(Notification) UPSC Indian Forest Service (IFoS) Examination, 2016

(Notification) UPSC Indian Forest Service Examination (IFoS), 2016

F.No.13/1/2016-EI(B): The Union Public Service Commission will hold a Screening Test for selection to Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination, 2016 through Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2016 which will be held on 07th August, 2016, in accordance with the Rules published by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in the Gazette of India dated the 27th April 2016

The number of vacancies to be filled on the results of the examination is expected to be approximately 110. The number of vacancies is liable to alteration. Reservation will be made for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Physically Handicapped Categories in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government.

Note : As per the information received from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. 2 vacancies have been kept reserved by them for Low Vision category and 1 vacancy has been kept reserved Hearing Impaired category. However the vacancies indicated are liable to further alteration

PLAN OF EXAMINATION

The Indian Forest Service Examination will consist of two successive stages (vide Appendix I Section-I below).

(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination; and
(ii) Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the Indian Forest Service.

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS :

(i) NATIONALITY :

A candidate must be either :

(a) A citizen of India, or
(b) a subject of Nepal, or
(c) a subject of Bhutan, or
(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Srilanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

MINIMUM EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

The candidate must hold a Bachelor's degree with at least one of the subjects namely Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology or a Bachelor's
degree in Agriculture, Forestry or in Engineering of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared
to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.

Age Limits:

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on 1st August, 2016, i.e. he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1984 and not later than 1st August, 1995.

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

(i) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.
(ii) 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.
(iii) 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.

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 Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates who are otherwise eligible.

Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are otherwise eligible, shall be nine.

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 Indian Forest Service 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.

PHYSICAL STANDARDS :

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Indian Forest Service Examination, 2016 as per regulations given in Appendix‐III of the rules for the Indian Forest Service Examination, 2016 published in Gazette of India dated 27th April, 2016.

Application Fee:

Candidates applying (excepting Female/SC/ST/PH candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination are required to pay a fee of Rs.100/‐ (Rupees One Hundred only) either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by cash, or by using net banking facility of SBI, 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.

Exam Syllabus:

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

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 specialisation
General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

Comprehension
Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
Logical reasoning and analytical ability
Decision-making and problemsolving
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)
English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).

Note 1 : Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%
Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
Note 3: It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.

MAIN EXAMINATION :

(A) The written examination consisting of the following papers:

Paper I General English 300 Marks
Paper II General Knowledge 300 Marks
Paper III Any two subjects to be 200 marks
Paper IV selected from the list of for each
Paper V the optional subjects set paper
Paper VI out in para 2 below.

Each subject will have two papers.

(B) Interview for Personality Test (See Part (C) of Section II of this Appendix) of such candidates as may be called by the Commission ‐

Maximum Marks : 300 Marks

List of optional subjects :

(i) Agriculture
(ii.) Agricultural Engineering
(iii) Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
(iv) Botany
(v) Chemistry
(vi) Chemical Engineering
(vii) Civil Engineering
(viii) Forestry
(ix) Geology
(x) Mathematics
(xi) Mechanical Engineering
(xii) Physics
(xiii) Statistics
(xiv) Zoology

Provided that the candidates will not be allowed to offer the following combination of subjects :

(a) Agriculture and Agricultural Engg.
(b) Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.
(c) Agriculture and ·Forestry.
(d) Chemistry and Chemical Engg.
(e) Mathematics and Statistics.
(f) Of the Engineering subjects viz. Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering‐ not more than one subject;

NOTE The standard and syllabi of the subjects mentioned above are given in Section III to this appendix General:

1. All the question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type.
2. ALL QUESTION PAPERS MUST BE ANSWERED IN ENGLISH. QUESTION PAPERS WILL BE SET IN ENGLISH ONLY.

Exam Centres:

(A) The Preliminary Examination will be held at the following Centers:

How to Apply:

Candidates are required to apply Online using the link www.upsconline.nic.in for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination which will act as a screening mechanism for selection of candidates for the Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination. Candidates who wish to apply for Civil Services Examination also, [subject to their satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions] have to apply once by appropriately indicating in the online application form that they intend to appear for both the Indian Forest Service Examination and the Civil Services Examination. Candidates, who will qualify for the Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination, will have to fill in a Detailed Application Form subsequently as per further instructions to be provided to the candidates through the website (www.upsconline.nic.in) of the Commission. Detailed instructions for filling up Online Applications are available on the above mentioned website.