How to prepare for Civil Services: Tips by Kamal Dev Singh

New Delhi [India], April 3 (ANI/SRV): Many of you have this curiosity in your mind about where to start preparing for civil services. I often say the same thing to such students, they should first look at the
and then give the syllabus a thorough read. Once everything about the syllabus is limped in your brain, start collecting the study material related to the same. Simultaneously also buy a set of
and pick any one topic to start with.
Break your chosen subject into different topics according to the syllabus. While studying according to the topic, you will neither find this preparation cumbersome nor will you think of leaving it midway. Once you go through the topic exhaustively, start solving questions related to it asked in preliminary and mains through previous years.
With this, you will witness that not only you are finding certain topics interesting, but now you also have the courage to add value as per the demand of the subject.
Even while preparing, if you are having trouble understanding the topic, you can take the help of a Mentor or go for coaching. As a UPSC Mentor, I always advise the aspirants to prepare
Honestly by themselves. But sometimes it is not easy to prepare on your own. In such a situation, you should choose the right guide or coaching for yourself.
While choosing any coaching, keep 3 things in mind - Faculty, Content, and Credibility.
You should research at your level about different coachings. Apart from this, you can also consult people from the same field. Often the candidates make a hasty choice of coaching by looking at popular advertisements. Subsequently, if the syllabus is not taught as per the required practice of UPSC, students often regret their decision. To avoid such situations, you have to adopt the same measures which are mentioned previously.
The candidates often consider the advertisement of coaching as the ultimate truth however it is not. To sidestep such confusion, examine coaching on your own for yourself by visiting the coaching and asking about the experience of previous candidates after which you will eventually be able to make an effective decision.
When I started mentoring for Civil Services, I had the only goal in my mind preparing those people who are lacking in their preparation for UPSC. I aimed that progressive students should be selected from rural areas so the service could be more inclusive.
In line with the vision of the Government of India, I also made
a passion rather than just a profession. The result of this passion was that people from the underprivileged sections of society started coming to this service.
Harish Kumar, the son of a mother who used to earn her livelihood by doing domestic services, dreamed of civil services. He came to me and share his problem. I told him to just focus on his preparation, I will help him with whatever I can. But self-respected Harish responded that he will pay the fee as much as he could afford. I was very happy to hear this. And then he gave his first UPSC attempt in which he got selected for the prestigious post of IPS.
Here I mention a story of a successful candidate who followed the strategy, I mentioned at the very start of the article. A girl named Sakshi came to Delhi to prepare for civil services. She enrolled at Nirman IAS and completed a two-year course. During this, she became a part of every program provided by
. She regularly gave prelims and mains test series after expecting herself as fully prepared for the UPSC exam however unfortunately, she missed the exam by just 0.60 marks.
Nevertheless, she did not give up. She gave mock test series for the main exam as if she is selected. With this, she also updated her notes according to current affairs. To bring more edge to its content, she also did value addition in her notes. Next year she gave another attempt. This time she qualified for mains. She had also taken guidance from me separately to enhance the quality of Mains answer writing. As a result, she got selected for the interview round of UPSC. After this, she also joined the quality improvement program started for the UPSC interview round by Nirman IAS. Eventually, she got selected and at the age of just 22, she got the opportunity to serve in the post of Assistant Deputy Commissioner of the Indian Revenue Service.
By the end, I suggest all our young enthusiasts to attempt this exam with passion, get selected, and take the country forward to the next level of evolution.
- Kamal Dev Singh, Founder - NIRMAN IAS
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