My strategy for Public Administration valkyrie724July 2012My strategy for Public Administration

No doubt in this exam every one of us has to read a new subject different from their graduation one. And this is the biggest question for everyone which one to choose. There are various issues associated with Public administration which make it most acceptable to most of students and makes it most popular subject for civil service examination.

Why Public Administration?

Various reasons that can be cited for choosing public administration as I can see are as- It is a common mans subject. It is also called as Extension of common sense. Availability of coaching and study material. Manageable syllabus. Similarity with other subjects like political science, sociology, anthropology and also philosophy. It has certain inherent benefits as a student of public administration one gets to identify the various shades of grey as our society doesnt exist as black and white. From exam point there is nothing completely wrong and nothing completely right in this subject; its more fluidic in nature.So once decided to opt for public administration. Now stop thinking to change it. This is the time to move on and begin the process of understanding and imbibing public administration.

How to begin preparation?

Starting from scratch-

Paper-1 I would recommend start fromPoli naidusbook. It is good for those students who have no prior idea about whats this subject is all about. Then get a hold ontoM. Laxmikantsbook. Believe me only initial 4 chapters are bit tough. Once these are done its all simple then. This book is theBible of PA.So read in between lines, every word and yes every definition. M. Bhattacharyasbook is amazing and is could be dangerous to miss this book while preparing for PA. Only issue with this book is its language which is bit tough. Certain topics are so nicely given if understood properly one would get the essence of PA. NPA; NPM; Weber etc. Parsad and Parsadfor thinkers. Many students do read that book but I would suggest if you have read M Laxmikant then there is no need to go for it. Many students have scored good marks without reading this book. Laxmikant has already given these thinkers in a complete and yet comprehensive manner. Certain other books that can be referred for paper-1 areSharma Sadana; Wizards booklet Super 50 for PA (for a quick review).

I would recommend not going for too much books otherwise one tends to confuse and wont have anything concrete to write in examination hall.

Here I have tried to give minimal books that one must study for PA.

Remember this subject is though fluidic in nature but demands you to answer in core and concrete manner.

Paper-2(again from scratch) Rajni Goyalis a good book to begin with. But it is a bit old and not upto date book. Still certain chapters can be referred from this. Kautilya is nicely given others like mughals, british, panchayats etc. Students can also refer toFadia and Fadia. Any good coaching institute notes (hand written). They good for revision purpose. Daily newspaper(either the hindu; Indian Express) look for any administrative news and make notes of that. In CSE-2011 a question regarding controversy of Governor came directly from an editorial from Indian Express. Certain issues to be looked for in newspaper like presidential election, Election commission of India, any constitutional post changes, PM/President speech, CVC, panchayati raj development. Pratiyogita Darpanmonthly issue publishes articles on every optional and articles on PA must be read thoroughly. 2nd ARCis more feared because of its gigantic size. Believe me if you follow a smart approach you can make use of it in your exam as question from this section tends to appear directly. One can refer it for diagrams. Further in the end of every report there is one summary given and recommendation can be memorized from there. Committees prepare this section as it is very important for paper 2. One can refer to Appendix given in Laxmikants book, Phadia and phadia, any coaching institute material.

I would strongly recommend students not to rely completely on one coaching institute. Do try to swim on your own.

Time managementEssentially preparing for Civil services exam is a mission mode preparation and here mission is to cover whole syllabus and to do it at least twice before going for final showdown.

o Total chapters are 25(13+12) in syllabus to be prepared for.o Syllabus once completed, do prepare previous year question papers and their answers. This phase of preparation is like sharpening your skills.o Certain solved papers are available in market (Vishals Publication) but I would ask one to go for unsolved. Because while preparing for answers one has to go for his/her book again and this would force one to read it again and prepare it thoroughly.o Do prepare according to syllabus as you cant afford to read anything beyond it as it wont be useful.o Baring thinkers chapters every chapter takes 1day (actually 5-6 hrs) to complete. So whole syllabus of PA can be done in 30 days once. So 60 days and PA is over.o Make a separate sheet for diagrams as it would help one to score more marks per question in exam. Dont forget this is a competitive exam and one has to excel relatively over others. Prepare all diagrams of Laxmikant and 2nd ARC(e.g. Law and order chapter)o Write in small paragraph or point (mention every point as firstly or secondly rather than 1/2/3) format. Do write introduction and conclusion.

Joining a test series where questions are marked by teacher himself is a good option for answer writing practice.

With this approach I believe public administration can be prepared thoroughly in time bound manner. And always rememberall is well and all will be well.

Meticulous practice and sincere efforts are key to success in this exam.

Wishing you all good luck.

DR. ShaleenRank-81CSE-2011.