Course Start:
Introduction to our UPSC course
UPSC classes in Pune, Various guidance batches are organized at the Chanakya Mandal Pariwar for the preparation of UPSC examinations. The duration, eligibility conditions, fees, and all other details differ from batch to batch. Students must understand all this well and then take admission and prepare to take admission. At the same time, it is suggested that you can take a degree or post-graduation in the same efforts of your studies for competitive examinations. Also, take a look at the “Abhyas Mahotsav” camps held twice a year. Each one is suggested to choose an option best suited to him/her depending on available time, priority, educational qualification, etc. But once you have chosen a particular option, we insist that you do it with full devotion. Doing it as and when possible, as time permits will neither be helpful to you nor will it be acceptable at Chanakya Mandal Pariwar.
We insistently suggest that one may start preparing for competitive exams right after passing the SSC examination.
For this we suggest the following time schedule :
- Firstly our yearlong Foundation Course This course should preferably be done during standard 11 or in the first year of a degree course. The preparation for CSAT and the newly introduced Paper IV of Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude in the Main Examination is done this year. More importantly, this is the course that gives a proper direction to one life. The optional subject should be decided so that that can be linked to your degree.
- Then, our yearlong Preparatory Course should preferably be done in the 12 standards or in the FY / SY. The preparation of GS is done this year and primary guidance for the selected optional subject is given in this year.
- Then, UPSC classes in Pune / UPSC Comprehensive Course This should be done while pursuing a TY of degree course so that you may appear for the UPSC exam the same year. If you wish to concentrate on TY and want the time for it, you may do the Comprehensive course after TY. But again that year you may have an important post-graduation exam. Thus, this may continue to happen year after year. Hence, we suggest ‘earlier the better, i.e. you may do this course while doing your TY itself when you have just become eligible to appear for UPSC; because you must not forget that it ultimately also matters for your seniority in service and hence concentrate on achieving success at youngest possible age.
About Batchs
Duration: Entire year. Generally commences in the second week of June and goes on till April, the next year. The program is divided into two sessions. The Abhyas Mahotsav held twice a year is also included in this course.
Eligibility: Students appearing for the UPSC examination to be held at the time of the end of this course.
Medium: English.
General Studies: Guidance on General Studies and CSAT for 2 hours daily. Four hours on Sunday. Weekend batch is also available having 4 hrs. input per day on Saturday and Sunday. Detailed guidance for certain selected optional subjects: Given separately on Saturday and Sunday. The guidance for optional subjects like History, Political science, Public Administration, Geography and Marathi Literature is available. The inquiry for this year’s classes can be done at the office.
Design of the Course: The two parts of this course are as follows1) The second week of June to April, next year. Combined n guidance for Prelims and Main Examination. Emphasis on Main Exam first and then on the Prelim exam. Mock papers for the Main exam in December. Starting the preparation for a preliminary exam from the second Abhyas Mahotsav in January.
2) Model test papers in April for preparation of Prelim exam in May on General Studies (GS) and CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test).
Special Features of the course
• Combined guidance for Prelims, Mains and also to an extent, Interview.
• Shri. Dharmadhikari Sir’s session per week.
• Detailed guidance for the subject like Compulsory English, Compulsory Marathi, General Studies (Prelims & Mains), CSAT, Essay, etc.
• The course is run as per module pattern (please see the explanation of this concept in the MPSC chapter).
• Sessions by special visiting faculty.
• Printed notes and practice question sets are given for General Studies.
• Special video sessions are organized.
• ‘Abhyas Mahotsav’ twice a year are included wherein stamina for 12 to 14 hours continuous study is developed. Also, an opportunity for dialogue with expert visiting faculty by means of questions and answers and guidance by them is made available.
• A rich library and 24-hour study room are available.
• The competitive exam preparatory magazine (in Marathi) named “Chanakya Mandal” is given for the course duration, published by us.
• Personal guidance and counseling with Dharmadhikari Sir.
Guidance by previously successful students is made available.
Duration: Approximately 4 months. December to April. Inclusive of the second ‘Abhyas Mahotsav’ in January
Screening Test: Â Is conducted before admission
Eligibility: Students appearing for the UPSC examination to be held in May, at the time of the end of this course.
Medium: English.
Guidance for General Studies and CSAT: 2 to 4 hours of guidance daily.
Design of the course:
1) It starts at the end of December. Goes on until March, the next year.
2) Model Test Papers for both the papers General Studies and CSAT in April for preparation of the Prelim exam in May.
Special Features of the course
- Shri. Dharmadhikari Sir’s session per week.
- Guidance for both General Studies and CSAT.
- Printed notes for General Studies and practice question sets for CSAT are given.
- Special video sessions are organized.
- A rich library and 24-hour study room is available.
- The competitive exam preparatory magazine (in Marathi) named “Chanakya Mandal” is given for the course duration, published by us.
- Personal guidance and counseling with Dharmadhikari Sir.
- The course is run as per module pattern (please see the explanation of this concept in the MPSC chapter).
- Includes a 2 day Mains Answer Writing Workshop on 27, 28 June: Guidance about Mains Answer writing by Dharmadhikari Sir, other toppers from recent years
- Special Guidance sessions on Essay, GS IV
- Includes Mains Test Series:
- Sectional Tests
- Full-length tests
- Questions to be set by Dharmadhikari Sir who has a proven track record of setting UPSC standard question papers for more than 23 years
- Answer Sheets to be evaluated by Dharmadhikari Sir who is known for giving marks on the lines of actual UPSC scores
- Test discussion session on every test by Dharmadhikari Sir
- Personalized one to one feedback for every student by Dharmadhikari Sir
- Provides a document containing important pointers for all questions
- This is a special course only for students who have cleared the Prelim exam of that year.
- The special feature of this course is Dharmadhikari Sir himself sets and evaluates the papers of each and every student with elaborate feedback, especially for all GS, Essay, and History, Political Sc and Pub. Admn. Optional. Geography and Marathi Optional papers are done by other senior faculty members.
- Duration of Course: Approximately 1 month ( This course starts immediately after the result of the Prelim exam.)
Other features of course
- Regular sessions with Dharmadhikari Sir.
- Lots of practice for answer writing and essay writing.
- Papers are checked by Dharmadhikari Sir and other expert faculty and improvements are suggested personally.
- Group discussions with some experts are organized.
- Special sessions on current events.
- Guidance by previously successful students is made available.
- A rich library and 24-hour study room are available.
Residential study camp twice a year for rigorous preparation of UPSC and MPSC exams
camps for preparation of UPSC and MPSC exams. The first study camp is organized generally in the month of August and another in the month of January. August camp emphasizes on study for Mains. January is the time when the notifications of the UPSC examination are round the corner, so this camp is deliberately organized to start the preparation for Prelims.
This batch starts immediately after the Main Exam is over. Guidance for the interview is provided in two rounds at Chanakya Mandal Pariwar. The first round is held immediately after the Main exam and second round after the result of the Main exam. This course helps to give clarity to students to study for possible questions that could be asked in the interview. Group discussion sessions with senior and expert faculty members are organized. A three-day workshop is organized for the same.
Mock Interview: The interview panel comprises of many extremely senior and expert officers. Video shooting of the interview is done and other candidates can watch him live. Students also conduct practice interviews amongst themselves.
Special Features -Â
- Shri Avinash Dharmadhikari himself conducts interviews of the students.
- Expert interview panel of 5 like UPSC, inclusive of senior officers, retired officers and subject experts.
- Video shooting of each interview and facility for students to see it.
- Difficulty solving and elaborate personal feedback session.
- Facility to view videos of mock interviews of our previously successful students.
- If the student wants a video copy of the mock interview can be obtained by paying extra charges.
Module Pattern
All batches follow a “Module Pattern” of teaching. So what is “module pattern”
- Module pattern means subtopics of General Studies are taken one by one and a complete guide for that particular subtopic is completed continuously without breaking or interrupting the flow of the subject. Notes for that particular subtopic are also given at the same time and after completion of teaching a practice test is also conducted. Thus, this pattern ensures that each subtopic is concretely imprinted on the student’s mind. Excluding the subjects which are your degree subjects, all other subtopics are unknown and new for you. Only if you take up these subjects one by one and learn them in an uninterrupted manner, can you master them? It is our experience that this pattern proves very useful.
- But, in this pattern it is obvious and unavoidable that some subjects will have to be taught towards the end of the course. Sometimes some students are afraid of the fact that we are approaching the end of the course and not a single lecture has been conducted for a particular subject. But this is not at all something to be afraid of, because every subject is going to be taught as per its sequence. On the contrary, the subjects which will be taught in the end are taught to you just before the exam and remain fresh in your mind. It is also our experience that if students adjust their self-study timetable with the classes they are benefited even more.
About UPSC Exam
All India civil services are the most prestigious services of union and the state governments. These services offer the highest positions and attractive pay-scales. In addition to security, they provide status and power and above all tremendous opportunities to serve the people. The examinations held by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) are highly competitive, and they require sustained efforts and systematic preparation.
The results of the past examinations show that intelligent and hardworking candidates have a good chance to succeed, though the performance in previous examinations has no co-relation as such with the success or failure in civil services examinations. Thousands of candidates appear for these examinations from all over India, and it is, therefore, absolutely necessary to face them with thorough preparedness. One must strike for excellent results and its groundwork should begin right at the college level. The nature of civil services examinations is quite different from university examinations. The questions asked in the past examinations are not generally repeated. Naturally, selective studies of certain topics or casual approach to subjects do not help in such examination. The objective type of examination requires pin-pointed and exact/accurate knowledge and correct understanding.
The system of examination
A combined examination for civil services ( for recruitment of IAS and other group services) is held once a year in two parts: Preliminary and Main Examinations. In Maharashtra, it is held at Mumbai, Nagpur, and Aurangabad. An interview is part of the Main Examination. Preliminary, Main Examination and Personality Test (Interview) are the three stages of the entire examination process. The notification for Prelims is published on the UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in), generally in the month of January / February. Forms are to be filled online.
Structure of the examination
here are two papers GS and CSAT of multiple choice type. In the CSAT paper, there are multiple-choice type questions and your method of thinking such as your comprehension skills, interpersonal skills, communication skills, logical and analytical reasoning, data interpretation, problem-solving and decision making, mental ability, English language skills (for some of these questions there is no Hindi translation provides). For General Studies all-inclusive and a broad base of studies is required.
- Age: An open category students must have completed at least 21 years of age before August 1 of the year in which he/she is to appear for the examination. For general category applicants, maximum age allowed is 32 years. For OBC applicant maximum age is 35 years and for SC/ST applicant maximum age is 37 years.
- Educational Qualification: The candidate must hold a degree from any Indian university or a deemed university or possess an equivalent qualification. (Candidate’s marks at degree level or the course duration are not considered.)
- A candidate who is in the final year of his degree course can apply and appear for the Preliminary Examination. However, she/he should submit proof of her/his degree qualification while applying in August for the Main Examination, if selected in Prelims
- Number of Attempts :
- Open Category – 6 Attempts
- Other backward classes (OBC) – 9
- Backward Classes (SC/ST ) – Any number of times,
Structure Of the Exam
The first part of the examination is called a Preliminary Examination (Prelims) which is an elimination test. Usually, General Studies is a test of your information. The syllabi for each subcomponent subject will be of degree level and all the papers require exhaustive studies. A detailed chart of the age limit has been given by UPSC academy. (Refer to the next page.) The Optional Subject has been removed from the preliminary exams since 2011 and has been replaced by the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT ).
- Prelims Paper 2 (ie Civil Services Aptitude Test Paper) is a qualifying paper. Students must get a minimum score of 66 1/2 out of 200 to qualify.
- Total Marks obtained in this paper are not counted while preparing the Mains invitation list.
- If a student scores less than the minimum required marks then he/she doesn’t qualify for the Main Examination.
Negative Marking System
UPSC has now introduced a negative marking system in the Prelims exam (which is a multiple-choice type exam.) A negative marking system means deducting marks for wrong answers. Accordingly, for every wrong answer 1/3 of the total marks allotted to that question are deducted. In case of a student marking more than one option and one of these being right, that answer will not be considered valid and will be considered for Negative Marking, i.e. marks will be deducted for such answers. But, if a student has not marked any option as the answer i.e. he has left all the circles blank, marks will not be deducted.
Syllabus
Structure of the Exam
The second part of the central civil services examination is known as the Main Examination. It consists of written examination and personality test (generally, called Interview). It is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding of candidates and not merely to test their range of information and memory. A written examination is the test of your knowledge as well as your character as per the changes introduced in 2013. An interview is the test of your wisdom. Generally, Main Examination is held in November every year. The written examination will consist of 9 papers of the conventional essay type questions, in the subjects prescribed by the UPSC.
According to the changes in 2013 now there are 4 papers of General Studies of 250 marks each, 1 paper of Essay having 250 marks and 2 papers of 1 Optional Subject, again carrying 250 marks each. A student has to select 1 Optional Subject from the list given by the UPSC. Only those candidates who are declared by the UPSC to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in a year are eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year. Those who have hope to get qualified in the Prelims should start preparing immediately.
Syllabus
Optional Subjects
Candidates have to choose 1 optional subject. The list of Optional Subjects is given the next page.
- The questions for the examination will be of conventional essay type, with two compulsory questions, having a word limit.
- Each paper will be of 3 hours duration.
- Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers except the language papers, in any one of the languages included in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution or in English. The candidates may, if they so desire, give English version (within brackets) of the technical terms, if any, in addition to the version in the language (medium) opted by them.
- Candidates should, however, note that if they use the wrong translation of technical terms, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to them and, in extreme cases, their scripts will not be evaluated for being in an unauthorized medium.
- The question papers other than language papers will be set both in Hindi and English. The objective of the first two papers is to judge the student’s linguistic knowledge, style of presenting a subject, a span of reading.
The candidates coming out successfully in the written examination will be interviewed by a panel of interviewers. The interviewers will have before them a record of the career of the candidate (Biodata). Questions on matters of general interest will be asked. The objective of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of a candidate for a career in public service, by competent and unbiased observers. The interview, in broad terms, is an assessment of intellectual qualities as well as the social trait and his interest in current affairs. An attempt is made to judge some important qualities as mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balanced judgment, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.
The technique of the interview is such that interviewers try to assess a person’s knowledge by striking a dialogue with her/him.
The interview is not intended to test a candidate’s general knowledge or subject knowledge. Apart from the academic study, an interviewee is expected to keep himself abreast of all the current events – taking place in national and international areas, as well as of new research developments and current schools of thought.
The number of candidates called for the interview is usually twice the number of vacancies in that particular year. Marks allotted for the interview are 275, as per the changes made in 2013.
Chanakya Mandal Pariwar organizes sessions for interview preparation every year. Two rounds of mock interviews are conducted. More information is on the next page (the Interview Batch).
The Final Selection
All results of civil services examinations are available on the is the website ( website address: www.upsc.gov.in). The students are ranked according to the total marks obtained out of 2025 – the sum of total marks in the main examination i.e. written and interview. These ranks decide their final selection for various services.
The number of candidates called for the interview is usually twice the number of vacancies in that particular year. Marks allotted for the interview are 275, as per the changes made in 2013.
Chanakya Mandal Pariwar organizes sessions for interview preparation every year. Two rounds of mock interviews are conducted. More information is on the next page (the Interview Batch).
