How to Become an IAS

8/8/2019 How to Become an IAS

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How to become an IAS/IPSofficer?

Article Requested By: ImthiyasIn this article we will talk about the process involved in becoming anIAS or (Indian Administrative Services) officer!

Please Note: Becoming an:

IAS (Indian Administrative Services) officer

IPS (Indian Police Services) officer etc

Is all done though the same UPSC held Civil Services examination!

This guide is written from the point of view of becoming an IAS officer.However, the procedure to become an IPS etc. officer is also the same!If you are interested in becoming an IAS officer, you probably knowwhat the IAS is all about and why becoming an IAS officer is a verygood career option. However, just incase you do not know, let us giveyou some quick information on IAS!If you become an IAS officer, you become part of the IndianAdministrative Service. You will be part of the Govt. You can work fromthe inside and change the system!!

If you have a dream for India, or if you, like us, believe that India willsoon be a super-power. If you want to be part of the process ofmaking India a great nation, IAS is for you! Being an IAS officer, thereis a lot more power and control you have so that you can be part ofEmerging India!

Besides that, IAS is a great career option! You get many perks of thejob when you are an IAS officer. You will have job security, discounton Govt. services, Govt. provided transportation and many morethings... Even though the monthly salary provided by the IAS career isnot too high, the perks make up for the less salary!

However, getting into the IAS is not that easy! There is a verycompetitive one year long exam! To get into the IAS, you probablywill have to try more than once before you succeed. And even if youclear the exam, then you have to get a very good score to qualify forthe IAS! So, basically getting into the IAS is not that easy. However,here on indiahowto.com, we will try to show you how to.. get in.
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To get into the IAS, you will have to give the UPSC held Civil ServicesExamination. It is a common exam for getting into the IAS, IPS etc. Tosucceed in the Civil Services Examination you first need tounderstand how the examination is conducted or the examination

format! But, before we understand that, let get some "FrequentlyAsked Questions" out of the way.

UPSC held Civil Services ExamFAQ

How do I apply for the Civil ServicesExam?

The Application Procedure for the Civil Services Examination is prettysimple. The Application Form and Information Brochure can beobtained from the Head Post Offices or Post Offices throughout thecountry.

The filled Application Form should be sent to:Secretary,

Union Public Service Commission,Dholpur House,New Delhi - 110011.

Just to give you an idea, here is a sample application form. Note: Thisis just a sample form to give you an idea. You cannot use this form forapplication. You will have to take an actual form from the PostOffice/Head Post Office in your town!

Here is the information brochure you will get along with the applicationform. You should download it and read it properly. It tells you about the

filling of the form, the exam and some other details.

Can anyone apply, what is the eligibilitycriteria?
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I. Academic EligibilityThe candidate must possess a degree from an Indian University or aneducational institution deemed as a University or possess anequivalent qualification. Those in the final year of a degree course canalso appear in the Preliminary Examination.

II. Other Eligibility Conditions

1. For the IAS and the IPS, the candidate must be a citizen of India.

2. For the other services, a candidate must be either:

a citizen of India, or

a subject of Nepal, or

a subject of Bhutan, or

a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1, 1962, with the

intention of permanently settling in India, or

a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, 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.

iii. The candidate must have attained 21 years of age on August 1st ofthe year of examination and must not have attained 30 years of age onthat date. The upper age limit will be relaxed by 3 years for OBCcandidates and 5 years for SC/ST candidates. The upper age limit isalso relaxed in favor of certain categories of civil servants workingunder the Government of India and Defense Services Personnel.

These are the Govt. stated eligibility criteria. If you come under these,you can give the exam.

When is the examination usuallyconducted?

The notification for the examination (giving the rules and syllabus forall the subjects in the examination) is published in the month ofDecember every year in the 'Employment News' / 'Rozgar Samachar'

and 'Gazette of India', as well as, in some leading Newspapers.You should try to get a copy of this notification. The PreliminaryExamination is usually held in May / June and the Main Examinationin October / November of the same calendar year.If you are wondering what the Main Examination and thePreliminary Examination is, dont worry! We will be explaining all thisin the next page.


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People give the exam many times!? Howmany times are you allowed to give theexam?

If you belong to the Open Category you can give the exam 4 times maximum! If you belong to the OBC you can give the exam 7 times.

If you belong to the SC/ST you can give the exam as many times as you want.

There is no restriction on the number of times!

Where is the exam conducted? Is there aexam center in my city?

The following cities have exam centers:

Agartala

Gangtok

Panaji ( Goa )

Ahmedabad

Hyderabad

Patna

Aizawl

Imphal

Pondicherry

Aligarh Itanagar

Port Blair

Allahabad

Jaipur Raipur

Aurangabad

Jammu

Ranchi

Bangalore

Jodhpur

Sambalpur Bareilly

Jorhat

Shillong Bhopal

Kochi

Shimla

Chandigarh


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Kohima

Srinagar

Chennai

Kolkata

Thiruvananthapuram

Cuttack Lucknow

Tirupati

Dehradun

Madurai

Udaipur

Delhi

Mumbai Vishakhapatnam

Dharwar

Nagpur

Dispur

Okay, now let us understand the format of the exam...

Pattern or Format of Civil

Service Exam!The Civil Service Examination has a complicated format! The completeexam stretches over a period of one year! So, before you go ahead, letus first try to understand the format of the exam.First of all, in the month of May or June there are the Preliminaryexaminations. Now, in this examination, there are two papers. Thepapers are on:1. General Studies (150 marks)2. Some optional subject (300 marks)This exam is just to get you to the next round of the main exam. This

is just to short list candidates. The score you get here is NOT added toyour final score.Now, you are probably wondering what general studies and someoptional subject means, so let us clear that up!

General Studies Paper.


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General Studies paper consists of questions on:

1. Indian Polity & Economy2. History of India including Indian National Movement

3. Indian and World Geography

4. Current Affairs of National and International Importance5. General and day-to-day Science

6. Mental Ability and Basics of Statistics etc.

Questions on planning, budgeting, developmental programs, latestissues of political and constitutional importance, panchayati raj,electoral reforms, natural resources, culture, growth of nationalism,Committees, Commission etc can be expected every year.Now-a-days, there is a lot of emphasis on current affairs in thegeneral studies paper!Basically, the syllabus is HUGE and vague. But, dont worry we shall try

to help you with what you need to do. How to prepare for these papersis given later on in the How to prepare section

Some optional subject paper

Here you have to give a paper on a subject of your choice. You canchoose from the following subjects:

Agriculture

Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

Botany Chemistry

Civil Engineering

Commerce

Economics

Electrical Engineering

Geography

Geology

Indian History

Law

Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Medical Science

Philosophy

Physics

Political Science

Psychology

Public Administration

Sociology


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Now, as you saw in the previous section, in the preliminaryexamination there are two papers.

1. General studies2. Optional Subject

Preparing for General Studies Paper

We discussed the syllabus of the General Studies paper in the lastsection. However, as we saw, the syllabus is quite large and vague.However, to prepare for it, you could do the following:FIRSTLY: For this paper, it is very important to be updated in currentaffairs in all fields.For History, Economy, Polity, etc, you should read Class 11 and 12

books published by the NCERT. Here are some NCERT e-bookdownloads that you can use free!For general knowledge and objective-type questions, refer to the bookGeneral Knowledge Refresher by O.P. Khanna.According to IAS topper of 2000, Sorabh Babu Maheshwari, you mustread Competition Success Review issues from December to May. Justgo through them and try to pick as many facts as you can. Also solvethe previous years' General Studies Prelims and Model Paperspublished in Competition Success Review.Here are some sample General Studies papers to give you an idea:General Studies 2006 Prelims PaperGeneral Studies 2005 Prelims PaperWhen studying for General Studies, you should try to read up as manybusiness and political magazines, newspapers etc. that you can. Thishas two advantages. It will give you a good control over the Englishlanguage. This "good control" helps you in many of the papers like the"essay paper", the "English qualifying paper" etc. It will also keep youupdated with the latest facts and current affairs.However, do not over do this. You should not waste your time readinga lot and picking up very few facts! You must try to read only thingsthat matter and take an extra effort to look out for things that could beasked in the exam papers!

How to prepare for the Optional Subjectpaper?
http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General-Studies/free-books/index.htmlhttp://www.competitionreview.com/http://www.competitionreview.com/http://www.indiahowto.com/GSPrelims2006.pdfhttp://www.indiahowto.com/GSPrelims2005.pdfhttp://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General-Studies/free-books/index.htmlhttp://www.competitionreview.com/http://www.competitionreview.com/http://www.indiahowto.com/GSPrelims2006.pdfhttp://www.indiahowto.com/GSPrelims2005.pdf


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Before you prepare for the optional subject paper, you first need toselect the optional subject.

What subject should you take?If you have got your bachelors degree in a particular field, and you

are confident about that field then choosing that subject as youroptional subject would be a good idea.It would be wise to look though the syllabus of the subject you areselecting and seeing whether you have covered all of the topics in yourdegree course and how well you feel you know those topics. You couldtake a look at the syllabus from here.Another strategy is to select a subject like Geography or History ifyou can mug-up a lot of facts. These subjects help some people toscore really well in the prelims and this is what gets them to theirMains Exam!One important thing to remember: After the prelims, you are not going

to get much time to prepare for the Main Exam if you get selected. Itwould make a lot of sense to try to study both General Studies aswell as the Optional Subject properly, as if you are studying for theMains! At least one optional subject of the mains will be almost over! Ifyou do this, your load for the mains will reduce a lot!

How to study for the optional subject?Well, there are many different subjects and it would not be practical toexplain how to study for each individual one. However, we shall helpyou with the general way to go about it!Obtain the latest syllabus for the civil service exam you will be giving.

Then, gather up all your books, and cover the topics of the syllabuswhile SIMULTANEOUSLY referring to the question papers and seeingthe kind of questions that are asked on each topic!Now, as you know, the paper will be a multiple choice questions paper.So, people look though the syllabus and make the mistake of assumingsomething like, This cannot be asked as a multiple-choice question!What can they possibly ask? This is a BIG mistake!They can convert just about anything into a confusing multiple choicequestion. So a good understanding of all the concepts of the syllabus isa must!Another thing to remember, when you start to study for the prelims,

you might tend to want to focus more on the optional subject sinceyou already know it and it is easier! Do not do this! Make sure youconcentrate on the General Studies paper also. If you do not, you willjust not reach the Mains!Remember also not to over concentrate on the General Studiespaper. It has fewer marks than the optional subject. So, basically, donot over or under focus on any one! Do both in the rightproportion. (We know that all this is easier to say than do!)
http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/preliminary-syllabus.htmlhttp://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/preliminary-syllabus.html


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Now, let us assume that you have given your Prelims exams and arenow going in for the MAINS, let us see how to tackle them

How to prepare for the "MainsExam"? - Part 1

Okay, just to re-cap, let us first understand what are the papers youwill have to give in the mains examination:

1 Essay type Indian Language Paper (300 marks)

1 English Qualifying Paper (300 marks)

1 General Essay type paper (200 marks)

2 General Studies papers (300 marks each) 4 Optional subjects papers (300 marks each)

In case you are confused about what "4 optional subject papers"means, let us just clear that up first. You see, for the "mains exam" youhave to select 2 optional subjects. And on each of these optionalsubjects, you will have to give 2 papers. So that makes 4 optionalsubject papers in all!As we said earlier, when you are studying for the prelims, you shouldstudy both the optional subject and the general studies really well!If you do this, you can use the same knowledge to give the mains

exam. It will reduce your study load for the mains exam a lot! Whenstudying for the mains exam, one of the optional subjects will bealmost done and a lot of the general studies syllabus will be covered!If you are confused about what the mains is all about, you mightwant to go back and take a look at the Format of Civil service exampage!

How to choose the second optionalsubject?

To select the second optional subject, you must decide on basis of twofactors:

1. The availability of study material/books etc. on the subject you select.2. The amount of interest you have in that subject!
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Study material is generally a problem! So you should keep a look outfor good books etc. that cover the syllabus of the optional subjects youselect.Now, as we decided previously, one optional subject will be the sameas the optional subject you chose in the prelims! The other optional

subject could be something like history or geography etc. if youcan mug-up a lot of facts! On the other hand, if you have interest insome other subject and you can find enough study material on it, youshould definitely go for that subject.The list of options you have for your optional subject's is here:

Agriculture

Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science

Botany

Chemistry

Civil Engineering

Commerce Economics

Electrical Engineering

Geography

Geology

Indian History

Law

Mathematics

Mechanical Engineering

Medical Science

Philosophy

Physics Political Science

Psychology

Public Administration

Sociology

Statistics

Zoology

Arabic

Assamese

Bengali

Gujarati

Hindi Kannada

Kashmiri

Konkani

Marathi

Malayalam

Manipuri

Nepali


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Oriya

Pali

Persian

Punjabi

Russian

Sanskrit Sindhi

Tamil

Telugu

Urdu

Here is the link to the mains syllabus of these subjects!Please Note: You see many languages listed about as optional subjects.In case of these languages, the syllabus consists of literature etc. thatis written in that language. You can check out the syllabuses here.

How to prepare for the "MainsExam"? - Part 2

What is General Essay Type paper? What do they ask in that paper?

In this paper, you will be required to write an essay on a specific topic.The choice of topic will be given. You should keep closely to the subjectof the essay to arrange your ideas in orderly fashion, and to concisely!Just to give you an idea, here are the topics of the 2001 essay typepaper.

Write an essay on ANY ONE of the following subjects:1. What have we gained from our democratic set-up?2. My vision of an ideal world order3. The march of science and the erosion of human values4. Irrelevance of the classroom

5. The pursuit of excellence6. Empowerment alone cannot help our women.So, how to tackle the essay type paper?Read a lot of essays. Read as many essays as you can get your handson. One good source of high-quality essays, are the essays published inthe CSR or Competiation Succes Review. Try to get a hold of theirmagazine. It is full of useful information!
http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/main-syllabus.htmlhttp://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/main-syllabus.htmlhttp://www.competitionreview.com/http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/main-syllabus.htmlhttp://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/main-syllabus.htmlhttp://www.competitionreview.com/


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Make sure you read only great essays by top authors! This will giveyou a feel of how essays are written. Also try to get a good bookon writing essays. There will be many available in your local bookstore. There is pattern or way in which you essay must be structured.All this can be learnt from a good book on writing essays.

Finally, practice! Write essays on challenging topics and get them readby friends and colleagues or teachers who have a degree in the Englishlanguage. They may be able to give you some good pointers toimprove your presentation on performance.Vinod K.Jacob, Topper 2000 suggest that this is how you shouldactually use your time when writing the essay paper in the exam:45 minutes can be given for planning out structure and content of youressay, then two hours of writing (around 200 words). Finally, 15minutes just in case you need some extra time to write some more orread though your essay and improve and correct it!

What is the English qualifying paper allabout?

The English Qualifying paper is just a Qualifying paper. It does notadd to your final score. The paper is designed to prove that you have agood command over the English language.The paper will consist of:(i) Comprehension of given passages.(ii) Precis Writing

(iii) Usage and Vocabulary(iv) Short EssayIf you have studied in an English medium school, this paper will beeasy for you to prepare for. This format is very similar to the formatthat the school English papers have!If you have not studied in an English language school you will have totake some effort to master the English language. You can do this byreading a lot. You need to read and try to properly understand whatyou read. Keep a dictionary with you always. Keep referring to in withany new word you come across. Interact with fluent English speakers.All this will give you control over the language.

You could also try to read indiahowto.coms How to speak Englishfluently? article. It has many useful tips to help non-English speakerslearn and master the English language.However, if you are from a non-English medium school, you have onthing in your favor. The Qualifying Indian Language paper will beeasy for you!
http://www.indiahowto.com/speak-english-fluently.htmlhttp://www.indiahowto.com/speak-english-fluently.htmlhttp://www.indiahowto.com/speak-english-fluently.htmlhttp://www.indiahowto.com/speak-english-fluently.html


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What is the Qualifying Indian Languagepaper all about?

This paper is just like the English language paper. It is designed to

prove that you have a good command over some Indian language. Thispaper too is just a qualifying paper. The marks you get in this paper isnot added to the final score. You just need to get enough to qualify!You can give this paper in one of the following Indian languages:

Assamese

Bengali

Gujarati

Hindi

Kannada

Kashmiri

Konkani Marathi

Malayalam

Manipuri

Nepali

Oriya

Punjabi Sanskrit

Sindhi

Tamil

Telugu

Urdu

This paper generally consists of the following:(i) Comprehension of given passages.(ii) Precis Writing(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.(iv) Short Essay(v) Translation from English to the Indian language and vice-versa.If you do not have command over an Indian language, this paper couldbe a problem for you. You might have to read up and concentrate on

the paper until you get a hang of the language you select.If you have a good command over an Indian language, you will nothave worry too much about this paper. Just worry about yourpresentation and practice writing a few papers!Okay, finally after all this is over, we get to the last part of the Civilservice exam selection process! The interview!! So, lets try tounderstand, how to tackle the interview next!


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How to give the civil serviceexam interview?

Now, if you have got though all the 9 papers of the mains exam well,you should get your interview call by about March or April. In theinterview, your confidence, personality and understanding of the worldis judged.The interview is quite subjective. We cannot give any definite adviseabout how you can prepare for it. It would definitely be good if youread some book about how to prepare and deliver an interview.Here we have provided for you a huge compilation of tips given bycivil service exam toppers like Mr.Sorabh Babu Maheshwari, Ms. ManjuRajpal, Mr. Santosh Kumar Misra etc.Here is what they think about the interview and how they think you

should deal with it:"Questions posed before a candidate by the interviewing board arevery well framed and answers to them should be made taking intoconsideration all possible views and a balanced approach is expectedfrom a candidate.""One should prepare for the interview with a group of 3-4 people as thepreparation for Interview cannot be done in isolation. Personality is alife-time asset and expecting miraculous changes in personality in aspan of a few days or weeks is not possible. Yet, efforts can be made toovercome major deficiency and polishing of views and opinions.""Remember, non-awareness of something should be admitted with

politeness. It is okay to not know something!""If at any point of time, you could show that your approach isflexible the world is yours.""It is better to say 'No' than to bluff around. Those interviewing arehighly experienced persons and know much better than us.""If the question put is not clear to you, politely ask for moreinformation. It is not the factual knowledge but your views which areon test in the interview.""Always observe interview etiquette and be honest, polite, convincingan modest. Arrogance, rigidity, flicking round the issue should beavoided."

"When preparing for the interview, keep in mind that no Traininginstitute can improve your personality! Some of these institutes can behelpful if they conduct Group Discussions and Mock Interviews""General Do's & Don'ts for the Interview:

1. Be utmost respectful to the board. They are usually very senior and learnedpeople.


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2. Have no biases for any Board . Don't go by any stories doing rounds in your

campus corridors.

3. Never make any sweeping statement4. Accept your mistakes boldly."

"Interview preparation does not require one to stuff oneself with facts,ability to analyse and to critically examine an issue is what actuallycounts.""Speak honestly, truthfully and with modesty. Understand thequestions before answering them and clarify the points if you did notunderstand them. Many a time what happens is that your answer ismisinterpreted, so do not hesitate in clarifying it.""Framing your own questions and answering them (especiallyrecording them on to a tape and listening them) is a very usefultechnique, if you don't feel confident. Otherwise also it is extremelyhelpful in making a correct choice of words while answering a

question.""Reach the Exam centre well in time, so some deep breathing tomaintain your cool and be charming during the interview.""Interview preparation is not just a matter of a few days - your wholepersonality counts. Still you must acquaint yourself with your homeState, district your college, your hobbies, general concepts of PublicAdministration, etc. also you can brush up the Mains GS material likePolity, Economy, History, etc.""Interview is more of a psychological test than just content based. Butalong with good communication skills and self-confidence, goodknowledge base gives you an upper hand."

"For the Interview read as many newspapers and as many magazine aspossible. Discuss with your friends. Take mock-interviews. Try to findloop-holes in your arguments and plug them. Form your views onvarious subjects in a very logical and rational manner supported bydata whenever necessary. Do not get nervous.""Do not get nervous before the Interviews. Improve yourcommunications skills by giving mock-interviews. These will also openyou up. Ask your friends to grill you, so that you can face pressurefrom the Board easily.""Always pause a bit before answering even if you know the answer. Donot give a hasty reply. Answer in an orderly and logical fashion an

always look into the eyes of the interviewer while answering. Be politeand courteous.""Don't be argumentative. Be consistent in your views, i.e. just don'tchange your views because of the fact that the Board is differing withyou. Remember that they are only testing you and often even try toprovoke you. Give balanced answers and avoid taking extremes.""The most important thing to know about the Interview is that it is nota question-answer session and what they are looking out for is


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different aspects of one's personality. As far as possible, the answergiven should reveal a particular aspect of one's personality andattempts should not be made to present a make-up appearance orpolitically correct answers. There is no harm in taking extreme views ifone is able to justify them."

That is the complete compilation of all the tips on facing the interviewprovided by the IAS toppers. Now, finally, let us look at a sample studyplan as suggested by an IAS topper

A study schedule for the CivilServices Exam!

Here is a suggested Study time table by Exam topper Santosh KumarMisra. It can help you plan out your studies for giving the exam!Start in DecemberDecember to February: Finish your Optional Subject preparation. The"Optional Subject" is NOT the one you are going to be giving in theprelims! The other optional subject! The one you will be giving in theMains!

March & April: Devote fully to the Preparation of Optional 1 (i.e., thesubject you'll opt in the prelims) thoroughly.May should be spent exclusively for Prelims. A selective and precisecoverage of syllabus for the prelims is required.Give your Preliminary Exams!Take a break after the Prelims for 10-15 days. Relax and re-energizeyourself for the last four months.Complete the Optional-1 where you left it at the time of Prelims. Thisshould be done by the middle of July.Give second half of July and August to your Optional 2, once again.Prepare all your General Studies including current events in September

and leave October for Revision. Also prepare for your "Englishqualifying paper" and "Indian Language qualifying" paper now!However, you are weak in English or the Indian language, you will havestart this preparation a little earlier!Give your mains!After your Mains are over, take a break for say a month or so. Just keepreading Newspaper/Magazines (Hindu & Frontline's internationalevents are a good combination).


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From January you should start preparing for your round two. Preparethe topics you could not do in your 1st attempt and try to cover any,new areas where you feel you were weak. By March, you should befully prepare to tackle the Mains once again (hopefully you won't needit, still it pays to be prepared).

In March the results come out and immediately afterwards you shouldstart your interview preparation.Give your interview! Get selected! OVER!We hope that you found this article useful. If you did, remember to tellyour friends who are studying for the IAS/IPS or Civil Services Examabout it. Besides that, we wish you BEST OF LUCK! Just writing all thisis easy. However, actually doing all this is a very different story!We hope that YOU do succeed and help change the face of the countyand contribute to India becoming a super-power!Best Of Luck!Jai Hind.

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How to Become an IAS