(Getting Started) How To Fill Your DAF For UPSC Civil Services Exam

(Getting Started) How To Fill Your DAF For UPSC Civil Services Exam

As and when results for UPSC prelims are released, many aspirants have to go back to the drawing board to start fresh for another year. The few that qualify now have the mammoth task of writing UPSC mains examination in less than 3 months. But before it all, they are now required to fill in the Detailed Application form of DAF. The DAF is a form filled only by candidates on the UPSC Civil Services Examination who have cleared the preliminary stage and it serves as a tool for the council to gather more pertinent information about those they are about to hire. It is an extremely important piece of document that must be filled in very carefully.

Basics Of DAF

The DAF is a very technology-friendly process these days and need to be filled online on the UPSC official website. It has around 10 parts and each part caters to a specific type of related set of information. Each year minor changes are made in the form so candidates should read the instructions and guidelines carefully before putting down a response. All documents required to be submitted must be scanned and uploaded/attached during submission.

Documents To Be Attached

As of this year, the following documents need to be attached to the DAF –

1. Scanned copy of Certificate of age.
2. Scanned copy of Certificate(s) of educational qualifications.
3. Scanned copy of Certificate in support of the claim to belong to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes (if applicable.
4. Scanned copy of Certificate in support of the claim for age relaxation (if applicable).
5. Scanned copy of the certificate in support of the claim to being Physically challenged (along with the certificate of Disability in Dominant (writing) Extremity, if applicable).
6. Scanned copy of Hailing from Certificate to show that the candidate hails from Arunachal Pradesh/ Manipur/ Meghalaya/ Mizoram/ Nagaland or Sikkim (if applicable).
7. Scanned copy of undertaking for the candidate who is in Government service that he /she has intimated in writing the Head of the Office / Department about his/her appearance in the examination.
8. Scanned copies of documentary proof in support of service/status/landholding/income from different sources/property held by parents of OBC (non-creamy layer) candidates.

NOTE: The documents must be scanned in 200 dpi grayscale, in PDF format only. It is advised that cellphones should not be used for scanning documents. Documents should be placed together in a single, password-protected PDF file of size not more than 3 MB. The scans should be legible. No document is required to be sent by Post or by Hand.

You can find sample images of the DAF form in the images below.

Fees

UPSC has different fee structures for different groups of candidates. General and OBC candidates need to pay ₹200, whereas female and SC/ST candidates are exempted from this payment.

Service And Cadre Preference

This varies from year to year. Some years UPSC asks for the service and cadre preference during the initial DAF submission, and some year it is required as an addendum post mains. However, once you fill the preference, you cannot change it later, so be very careful and fill it once you are sure of what you want.

Hobbies/Co-Curricular Details

This might seem trivial at the first glance but keep in mind that this finds a glowing place in the DAF summary sheet. As a result, when you go to face your interview, these are topics the interview panel has access to and may ask questions on. So be truthful, and only fill in details you are completely confident about. You have come this far; do not let this opportunity slip. 

We wish you all the very best for your mains exams.

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