Be in the state of success

Ivninder Pal Singh

In this competitive world, every student wants to give his best to get a dream job. Be it joining an IIT to become a top-class engineer, making it to the AIIMS to emerge as a world-class doctor or passing out as a management professional from an IIM, everyone is burning midnight oil to emerge a winner.

But even after succeeding in any of the above three, the hunger for more ‘success’ among most of them continues to push them to accomplish more. And in most cases, their next destination is to clear a civil services examination. Often called the father of all exams, this continues to stay on top of the list for brilliant minds of the country. 

The UPSC selects top bureaucrats and police top brass through the Civil Services  examination. 

But is this the only way to join the civil services? No. Every state conducts a similar exam to select candidates for state civil services. 

The state public service commissions conduct these examinations on similar lines as the one followed by the UPSC, albeit with some differences and approach as per the requirements of the state. The selected candidates cannot be posted outside the state for which their selection has been made.

The Constitution of India provides for the establishment of public service commission for the Union (UPSC) and a public service commission for each state under Articles 315-323 in Part XIV. The composition of the state commissions is governed by the same constitutional provisions as those apply to the Union commission.

Test mechanics

The Punjab Civil Services Examination conducted by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) is also conducted in three stages — preliminary, main and interview. 

Stage I: The preliminary stage consists of two papers of 200 marks each (General Studies and CSAT) and comprises of multiple choice questions. But this first step has two major differences vis-à-vis the Civil Services exam conducted by the UPSC. In PCS, marks from both papers are counted while making the merit list whereas the UPSC counts only marks scored in general studies and the CSAT is just a qualifying test. Secondly, there is negative marking in the UPSC exam while PCS (Preliminary) has no such condition. 

However, just like the UPSC, these marks are not counted for the final merit of the candidates arrived at after the main examination. Candidates equal to 13 times of the vacancies advertised in each category qualify for the stage two of this test.

Stage II: The main exam has seven papers worth 1,350 marks and all are descriptive in nature. The duration of each paper is three hours. 

The seven papers include Punjabi (100 marks), English (100 marks), essay (150 marks, three essays of 50 marks each) and four general studies papers (250 marks each). 

In this second stage too, there are two major differences as compared to the UPSC exam. In the PCS exam, marks scored in both the language papers are counted for the final merit unlike in the UPSC; and secondly there is no optional paper in PCS and every aspirant has to appear for the same set of seven exams. A candidate needs to get past the minimum marks limit set by the commission to cross this hurdle.

Stage III: The interview is of 150 marks and almost three times the number of total vacancies are called for the interview. Final merit list is made by adding main and interview marks (total of 1,500). 

However, no candidate is considered to have qualified the examination unless he obtains at least 45 per cent marks in the aggregate in the main examination, including interview marks (read 40 per cent for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes).

The candidates opting for Punjab Police Service also need to meet the physical standards set by the PPSC and the candidates have to qualify the physical test for the post of Deputy Superintendent Police and Deputy Superintendent of Jails (Grade-II).

Success mantra 

For the aspirants of UPSC IAS exam, the PCS exam looks easy to crack but in some subjects or topics they have to make extra effort during their preparation as compared to that for the UPSC exam. One area where PCS aspirants need to invest more time is the historical, geographical, political and economic background of Punjab.

Apart from the basic constituents of general studies like history, polity, economy, geography and current affairs from the national perspective, many questions in the PCS test your knowledge of state attributes.

Secondly, the aspirants must be aware of the pattern and the difficulty level of questions to be asked in the exam so that they stay in the right direction during their preparation. For this, one must go through previous years’ papers. In PCS, preliminary exam is simple and factual and straight forward questions are asked as compared to the UPSC, where questions are more analytical, based on understanding and test critical aptitude of the aspirants.

Third, while readying yourself for the PCS, you must not ignore reading a regional newspaper as it covers all aspects/issues concerning Punjab minutely. For example: When we prepare for the UPSC IAS exam, we need a special focus on all government schemes started by the Union Government, here we must supplement it with the state government initiatives in the social sector. 

Can a PCS officer be elevated to IAS?

Yes. However, a PCS officer’s promotion process is much slower than an IAS officer. A state civil servant could take as much as 15-17 years to get promoted as an IAS officer. Every state has its own procedure of promotion. The officers under certain state governments take a longer time to get promoted in comparison to other states. 

The state government prepares a list of PCS officers as per their seniority keeping in mind certain conditions like the officer should not have any chargesheet filed against him during the time of service, his age should not be above 54 years etc. In accordance with Rule 9 of the recruitment rules, there are only specified and limited positions for recruitment.

All the best!

Questions concerning Punjab from General Studies (Preliminary) Exam (previous years)

1. Kanjli Wetland is in which district of Punjab?
(a) Kapurthala
(b) Moga
(c) Tarn Taran
(d) Fazilka

2. What is the zoological name of the State bird of Punjab?
(a) Accipiter gentilis
(b) Antilope cervicapra
(c) Dalbergia sissoo
(d) Eichhornia crassipes

3. Arrange the following important events in the history of Punjab in chronological order
(i) Jallianwala Bagh Incident
(ii) Kamagata Maru Incident
(iii) The Ghadar Movement
(iv) Battle of Saragarhi

a) (i), (ii), (iv) and (iii)
b) (iii), (ii), (i) and (iv)
c) (iv), (iii), (i) and (ii)
d) (iv), (iii), (ii) and (i)

4. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Economic and Statistical Organization of Punjab (ESO)? 

1. It provides advisory services to state government on economic matters to form policies
2. It acts as a nodal agency for MPLAD schemes and helps district planning committees 

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

5. Which insecticide is banned by the Punjab government for use in agriculture ?
(a) Tremadaside
(b) Endosulfan
(c) Uriprox
(d) Becaldehyde

6. Which of the following Punjabi writers have been awarded with the prestigious Jnanpith Award?
1. Gurdial Singh
2. Amrita Pritam
3. Surjit Patar
4. Jaswant Kanwal

Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 2 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

7. 'Chun kar az hameh heelate dar guzasht, Halal ast burden bi-shamsher dast". This verse is a part of which work by Guru Gobind Singh?
(a) Chandi di vaar
(b) Zafarnama
(c) Bichitra natak
(d) Jaap sahib

8. 'Aiti maar payi kurlane tain ki dard na aaya" was written by Guru Nanak Dev ji after the invasion by
(a) Humayun
(b) Babur
(c) Ghazni
(d) Ahmad Shah Abdali

9. Which of the following is not a traditional Punjabi dance ?
a) Sammi
b) Vain
c) Gidha
d) Bhangra

10. Bhartiya Sahitya Akademi award winner, Dalip Kaur Tiwana, was awarded this honour for which of her writings?
a) Eho Hamara Jeewana
b) Ik Chhit Chanan Di
c) Ik Mian Do Talwaran
d) Adh Chanani Raat

The exam ambit

The PPSC fills the following posts (depending upon vacancies) through the Punjab State Civil Services Combined Competitive Examination 

• Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch)
• Deputy Superintendent of Police
• Excise and Taxation Officer
• Tehsildar
• Food Supply and Consumer Affairs Officer
• Block Development & Panchayat Officer
• Assistant Registrar (Cooperative Societies)
• Labour-cum-Conciliation Officer
• Employment Generation and Training Officer
• Deputy Superintendent (Jails)

Age & eligibility

• Following the pattern of the UPSC, the Punjab Government, in a recent notification, has increased the number attempts to clear the PCS exam. Earlier, the candidates of all the categories were given four shots.
• Now, the maximum number of attempts for the PCS aspirants have been increased from four to six for the general category. For the Backward Classes (BC), nine chances will be given while the Scheduled Caste (SC) category aspirants will get unlimited attempts.
• The age limit for various categories — general, BC/OBC and SC will be 37, 40 and 42, respectively. However, the upper age limit for the post of DSP and DSP (Jails) is 28 years for general category and 33 years for SC and OBC students.

Do’s and Don’ts

Even when your name appears in the final list of selected candidates, your rank decides the job you will get. The PCS exam also selects aspirants for many state allied services. Only the toppers manage to grab the top administrative posts as they are selected into PCS (Executive) and they are the ones who are most likely to be promoted to the IAS. Aspirants who make it to allied services are first promoted to PCS (Executive), which is a long and cumbersome process. 

• Marks scored in the main exam form the basis of your rank/selection as they form the major chunk (1,350) of the total 1,500 marks (150 marks are for interview). So one must practise writing everyday and must have command over language and good expression. 
• One must read newspaper religiously every single day without fail. 
• Make your own short notes for revision and restrict your resources to a select few. 
• Never ignore basic resources such as NCERT books, PIB, PRS etc.
• To be on top of the chart, don’t blindly follow what toppers say at coaching institutes. 
• Apply your mind and don’t read too many books for a single topic. 
• Try to internalise the concepts and keep a disciplined relationship with social media. 

General Studies buffet (Main)

Paper I: History, geography and society
Paper II: Indian Constitution & polity, governance and international relations
Paper III: Economy, statistics and security issues
Paper IV: Science & technology, environment, problem solving and decision making

Mahatma Gandhi scholarship at LSE

In keeping with its mandate of spreading the message of  Mahatma Gandhi, the Chair of the UK-based  Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, Lord Meghnad Desai,  will be donating a sum of £100,000 as an endowment towards Mahatma Gandhi scholarships to be set up at the London School of Economics. 

This is the seed money which would then be added to by others so that a large corpus would be built up in time. 

This would enable deserving Indian students to study at the LSE. This endowment coincides with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and has been welcomed by the Director of the LSE, Minouche Shafik, who is at present on a visit to India. 

The Director pointed out that the LSE has a very strong India connection, and in fact, Dr Ambedkar had also studied there. Mahatma Gandhi had also delivered a very well attended lecture at the LSE in the Old Theatre in the 1931 .  

In the past four years ,  the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust has also supported three other charities in the UK , which are working on themes close to the vision and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. — TNS