In
the last issue we had discussed about the Preliminary Stage of the Examination
and the first two topics as per the syllabus. Today we shall discuss the next
three topics for the Preliminary Examination – 1) Indian and World Geography -
Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World; 2) Indian Polity
and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy,
Rights Issues, etc and 3) Economic and Social Development - Sustainable
Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
For
the Indian Geograhy part generally the aspirants buy a lot of books but get
disillusioned after starting to read because of the enormity of the contents of
the books. There is a difference between studying Geography for the Prelims and
Geography as an optional. Most books are for Geography as an optional and hence
for the Prelims one need to study only some specific text books extensively.
For the Prelims part only the NCERT books for 9th 10th 11th
and 12th Standards would suffice. If someone does not have a good
background of Geography he can start the NCERT textbooks from the 6th
standard as well. The most important among these is the book for the 11th
Standard. This book is not a very bulky book at all and but each and every line
of the book is important. For the Prelims each and every line of the book may
constitute a question.
Hence one is recommended to study the 11th
Standard book religiously for the Preliminary Examination. The other NCERT
books may be read extensively and they are also not very huge in volume. But
the 11th Standard book is the most important one. Among other books
for the Indian Geography part books by R
C Tiwari; D R Khullar; Majid Hussain; Spectrum; Periyar etc are also followed
by the toppers. However NCERT books should be followed religiously.
Among
the books for World Geography NCERT books from 6th standard are
imporant along with a book called “Certificate Physical and Human Geography” by
Goh Cheng Leong. Leong’s book is considered as the best book for World
Geography by the toppers. A book by Savindra Singh is also followed. One
important thing for the World Geography part is the Atlas. One should have a
good Atlas (Oxford Atlas is the best) and read it extensively. For the entire
Geography part for the Preliminary Examination; one can also follow the books
by Majid Hussain.
For
the Indian Polity and Governance part there are two books which shall suffice –
Indian Polity by Laxmikanth and Introduction to the Constitution of india by D
D Basu. I followed the former and for it was a comprehensive and interesting
book. I did not study the book by D D Basu primarily because i found the
language a bit tough for me. But there are people who likes to read the book by
D D Basu and do not like the book by Laxmikanth. This might be because level of
understanding varies form person to person. Understanding depends on one’s
comfortablity with the language and percieved clarity of the writings. As a
whole both the books are good and one should carefully choose one by reading a
few chapters from them and make only one of them as one’s textbook for the part
– Indian Polity.
In
addition to the above two books one must follow the amendments done to the
Constitution in recent times and also the new bills which are introduced in the
parliament and have not yet been passed. One such good source is the website – www.prsindia.org. They keep all the new
legislations along with their reviews; commenteries and analysis. So one can
browse them and read the insights into the new legislations. This is undoubtably
one of the most important sites for the preparation for this examination. Also
one must keep an eye on any contemporaty articles in The Hindu or The Indian
Express on any polity and constitution related issue.
For
the Economic and Social Development part; the newspapers are the best sources
of information. One can easily Google the terms “Sustainable Development”,
Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, “Social Sector initiatives” etc and find out
many sources from where extensive studies can be done. However a good source
would be the Economc Survey of india published just before the budget every
year. One can read it to have a good grasp of the schemes which the Government
has launched and how they have been performing. I also read from the same and
it proved to be a good source of information for the Economic and Social
Development part. If one wants to read a textbook i would recommended the one
written by Uma Kapila. The name of the book is Indian Economy: Performance and
Polices.
In
addition to the above one should refer to the websites www.mrunal.org and www.insightonindia.com for good study
materials. One should learn to extensively use the internet for UPSC
preparation.
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