(Notification) UPSC : Indian Forest Service Examination (IFoS), 2023

No.13/2/2022-E.I(B) : The Union Public Service Commission will hold a Screening Test for selection to Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination, 2023 through Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2023 which will be held on 28th May, 2023, in accordance with the Rules published by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in the Gazette of India dated the 01st February, 2023.

Educational Qualifications:

A 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 Limit:

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on 1st August, 2023, i.e. he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1991 and not later than 1st August, 2002.
(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 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:
(iv) upto a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2023 and have been released;

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 person with benchmark disability will get as many attempts as are available to other candidates who do not belong to person with benchmark disability of his or her community, subject to the condition that a person with benchmark disability belonging to the General and EWS Category shall be eligible for nine attempts.. The relaxation will be available to the persons with benchmark disability who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

Medical and Physical Standards:

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Indian Forest Service Examination, 2023 as per regulations given in Appendix-III of the rules for the Indian Forest Service Examination, 2023 published in Gazette of India dated 01st February, 2023.

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.

Applications are now invited for the Preliminary Examination only. Candidates who will be declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination will have to apply again and submit on-line Detailed Application Form-I [DAF-I] along with scanned documents/certificates in support of date of birth, category {viz. SC/ST/OBC(without OBC Annexure)/EWS [Economically Weaker Sections] (with EWS Annexure)/PwBD/Ex-Serviceman} and educational qualification with required Examination Fee.

Exam Syllabus:

NOTE : Candidates are advised to go through the Syllabus published in this Section for the Preliminary Examination and the Main Examination.

Part A-Preliminary Examination:

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 specialization.
General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

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)

Main Examination:

The standard of papers in General English and General Knowledge will be such as may be expected of a Science or Engineering graduate of an Indian University.
There will be no practical examination in any of the subjects.

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Application Fee:

Candidates applying (excepting Female/SC/ST/PwBD 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 State Bank of India or by using Visa/Master/RuPay Credit/Debit card.

How to Apply:

(a) 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 on-line 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.

The applicants are advised to submit only single application, however, if due to any unavoidable situation, if an applicant submits another/multiple applications, then an applicant must ensure that application with the higher RID is complete in all respects like applicants details, examination centre, photograph, signature, Photo ID, fee etc. The applicants who are submitting multiple applications should note that only the applications with higher RID (Registration ID) shall be entertained by the Commission and fee paid against one RID shall not be adjusted against any other RID.

(b) All candidates, whether already in Government Service, or in Government owned industrial undertakings or other similar organizations or in private employment should submit their applications direct to the Commission.

Persons already in Government service, whether in a permanent or temporary capacity or as work charged employees other than casual or daily rated employees or those serving under Public Enterprises are however, required to inform their Head of Office/Department that they have applied for the Examination.

Candidates should note that in case a communication is received from their employer by the Commission withholding permission to the candidates applying for/appearing at the examination, their applications will be liable to be rejected/candidature will be liable to be cancelled.