institutions.
• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with major democratic nations.
• Parliament and state legislatures
• Structure, organization, and the functioning of the executive and the judiciary
• Representation of people’s act.
• Appointment to various posts of the constitution, powers, functions, and their responsibilities.
• Statutory and regulatory bodies, along with various quasi-judicial bodies like NITI Aayog.
• Government policies and interventions for development in multiple sectors Technology (ICT).
• Development processes like the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Self Help Groups (SHGs)
• Welfare schemes for the vulnerable sections by the centre as well as states.
• Development and management of social sector/ social services relating to health, education, human resources.
• Issues relating to poverty and hunger
• Important aspects of governance like transparency and accountability
• Role of civil services in a democracy
• India and its bond with other neighbouring nations.
• Regional, bilateral, and global groupings and agreements involving our country and/or affecting the interest of India’s.
• Effect of politics and policies of the developed and developing countries on India’s interests- Indian diaspora.
• Important International Institutions
• Specific knowledge of the state’s political, administrative, revenue, and judicial system.
• Current affairs concerning the state as well as the nation as a whole.

General Studies II Syllabus (Paper-IV)

• Indian constitution
• Functions and responsibilities of the union and the states
• Role of finance commission in centre-state financial relations.
• Separation of powers, dispute redressal mechanisms, and institutions.
• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other major democratic countries.
• Parliament and state legislatures
• Structure, organization, and functioning of the executive and the judiciary
• Representation of people’s act.
• Appointment to various constitutional posts, powers, functions, and their responsibilities.
• Statutory, regulatory, and various quasi-judicial bodies like NITI Aayog.
• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors Technology (ICT).
• Development processes like the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Self Help Groups (SHGs)
• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the centre as well as states.
• Development and management of social sector/social services relating to health, education, human resources.
• Issues relating to poverty and hunger
• Important aspects of governance like transparency and accountability
• Role of civil services in a democracy
• India and its relationship with neighbouring countries.
• Bilateral, regional, and global groupings and agreements involving India and/ or affecting India’s interest.
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests- Indian diaspora.
• Important International Institutions
• Specific knowledge of the state’s political, administrative, revenue, and judicial system.
• Current affairs concerning the state and the nation as a whole.

General Studies III Syllabus (Paper-V)

Food processing and related industries

• Economic planning in India, objectives, and achievements.
• Issues of poverty, unemployment, social justice, and inclusive growth.
• Government budgets and financial system.
• Major crops, various types of irrigation and irrigation systems.
• Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices, Public Distribution System (PDS)
• Land reforms in India since independence.
• Liberalization and globalization effects on the economy
• Infrastructure
• Science and technology
• Development of new technologies
• Awareness in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and space technology, computers, energy resources, nanotechnology, microbiology, biotechnology.
• Environmental security and ecosystems,
• Conservation of wildlife, biodiversity, environmental pollution and degradation
• Disaster management.
• Challenges of international security
• India’s internal security challenges
• security forces and higher defence organizations in India
• Specific knowledge of the state economy
• Issues in agriculture
• Law and order and civil defence with special reference to the state.

General Studies IV- Ethics Syllabus (Paper-VI)

1. Ethics and human interface
2. Attitude
3. Emotional intelligence
4. Contributions of moral thinkers
5. Public/Civil service ethics and values in public administration
6. Probity in governance

Paper VII & Paper VIII (Optional Paper)

As per the latest PCS syllabus, there are a total of 34 optional subjects as provided in the following table:

Agriculture & Veterinary Science	Arabic Lit.	Zoology
Chemistry	Hindi Lit.	Statistics
Defence Studies	Persian Lit.	Physics
Management	Sanskrit Lit.	Mathematics
Political Science & International Relations	Geology	Commerce & Accountancy
Geography	Psychology	Economics
History	Civil Engineering	Public Administration
Social Work	Medical Science	Sociology
Agricultural Engineering	Philosophy	Anthropology
Mechanical Engineering	Botany	Electrical Engineering
Law	English Lit.	Animal Husbandry
Urdu Literature

PCS Exam 2021

The tentative PSC exam date for Uttar Pradesh has been released in the following manner. However, one must follow the official website of UPPSC for more updates and changes.

Events	Exam Date
Process the online application form	3rd week April 2021
Online fee receipt last date	2nd week of May 2021
Deadline to submit the application form	3rd week of May 2021
Admit card issue date	June 2021
UP PCS exam date (Preliminary exam)	13th June 2021
Results date declaration	July 2021
UPS 2021 Main exam date	3rd October 2021
Result date	October 2021

Conclusion

PCS exams in different states have different eligibility criteria and recruitment processes. To become a PCS officer of your state, you must visit the official website of the state service examination. To know more about civil services preparation and for one on one sessions with experts in the field visit UPSC Pathshala.