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(Analysis) Civil Services (Prelims) Examination Notification 2014

Civil Services (Prelims) Examination Notification 2014: Analysis

After delaying the notification from its previously decided date, the Union Public finally released the Civil Services (Prelims) 2014 Notification on May 31, 2014.

Cooling down the speculations, the UPSC did not make any major overhauling of the syllabus and exam pattern.

However, a big relief has been provided by the UPSC notification- the number of vacancies to be filled by the examination is expected to be approximately 1291, including the vacancies reserved for P.H category.

As per the notification, the Preliminary Examination of the Civil Services Examination for recruitment to the Services and Posts will be held by the Union Public Service Commission on 24th Aug., 2014 in accordance with the Rules published by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) in the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 31st May, 2014.

Plan of IAS Examination

There is no change in the exam pattern as compared to the 2013 exam. The Scheme of Examination includes two stages:

Civil Services Preliminary Examination (Objective MCQ type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and
Civil Services Main Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts noted above. Applications are now invited for the Preliminary Examination only. Candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Main Examination will have to apply online again, in the Detailed Application Form (DAF) which would be made available to them. The Main Examination is likely to be held in December, 2014.

Click Here for IAS Prelim Syllabus

Click Here to Download IAS Prelim Papers

(ii) Age Limits :

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2014 i.e., he/she must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1982 and not later than 1st August, 1993. Necessary action to make corresponding changes in respective Rules/Regulations pertaining to various services is being taken separately.

(b) The upper age limit prescribed above will be relaxable :

upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;
upto a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates;
upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from the 1st January, 1980 to the 31st day of December, 1989;
upto a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof;
upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and orthopaedically handicapped persons.

Number of attempts :

Every candidate appearing at the examination who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six attempts at the examination. Provided that this restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates who are otherwise eligible. Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes(OBC), who are otherwise eligible shall be nine. The relaxation will be available to the candidates who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

Provided further that a physically handicapped will get as many attempts as are available to other non-physically handicapped candidates of his or her community, subject to the condition that a physically handicapped candidate belonging to the General Category shall be eligible for nine attempts. Necessary action to make Corresponding Changes in respective Rules/Regulations Pertaining to various services is being taken separately. The relaxation will be available to the physically handicapped candidates who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

Please Note that:

An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Civil Services Examination.
If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, he/she shall be deemed to have made an attempt at the Examination.
Notwithstanding the disqualification/ cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.

Restrictions on applying for the examination :

A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to compete at this examination. In case such a candidate is appointed to the IAS/IFS after the Preliminary Examination of Civil Services Examination, 2014 is over and he/she continues to be a member of that service, he/she shall not be eligible to appear in the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2014 notwithstanding his/her having qualified in the Preliminary Examination, 2014. Also provided that if such a candidate is appointed to IAS/IFS after the commencement of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2014 but before the result thereof and continues to be a member of that service, he/she shall not be considered for appointment to any service/post on the basis of the result of this examination viz. Civil Services Examination, 2014.

Fee :

Candidates (excepting Female/SC/ST/PH Candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One Hundred only) either by remitting the money in any Branch of SBI by Cash, or by using net banking facility of State Bank of India/State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur/State Bank of Hyderabad/State Bank of Mysore/State Bank of Patiala /State Bank of Travancore or by using Visa/Master Credit/Debit Card.

Applicants who opt for "Pay by Cash" mode should print the system generated Pay-in-slip during part II registration and deposit the fee at the counter of SBI Branch on the next working day only. "Pay by Cash " mode will be deactivated at 23.59 hours of 29.06.2014 i.e. one day before the closing date; however applicants who have generated their Pay-in-Slip before it is deactivated may pay at the counter of SBI Branch during banking hours on the closing date. Such applicants who are unable to pay by cash on the closing date i..e during banking hours at SBI Branch, for reasons whatsoever, even if holding valid pay-in-slip will have no other offline option but to opt for available online Debit/Credit Card or Internet Banking payment mode on the closing date i.e. till 23.59 hours of 30.06.2014.

For the applicants in whose case payments details have not been received from the bank they will be treated as fictitious payment cases and a list of all such applicants shall be made available on the Commission website within two weeks after the last day of submission of online application. These applicants shall also be intimated through e-mail to submit copy of proof of their payment to the Commission at the address mentioned in the e-mail. The applicant shall be required to submit the proof within 10 days from the date of such communication either by hand or by speed post to the Commission. In case, no response is received from the applicants their applications shall be summarily rejected and no further correspondence shall be entertained in this regard.

All female candidates and candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe/ Physically Handicapped categories are exempted from payment of fee. No fee exemption is, however, available to OBC candidates and they are required to pay the prescribed fee in full.

Physically disabled persons are exempted from the payment of fee provided they are otherwise eligible for appointment to the Services/Posts to be filled on the results of this examination on the basis of the standards of medical fitness for these Services/Posts (including any concessions specifically extended to the physically disabled). A physically disabled candidate claiming fee concession will be required by the Commission to submit along with their Detailed Application Form, a certified copy of the certificate from a Government Hospital/Medical Board in support of his/her claim for being physically disabled.

Last date for receipt of applications :

The Online Applications can be filled up to 30th June, 2014 till 11.59 pm after which the link will be disabled.

Click here to Apply Online for IAS Prelim Exam

Changes Made

There are a few significant changes:

The examination notification has been updated to include the age and attempt relaxation to the candidates, hailing from all categories.
UPSC has, this time, provided an eligibility criterion for the Language qualifying papers of- Indian Language and English Language. For the Indian Language qualifying paper, the minimum required marks has been set at 30%, while for the English Language, it is 25%. Thus, this announcement will cool down the speculative market, after the mains exam, regarding the cut-offs for qualifying papers.
The Notification also mentions that there might be more than one essay questions for the Essay paper, on which the candidate might have to write.

Except these changes, the exam pattern and syllabus has been kept unchanged. The changes appear to be helpful for the students, and the student community may rejoice at the notification.

However, the UPSC has not introduced any sectional cut-offs for either of the Two preliminary papers.

UPSCPORTAL will soon bring to the candidates more analysis of the notification. In the meanwhile, you should start preparing for the exam with full dedication.

Online Coaching for IAS Exams

UPSCPORTAL has come up with a 60-days short term course for the IAS (Pre.) examination 2014. The course has been made, keeping in mind, all the intricacies and nature of the exam, and the time left. Our goal is to aid the candidates in their preparations for the upcoming exams. Given the short time, left for the exam, we have narrowed down the topics which are most crucial from the IAS exam point of view.

The 60-days programme will help you do a selective study, and help you fetch maximum possible marks, with the minimal effort required.

Click here to Enroll into the 60 Days Online Coaching for IAS (Pre) Paper-I GS 2014

Click here to Enroll into the 60 Days Online Coaching for IAS (Pre) Paper-II CSAT 2014

FAQ for IAS Exams

If you have any confusion regarding the Civil Services Examination, you may refer to the GETTING STARTED FOR CIVIL SERVICES SERIES, an initiative by UPSCPORTAL, to help the budding civil servants. It provides you with detailed articles on different aspects of civil services examination, and the strategy to tackle with it.