IAS Exam Syllabus and Exam pattern 2021 | Know The Details

IAS Exam Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2021: Are you preparing for the IAS Exam 2021? A good way for the exam preparation is to understand the IAS Exam Syllabus and Exam pattern. All the details of IAS Exam Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2021 are mentioned in this blog.

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IAS Exam Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2021

IAS Exam Syllabus (Prelims) 2021 – General Studies

• 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 specialization
• General Science

IAS Exam Syllabus (Prelims) 2021 – General Studies Paper-II (CSAT)

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Decision making and problem-solving
• 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)

IAS Exam Syllabus – Main Exam 2021

Paper	Name of the Paper	Marks Allotted
A	One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidate from the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the constitution (qualifying only)	300 (qualifying only)
B	English (qualifying only)	300 (qualifying only)
1	Essay Paper	250
2	General Studies I	250
3	General Studies II	250
4	General Studies III	250
5	General Studies IV	250
6	Optional Subject Paper I	250
7	Optional Subject Paper I	250
	IAS Main (written)Total	1750
	IAS Interview	275
	Total	2025

IAS Exam Syllabus 2021 – General Studies Paper-I

Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society

• Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times
• Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues
• The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country
• Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country
• History of the world will include events from 18^th century such as the industrial revolution, world wars, re-drawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society
• Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India
• Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies
• Effects of globalization on Indian society
• Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism
• Salient features of the world’s physical geography
• Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India)
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

IAS Exam Syllabus 2021 – General Studies Paper-II

Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations

• Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein
• Separation of powers between various organs, dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions
• Government strives to have a workforce, which reflects gender balance and women candidates are encouraged to apply
• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries
• Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, the conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these
• Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity
• Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act
• Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies. Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
• Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders
• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections
• Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
  Issues relating to poverty and hunger
• Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures
• Role of civil services in a democracy
• India and its neighbourhood relations
• Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora
• Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

IAS Exam Syllabus 2021 – General Studies Paper-III

Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management 

• Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
• Inclusive growth and issues arising from it
• Government Budgeting
• Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers
• Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing
• Food processing and related industries in India- scope’ and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management
• Land reforms in India
• Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth
• Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc
• Investment models
• Science and technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
• Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology
• Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights
• Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment 
• Disaster and disaster management
• Linkages between development and spread of extremism
• Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security
• Challenges to internal security through communication networks, the role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cybersecurity; money laundering and its prevention
• Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism
• Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

IAS Exam Syllabus 2021 – Ethics Paper

• Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics – in private and public relationships. Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; the role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values. 
• Attitude: Content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion. 
• Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections. 
• Emotional intelligence: Concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance. 
• Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world. 
• Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance. 
• Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of
• Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption. 
• Case Studies on the above issues.

Optional Subject lists for IAS Exam

Agriculture	Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science	Anthropology
Botany	Chemistry	Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy	Economics	Electrical Engineering
Geography	Geology	History
Law	Management	Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering	Medical Science	Philosophy
Physics	Political Science and International Relations	Psychology
Public Administration	Sociology	Statistics
Zoology

Literature

Assamese	Bengali	Bodo
Dogri	Gujarati	Hindi
Kannada	Kashmiri	Konkani
Maithili	Malayalam	Manipuri
Marathi	Nepali	Odia
Punjabi	Sanskrit	Santhali
Sindhi	Tamil	Telugu
Urdu	English

IAS Exam Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2021 

IAS Exam Pattern 2021 – Prelims

Name of the Paper	No of Questions	Marks Allotted	Time Allotted	Nature of Exam
Paper I: General Studies(Objective-type)	100	200	2 hours	The score will be considered for Cut-off
Paper-II: General Studies-II (CSAT)(Objective-Type)	80	200	2 hours	Qualifying Nature- Candidates will have to score 33% to qualify CSAT.

IAS Exam Pattern 2021 – Main

Paper	Subject	Duration	Total marks	Time Allotted	Nature of paper	Type of Paper
Paper A	Compulsory Indian language	3 hours	300	3 hours	Qualifying	Descriptive
Paper B	English	3 hours	300	3 hours	Qualifying	Descriptive
Paper I	Essay	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper-II	General Studies I	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper III	General Studies II	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper IV	General Studies III	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper V	General Studies IV	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper VI	Optional I	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper VII	Optional II	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive

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