Public Administration- Mains _ Anay Dwivedi

Anay Dwivedi

Public Administration- Mains Posted on June 10, 2010

Public Administration- Mains Before I begin, let me tell you that it was my 2n d optional and one of the biggest mistakes in my previous 2 attempts was the wrong orientation I had in public administration. In my 1st attempt (2007) I scored 309 and in 2n d attempt (2008), 287. These were the years when the scores in public administration were on an average well over 300. This year the checking has been quite strict and it has been difficult to score above 300. The strategy which I followed was very simple. Minimise the books I read for public administration and use all my General Studies knowledge in pub ad papers. To be honest, I devoted 60% of my preparation time to GS, 30% to psychology and just 10% to public administration. This was because I relied “almost completely” on newspaper reading and had full faith in Pavan sir’s (at Sriram’s) assessment and advice. Mistakes in pub ad 1. Reading too many books. Mohit Bhattacharya, Ferrel Heady, IIPA journals, Rumki Basu, etc are NOT at all required. In fact, low scores in pub ad are usually due to relying on these books/journals. 2. Concentrating on notes and jargons. Aiming at mugging up quotes, names of thinkers, technical terms, etc is a complete waste of time and effort. 3. Writing answers in paragraph thinking logical flow and good language is what is required in pub ad. It is not your opinion which counts as you needn’t convince the examiner. What is required is good factual knowledge and insight. 4. I do not know about classes and test series such as Bhavani Singh, Mohanty and Sunil Gupta as I never attended them. I know of these three as many of my friends had joined them. I came across their notes, etc and realised that my strategy was very different from theirs. But if you have gone through their notes and attended classes/test series and are still confused, do not worry. Knowledge never goes waste. Also, at the end of the day, my strategy worked this year, next year it might not. Nothing is certain. 5. My biggest mistake was joining Vajiram for pub ad in 2007. Not only the teaching was not exam oriented, the whole orientation and approach towards pub ad was flawed. I do not know the present faculty at Vajiram and my comment is restricted only to the classes I attended in 2007. Even then, I continued to use the content in my later attempts. Whatever knowledge you gain, you can apply it as and when the situation demands. 6. Extreme emphasis on unnecessary things such as words used in the question. Critically examine, elucidate, explain, comment, etc do not change your answer. Thinking along those lines is going to reduce the quality of your answers. 7. Case studies: during my fist two attempts I put a lot of stress on case studies. Wasting 100 words (and the time as well) on case-studies and more importantly going through IIPA journals during preparation is a sin. 8. Differentiating between paper 1 and paper 2 and thinking they require a different approach is a huge

mistake. I was told that examples in paper 1 have to be from different countries and just 1-2 lines about India. Paper 2 was only about Indian administration. This was the biggest reason why I scored just 130 in paper 1 in 2008. To summarize, right orientation and approach is key to high scores in pub ad. If while solving a math problem, the first step itself is wrong, no matter what you do later, the answer is going to be incorrect. Books As I have said for psychology, same holds for every other optionalStudy topic-wise from the syllabus and do not aim at finishing books. I didn’t read the following books from cover to cover. Instead, I just prepared topic wise and referred the books for content. Roughly, 30 % of my content was from the books, 10% from internet and 60% was from newspapers. That is why, newspaper reading is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Do refer the GS Mains post for newspaper reading. Fadia and Fadia: Administrative theories and concepts (I must have read 50-60% of it, just to prepare notes. Only those chapters which were mentioned in the syllabus). Fadia and Fadia: Indian Administration (Must have read just 10-15% of it as I had good knowledge about Indian administration already). Prasad and Prasad: Thinkers (The best book on thinkers. More than enough is given. Nothing else is required). Nicholas Henry (Only 2 topics: budget and public policy making). DD Basu’s Indian Constitution is in fact the best book for paper 2. Newspapers The single-most important source for content in pub ad. No special reading of the newspapers is required for pub ad. When I read the newspapers, it was not for GS, psychology, pub ad, essay, etc specifically. Instead, the focus was on gaining factual knowledge which I could apply in all the papers. Kindly refer the GS mains section for further details. Internet I looked up on the net for paper 2. For paper 1, only few topics here and there, where I felt I didn’t have enough content. But certainly there is no use of looking up the net for thinkers, etc. Prasad and Prasad is more than

enough. For paper 2, government websites are the best. Topics such as disaster (NDMA website), human rights (NHRC website),Controller General of Accounts, etc can be effectively covered. The sites are updated regularly and not only content but very good diagrams, flowcharts and organizational hierarchy is depicted. Wikipedia , google & yahoo are also good for topics such as SHGs, social audit, etc. Strategy Before talking about strategy, I would like to point out that public administration was my 2n d optional. I have never read Laxmikant and other books before. If you have referred many other books, as I said, knowledge never goes waste. (I have copy-pasted the following from Psychology- Mains post. It remains the same for all optionals I guess). First and foremost, do not aim at finishing books. You have to cover the syllabus topic-wise. Take a printout of the syllabus from the UPSC website and try to cover the topics one by one. I prepared the full syllabus as I felt anything can be asked for a 60 marker. Do not study something thinking that it is for paper 1, etc. Everything you study can be applied anywhere. I counted the number of topics in the syllabus (x in chapter 1, y in chapter 2, z in chapter 3 and so on. total x+y+z…). I aimed at covering 5 topics everyday. While finding content on a particular topic, I referred standard books, internet and above all newspapers. As compared to psychology, I hardly prepared notes for pub ad. Only 1st 2 chapters in paper 1 and the 1st chapter in paper 2 require note-making. Rest all is general knowledge. So read the newspapers and applied the facts to pub ad answers everywhere. But once I prepared a given topic, I never picked up the book or notes again to refer what was given. I relied on what I had written on that topic from then on. The strategy should be to revise your notes again and again at least 7-8 times. I started this exercise in the first week of June and aimed at finishing it by September 1st. But eventually was able to do it by September end. Coaching As I told you earlier, I joined Vajiram in 2007 for pub ad. It marred my chances of getting high scores in pub ad. In 2009, I went to Pavan sir at Sriram’s. I didn’t attend the classes as content is not that difficult to find in pub ad. What was required was the right orientation and approach. I blindly followed his advice and assessment of my answers. Answer-writing (again copy-pasted from psychology as it remains the same)

It is a key element of scoring marks in the optionals. For the same content, person A might score 30 whereas person B might score 35. The right way of presentation of an answer is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. I totally neglected this aspect at my own peril in my 1st two attempts. Thinking that it was all about knowledge and content rather than presentation, as it was the UPSC exam and not some school test, I did not focus on some key elements of an answer. 1. Underlining: it is very important as the examiner can have a look at all the key words straight away and save effort and time. Always underline with the pen as you write as there isn’t enough time for pencil,etc 2. Key words: they should be written straightaway in the answer and hence no need to think of introduction, body, conclusion, etc during the paper. 3. Diagrams: always try to draw a diagram in every question. Do it freehand and with a pencil. No need to use scale, etc. as there isn’t enough time in the exam. If still running short on time, draw it with the pen. No problem. Also, try to modify the standard diagram in the book so that it looks different. 4. Graphs/flowcharts: topics such as reforms and budgeting can be explained very effectively through flowcharts. Graphs can be used to explain topics such as PSU autonomy and control. Network diagrams can be drawn for CPM and PERT. 5. Language: Use simple language. Do not show your vocabulary. Whenever using jargons, explain in one line immediately. It has to be assumed that the examiner doesn’t know anything about pub ad. 6. Examples: never give the standard example in the book. 7. Answers can be written in points if you have enough content and time and word limit constraints matter. I felt the Pub Ad paper 2 this year was like a GS paper 3. Wrote almost every answer in points. Use your General Studies knowledge in public administration. For example, when writing on police reforms, do not merely give recommendations of National Police Commission (1977). Instead using factual info from papers such as ratio of policemen in India is 125 for 100,000 population. UN specifies the optimal ratio at 250. Countries such as USA, Australia, Singapore, etc have this much… On an average, a policeman undergoes training once in 18 years. This much is required for infrastructure… INSAS rifles cannot be effective against weapons such as AK 47. Average bandobast hours for a policeman/ week is… All this I read in the newspapers and wrote in pub ad answers. This will be possible only when newspaper reading is done regularly and REVISION of cuttings before the paper is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Broad perspective Do not focus on one point. Writing 10 points in 2 lines each is better than writing just 5 points, 4 lines each. Sample Answers I took guidance from Pavan Sir at Sriram’s and wrote answers for pub ad every week. The 10% of my preparation time which was invested for pub ad was mostly used for answer-writing. Most of the content was already gained during newspaper reading.

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102 Responses to Public Administration- Mains Santanu Chakraborty says: June 10, 2010 at 11:50 am

Hi Anay, What was your score in Pub ad for paper 1 and paper 2? Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 10, 2010 at 2:11 pm

367 (183+184) Reply

Abhishek Singh says: June 11, 2010 at 11:32 am

Hey Anay, Really nice blog.. ur answers for Pub Ad were really an eye opener especially for me who hasn’t given mains exam yet ( i have given prelims for the first time this year).. was really confused as to how to go about preparing for Pub Ad for mains ….. ur blog has helped me streamline my effort… i wanted to know from where u prepared the topics which were not there in d prelims syllabus like Admn Law etc… Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 11, 2010 at 4:42 pm

hi abhishek, thanks… i do not know the difference in pub ad prelims and mains syllabus as it was my 2nd optional. I referred fadia and fadia. If a topic was not given or inadequately explained, i looked up on the net. But pavan sir took care of all the topics where i was not sure about the right approach. Reply

Bharat says: June 13, 2010 at 10:18 am

Hello Sir Great blog! Thank you for putting your experiences on the net. Especially the ‘Biometri ATM’ was an eyeopener, as I think I am in your ’2007′ stage now or may be even far from that Is it ok to write entire answers in point form without recourse to paragraphs? I am really comfortable in writing in point form. Logically arranging and linking paragraphs is like a nightmare. The advantage of point form is that I can write all the points I know in draft version and arrange them in a logical manner by giving numbers. In the main version, I write in ascending order of those numbers. Converting them into paragraph takes a lot of time. Also, it requires good vocabulary to connect

various sentences. Could you please let me know of it is ok to write in point form in the mains exam for Pub Ad (1 &2 papers)? Or should I practice more in paragraph form ? Thanks in advance for you help. Bharat Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 13, 2010 at 10:46 am

hi bharat…thanks as u can c from the answers i have uploaded…i always wrote introduction and conclusion in para form and the body in points…i followed it in almost all the answers… i followed the same strategy in the exam as well…so there’s no definite rule as to do things…whatever u r comfortable with…follow tht… also, i didnt write 1 2 3 4…in all the answers…sometimes i) ii) iii)…then * * *…then – - – or –> –> –>… Reply

bulumu says: June 13, 2010 at 6:51 pm

heartiest congraulations sir… thanks for immense effort of creating a blog. it will be of great help to all the future civil service aspirants and providing details about the reference books. Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 13, 2010 at 8:19 pm

hi bulumu…thanks i have given a list of books i referred for the mains exam…i will b soon coming up with a post on gs prelims as well… Reply

prateek says: June 13, 2010 at 7:13 pm

hello sir congrats on your mammoth achievement in the prep for pub ad , u didnt mention IGNOU notes. now i am completely new to this subject and before starting with the preparations i am trying to get the inputs from all those people who hv scored well. most of them recommend IGNOU notes. i want to know whether these notes are really effective and quintessential??? Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 14, 2010 at 8:10 am

hi prateek..thanks… i havent mentioned IGNOU notes as i havent gone thru them… i cannot comment on them as i have no idea… wht u have to understand is tht there’s no single strategy to score well…i might have read book a, b and c…some1 else might have read d,e,f… so whtever inputs u get frm others, at the end of the day, decide what kind of strategy u r gng to apply and try to execute it…

Reply

kumar says: June 15, 2010 at 12:40 pm

sir,A) as per use of dd basu is concerned,could u please suggest some integrated approach viz,chapters to concentrate etc.. (may b sir is preparing gs tips) B)any difference in keeping once optional as 1st or 2nd in terms of preparation…is it only a factor of comfort or something to do with strategy Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 15, 2010 at 1:17 pm

hi kumar A. i tried to remember 20 articles at a time…then revise them…then next 20 and so on…easy way is frm art 72 onwards just add 89 and get the corresponding article at the state level…then article 201 is extra..so add 90 to 112 and thereafter and get state article…i knew arnd 400 of the 440 or so articles… B. no difference…have to concentrate on each and every paper…have to aim at scoring at least 300 in all 3 (gs,opt 1 and opt 2)…even if the score in 1 subject is less..probability of getting selected diminishes drastically… Reply

bulumu says: June 16, 2010 at 4:33 pm

thanks sir.. do you have any idea how is rajesh gupta and kiran sir in vajiram for pub ad? Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 16, 2010 at 4:53 pm

sorry…no idea whatsoever… Reply

hemant says: June 22, 2010 at 11:44 pm

sir i remember that 5-6 month ago,when i purchase psycho book with my brother from the shop in front of vision ias,near big apple old r n,than a boy come to the shop and give us advice not to purchase too much books and stay conc over ncert,m pathak and ciccareli.now i think that his face match with you. Can u clear that u was that boy or not? Thanx hemant Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 23, 2010 at 7:23 am

haha…surely it wasn’t me…i never gave any advice to neone before i cleared the exam…tht time, only when some1 asked for it did i convey my opinion… would u believe in any x,y,z’s advice…surely i would not… Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 23, 2010 at 7:26 am

moreover, i havent been through the ncert books even for psycho…so y wud i advise someone else to go thru it…neways, the guy was right in his advice…

varun says: June 23, 2010 at 4:21 am

hi sir,which books to read for development administration & comparative public administration Reply

anaydwivedi says: June 23, 2010 at 7:37 am

for dev admin and cpa…fadia & fadia provides a good base…add to it ur own examples from india and the world… also, prasad and prasad’s chapter on riggs is very good for cpa…all the models,etc… Reply

vineet says: July 9, 2010 at 4:22 pm

hi anay,this is vineet!met u at deepak’s place while prepin for interview..remember??anyway..anay, i liked the way u elucidiated the 2nd papr police commission qn..i myself hve scord well in tht papr.bt i hve faild to do well in ppr1.could u pls elucidiate with an eg. how to add value or supplement with newsppr cuttings traditional qns like npm qn this time or qn on theories.i would be highly obliged and also reflect if any othr suggn u wud like 2 gve on ppr1 Reply

rajbir kaur says: July 11, 2010 at 7:01 am

hi sir,i have been told by many friends and teachers that mohit bhattacharya and arora & goel is a necessity for pub ad since the questions are asked directly from mohit bhattacharya….so is it ok if i dont read them?will i be able to answer the questions asked directly from it? Reply

rajbir kaur says: July 11, 2010 at 7:07 am

hi sir,i have been told by many friends and teachers that mohit bhattacharaya and arora &goel are very necessary books for pub ad since ques are asked directly from mohit bhattacharya,so is it ok if i leave them?will i be able to answer the questions? Reply

debu says: July 14, 2010 at 10:46 am

Hey Anay, you have mentioned 4 books for pub ad in your blog. I agree with you that in Paper 2 there is majority of part got cover by newspaper but how can one possibly cover Paper 1 by newspaper? And the books you mentioned “Fadia and Fadia: Administrative theories and concepts”, “Prasad and Prasad: Thinkers”,and “Nicholas Henry” they cover limited topics of Paper 1 only which book one should refer to for other topics of Paper 1 like Development Dynamics, etc?? P.S.: I haven’t yet read Fadia and Fadia: Administrative theories and concepts but by its name it seems that it cover only

Administrative Thinkers part only…educate me if um wrong… Reply

anaydwivedi says: July 14, 2010 at 1:04 pm

hi debu… nope…the book covers almost all the topics of paper 1…get it…it’s really good… Reply

Kartikeya says: July 18, 2010 at 6:27 pm

Sir you told that for pub ad “Only 1st 2 chapters in paper 1 and the 1st chapter in paper 2 require note-making. Rest all is general knowledge.” That means you didn’t prepare notes for rest of topics ? How did you went for the revision then? Isn’t that too much of stuff to remember for ? How did you manage that without note making ? Plz enlighten me. . Reply

anaydwivedi says: July 20, 2010 at 7:55 pm

hi kartikeya i didnt make extensive notes…and all i did was take prinouts frm websites… wht i meant by note-making was reading the complete chapter in the books i have listed and trying to reduce it by diligent note-making for rest of the chapters, just writing imp points and remembering the current affairs part is more than enough acc to me… Reply

prashant tembhare says: July 21, 2010 at 6:18 am

Hi anay……….. could u plz tell me that.can i start making notes from now………while studying.iam planning for 2011……….or only after prelims of 2011?……. kindly suggest……… Reply

anaydwivedi says: July 21, 2010 at 7:30 pm

hi prashant it has to be based on ur way of studying…i made notes as revision is easier tht way…so whtever u feel like… Reply

prashant tembhare says: July 23, 2010 at 11:42 am

Hi anay…….. thanks for ur valuable suggestion ………i have a one doubt………books suggested by u cover the entire syllabus of Pub admin or not ?………should i need any others apart from that…….thanks buddy Reply

anaydwivedi says: July 24, 2010 at 7:53 pm

hi prashant the books i have listed cover arnd 80-85% of the syllabus…other 15% u need to look arnd…net, some class notes frm friends, etc plus u have to keep adding to the topics examples frm current events… Reply

Prashant tembhare says: July 25, 2010 at 2:51 pm

Hi anay……… thanks a lot buddy U dont know but this is really a important suggestion for me…… “Raje tumala amacha manacha mujra……..”(This is in marathi i hope u understand) thanks again ………. take care prashant

prashant tembhare says: July 24, 2010 at 7:10 am

Hi Anay…… sorry to disturb u again..can u give the list of very imporatnt topics from the exam point of view (For Pub Admin paper 1 and 2 Mains)……… thanks again………take care Reply

anaydwivedi says: July 24, 2010 at 8:09 pm

hi prashant m sorry, there’s no imp topics..not so imp topics..i prepared all the topics as Qs can be asked frm any topic… moreover, they r related to each other some way or the other…so it wud be better to go thru all of them if possible… abt studying gs and optionals…i studied simultaneously…newspaper reading had to be done everyday…and after i was finished with them…did the optionals… Reply

tejaswi says: July 24, 2010 at 3:38 pm

Hi anay.. can u tel me the title of Fadia & Fadia. as generally there wil many books of the same author with diff titles.. do u have ny idea bout sharma sadana and Mohith bhattacharya.. Reply

anaydwivedi says: July 24, 2010 at 8:23 pm

hi tejaswi fadia and fadia for paper 1: admin theories and concepts for paper 2: indian administration i dnt knw abt sharma sadana…but mohit bhattacharya i read in 2007…it’s useless in my opinion… Reply

tejaswi says: July 24, 2010 at 4:38 pm

hi anay… got the name in some other post of urs.. so it is Indian administration..!! but u referred it for paper-1 many topics..how come..? Reply

anaydwivedi says: July 24, 2010 at 8:32 pm

hi tejaswi i didnt go thru the books frm cover to cover..only covered the topics as prescribed in the syllabus…u have to link both paper 1 and 2…kindly go thru the pub ad mains post…i have listed my strategy… Reply

tejaswi says: July 25, 2010 at 5:54 am

sorry for overlooking it..! thank u!! Reply

shashi says: July 30, 2010 at 1:39 pm

Hello Sir, Congrats for achieving great success. . . .you have told that “Roughly, 30 % of my content was from the books, 10% from internet and 60% was from newspapers”. In any answer to write the direct demand of the question, it would consume 80% of space (450-500 words out of 600), in which one would include textbook content (which the examiner will be expecting) ..so how you managed to write lots of content from newspapers in remaining 20% of space(100 words).. Thanks and regards shashi Reply

shashi says: July 31, 2010 at 12:28 pm

Hello Sir, congrats for achieving grand success. . . you have said “30 % of my content was from the books, 10% from internet and 60% was from newspapers”.. . . but isn’t that for every answer about 80% of your answer should from textbook and internet which would satisfy the direct

demand of question and remaing 20% of the answer from newspaper which would make ones answer different from others… thanks shashi Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 2, 2010 at 5:10 am

hi shashi it depends on the trend…in 2007, u cud have safely depended on books and take the exam confidently…but now, books r not enough and the kind of Qs being asked…esp in optionals like pub ad and psych make it absolutely necessary to go thru other sources like newspapers, internet, etc i felt most of my content in the exam…both pub ad and psy was frm newspapers and current events rather than the books… Reply

sandy1511 says: August 2, 2010 at 7:06 pm

Hello First of all huge applause to your success . I am doctor(MBBS), i started preparation with PA this year from july,i didnt take admission in any coaching. I am reading syllabus of PA P-1 from Fadia & Fadia, ,the problems i am feeling to cover syllabus is that marking the topics as per syllabus & bulky matter to read how can i resolve this? Thanks

anaydwivedi says: August 2, 2010 at 8:30 pm

hi sandy…thanks u need to go thru the topics in the syllabus one by one and try to collect enough material for a 60 marker on any given topic…also, topics have to be related to each other so tht ur answer is complete…it requires a good understanding of wht to go thru and wht to leave out…for tht i suggest tht for pub ad..if u r not able to cover the syllabus…get guidance frm pavan sir to understand wht all has to be covered…

Pritam Maske says: August 3, 2010 at 12:11 pm

Hi Anay, You have mentioned government websites like NHRC,NDMA…. Please if u can mention all other government websites which you have gone through.. Your approach for public admnistration is very good.. Thank you. Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 3, 2010 at 9:24 pm

hi pritam i m sorry…i didnt keep a track of all the sites i visited…just copy-pasted the content… so u will have to find out as and when the need arises and u feel good content will b available on govt sites for a

particular topic… Reply

Nethaji says: September 26, 2010 at 3:27 am

Congrats to Anay!! Hi Pritam Here are some useful websites, haven’t gone through them but got them from a book(article) published by previous civils aspirants (Mutyala Raju Revu Batch). http://www.goidirectory.nic.in/ – It connects to official websites of all Ministries and departments. 98 http://www.meaindia.nic.in/ – External Affairs Ministry website useful for India-World relations http://www.indiacode.nic.in/ – Constitution of India, Central Acts, Supreme Court, etc. http://www.indiabudget.nic.in/ – For latest budget and Economic Survey http://publicationsdivision.nic.in/ – For latest India Year Book Reply

anaydwivedi says: October 10, 2010 at 4:21 am

thanks nethaji…

debu says: August 5, 2010 at 4:17 pm

hey anay can u suggest any source for state theories and public policy formulation, a topic from Public Policy i didn’t find any yet. thnx Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 8, 2010 at 1:26 am

hi debu… as far as i understood…state policies and public policy formulation is just one topic…there’s no difference b/w the 2…go thru the public policy models described in nicholas henry… Reply

Himanshu sharma says: August 6, 2010 at 4:28 pm

Sir,I hope you remeber me,I told you about my fear towards paper 2,your views are working wonders for me,I am already feeling very much optimistic.So,thanks for that. Sir for criminalization in politics and corruption do we need to go in detail of the episodes like lalit modi or Surresh Kalmadi etc. or should me hold just an overview of these things..? Thanks

Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 8, 2010 at 1:43 am

hi himanshu…yup, i do glad u r feeling better…be confident… for CP and PC…kindly refer the answer i uploaded on corruption…it is of a similar nature… but u cannot write about lalit modi or suresh kalmadi…these r cases where nothing has been proved yet…it is all speculation right now…so dont quote such things… you have to go after facts…i hope u will get the idea frm the answer i uploaded… Reply

Himanshu sharma says: August 8, 2010 at 11:57 am

I am sorry to bother you over and over again sir but as I prepare more and more,more and more clouds of doubt start hovering over my head.Here is another one-: *Preparing for 2011,could you please give a very brief overview as to when should complete my 2 optionals(there is no 1st or second optional now)nov/dec? *should the hardcore mains portions of GS be done now or latter(Stats,Indian culture) *Everyone say to combine the preparation of pre and mains in GS but if i start GS after notification the I will surely get inclined towards pre portion and as far as i have calculated the approach of mains and pre in terms of history,geography differ so when should be that portion done.. PS:Dear sir i know that you are helping us a lot and may be we are asking too much from you but you have no idea of how much respect i have for you but I do not have any other source of guidance and do not want to get lost in the huuuge syllabus and again thank you very very much…

anaydwivedi says: August 8, 2010 at 7:59 pm

hi himanshu no problem…feel free to ask 1. u shud aim at finishing 1 optional before the prelims…start now so tht u can finish it by dec…after tht u can concentrate on the CSAT…2nd optional after the mains… 2. for GS…start preparing now…but leave stats for the time being..u can easily do it after the prelims…but yes, indian culture, ancient history, etc need to b done now 3. i dnt think the approach for GS pre and mains is very different…yes, for mains, little bit of analysis needs to b done…but it’s always better to understand things beforehand when u r preparing for the pre…tht wud help u guess intelligently in the prelims paper…so dnt be worried abt the difference…and pre syllabus is more than mains…e.g. instead of indian geography in mains, u have world geography in pre…in mains gs history, 30 marks (15X2) is always frm the indian natl mvmt… so just do the basics now…if u do it well…wudnt need to invest too much time after the mains…tht wud enable u to devote much more time for the 2nd optional…

Himanshu sharma says: August 9, 2010 at 5:40 am

But sir i started my preparation in march itself and I am almost done with 70% of static portion of sociology(rest 30% in dynamic needs to be done from newspaper like Pub Add) and I was hoping to finish both Pub Add and Socio by December.is

that approach ok..? And sir one more thing,When should I prepare the portion of pub Add from newspapers,after pre(as you suggested and I guess would have done also) or from now only(but there will be huge newspaper cuttings by that time)? and sir what did you do with newspaper cuttings from previous year(like when you prepared for 2008 then you had newspaper cuttings of 2007 also,when you prepared for 2009 then you had newspaper cuttings of 2007 and 2008 also)…just dumped the previous ones or still used them..? Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 9, 2010 at 1:38 pm

hi himanshu…good tht u r done with most of the syllabus…go ahead if u have time… yes, i feel newspaper cuttings of 4-5 months r more than enough…i didn’t read the newspapers regularly in 2007… and in 2008 even though i read the newspapers, didn’t cut the articles (which is as bad as not reading the newspapers in the 1st place). so i did it only after the prelims in the 2009 attempt… Reply

vighnesh says: August 10, 2010 at 1:38 am

simple strategy…. Reply

NEHAL says: August 11, 2010 at 8:21 am

Congrats sir , on your splendid achievement.i have done my B.Tech from PU in ENC.I have taken public ad. as one of the optional.To be very precise how much time is required to prepare for public ad. ? with regards Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 14, 2010 at 2:28 pm

hi nehal…thanks i feel with the right orientation and approach, 2 months is enough…provided polity knowledge is good… Reply

Pritam Maske says: August 12, 2010 at 4:58 am

Hi Anay, Could u tell me which buk shd i start wid…Prasad and prasad or fadia and fadia adminstrative theories and concepts…? bcoz when i start wid fadia and fadia they have mentioned the thinkers also..So shd i first go thru prasad and prasad and then fadia and fadia.. Pls suggest me about this.. Thank you.. Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 15, 2010 at 9:09 am

hi pritam… yup, u may start with thinkers…get an idea of wht they say…make notes and once u r done with tht…start with fadia and fadia… aim at finishing 2 thinkers a day among other things like newspaper reading, etc… Reply

metesh says: August 17, 2010 at 9:32 am

Hi Anay, first of all congrats on your achievement…. My optional is Pub-Ad. I had a question. Is DD Basu must for polity. I am referring to Laxmikant. Pl let me know. Thanks… Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 17, 2010 at 1:46 pm

hi metesh…thanks any book is a good book for any topic if u r comfy with it… i havent gone thru laxmikant…but if it contains all the articles…go ahead with it…i have listed dd basu only because tht’s the book i referred…not coz i thought it was the best book… Reply

sonal says: August 17, 2010 at 9:45 am

hi anay, it would be really kind of you if u cud suggest me specifically wat sources to refer for rural dev and urban and local govt.. also plz suggest if its required to go through india year book? Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 17, 2010 at 1:49 pm

hi sonal… for basic understanding…kindly go thru fadia and fadia…u need to supplement tht with newspapers and current examples…almost everyday there r articles on either of them… for IYB…kindly go thru my posts…both on gs mains as well as how to go thru the books… Reply

sonal says: August 20, 2010 at 7:03 am

Thanks a lot Anay for ur advice… Had d prelims result yesterday and luckily i wud be getting d chance to write d mains dis year.so plz advice me sm strategy which should be followed for next two months… I also share d same opinion regarding Mohit bhatacharya with u.But i m finding Synergy printed material

quite gud..i hav attended d cls in synergy only .Plz suggest me if its ok to rely on it supplemented by newspaper reading?as i don think i can manage many sources.For paper2 m done wid DD basu. Also kindly suggest if specific book is gud for science n tech portion.. U r really a g8 help for people like me who dont have any other source for guidance:)

anaydwivedi says: August 21, 2010 at 7:07 am

hi sonal congrats on the prelims result…now is the imp part…mains stage holds the key to getting selected…give it ur best!!! it’s perfectly fine if u find the synergy material good and u r comfy with it…yes, plz supplement it with newspaper reading for examples with current relevance… good tht u r done with dd basu…it will surely give u an edge…dont hesitate to use ur knowledge of the constitution…be it in the intro, while explaining sth or while taking examples or concluding an answer… whenever in doubt, always go back to the constitution..more often than not u will get ur answer… for science and tech…i didnt go thru any specific book..didn’t have time….i read the newspapers and looked up the terms on the net…but one thing u can do other than this is to go thru the researches of last 4 yrs’ nobel prize winners in physics, chemistry and physiology… and as always, feel free to ask Qs whenever u want to…

himanshu sharma says: August 18, 2010 at 1:02 am

sir,please check your yahoo mail when you are free…. Also sir I have not done any of polity portion which is must for paper 2.So,do you think that it should be done from Fadia and Fadia or it should be done from D D Basu and then refer Fadia and Fadia for syllabus specific topics..? And in what time the polity portion should be finished as I do not have any idea,like you suggested to try and complete 2 thinkers in a day could you please give some sort of idea in that department also…. Thanks… Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 18, 2010 at 4:21 am

hi himanshu yup, i will try to go thru the mails today… for polity…1st go thru the spectrum (1200 pages one) polity section…it is explained really well…if u dnt have the book..dont worry…go thru fadia and fadia topics… after u have the basic idea…go thru dd basu… but remember…polity HAS to be strong…no other option for those with pub ad as an optional… Reply

Amit Sharma says: August 18, 2010 at 4:59 pm

Hi Anay,congratulations on your success… I am doing job and my optionals are pub Add and literature of marathi language….my first attemp will be in may…I have done first 2 chapters of paper 1 of pub add….and it took me 2 days for first chapter and 12 days for second one…. I intend to complete syllabus by 1st november and i have not done polity at all…

So can you please tell me that from where did you do 3rd,4rth and 5th chapters…..also in what time these should be completed considering my speed and the need to finish by october end….?….it would be of great help if you suggest me that as I have no idea thanku… Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 19, 2010 at 1:02 pm

hi amit…thanks kindly get fadia and fadia (both the books which i have prescribed in the pub ad mains post) & prasad and prasad… and cover the topics in the syllabus as given in the books…u will find arnd 70% of the syllabus there… for the rest…u need to search on the net…and use ur GS knowledge to fill the gaps… u shud aim at finishing pub ad by november end…even if u do it by dec end…wud do after the prelims…u need to practice answer-writing and get ur answers assessed…i have recommended pavan sir at sriram’s delhi… Reply

Reema says: August 19, 2010 at 4:08 am

Hi Anay Have started with my preps for civils 2011. I am trying to read pub ad on my own before going for any coaching. But the problem is that I am not able to get relevant stuff in the books I have. Is it a good idea to read old vajiram and ravi material to cover the entire syllabus and the thinkers now and then probably rely on the coaching classes ( which I would be in a position to join after May 2011 only. 1 more thing- Can we expect personal help and guidance from Mr Pawan ? Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 19, 2010 at 1:04 pm

hi reema…u can go thru old vaji notes…but i dont think they r upto the mark… i strongly suggest u take guidance frm pavan sir if u r not able to find ur way…for pub ad, it is more imp tht u focus on the relevant things rather than do everything under the sun as the topics r very general in nature… personal help and guidance is assured…thts y i have recommended pavan sir… Reply

metesh says: August 20, 2010 at 5:36 pm

Anay, For the paper II (indian Adm), do you recommend Fadia&Fadia OR Arora&Goel. I want to keep one book as guide and refer others only if required. Fadia seems to cover paper II completely. Thanks… Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 21, 2010 at 7:17 am

hi metesh…

i went thru goel-arora during my 1st attempt…it is certainly not as good as fadia and fadia… and u correctly pointed out, f&f covers the syllabus really well…so my choice wud be f&f… Reply

Kuldeep says: August 20, 2010 at 5:56 pm

Hi Anay, I never expected to qualify prelims this year, but by gods grace I have done so. As a result of which my preparation is not even in nascent stage. For the mains I have decided to keep Mechanical Engineering as one of the electives. I am really confused between Psychology and Pub Ad. My corporate responsibilities leave a very little time for me and I can devote around 60-100 hrs (Max) for each subject. I know that considering the depth of the examination this time is very less. Could you kindly guide me regarding: 1. Which of the above elective focuses more on width rather than depth. i.e. I have to read a large number of topics but not from all possible sources. 2. Which elective acts as a supplement to your preparation for GS mains? 3. How much time do you think each of the above elective will require for preparation? 4. For Psychology if I prepare Morgan & King well how are my chances in mains? Anticipating a quick reply Thanks Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 21, 2010 at 7:36 am

hi kuldeep 1. pub ad wud b easier than psychology provided u have equal interest in both…since time is of essence…overlap b/w GS and pub ad gives it an edge over psycho…psych requires in-depth prep…and cant guess much if u dont knw the theory or expt… 2. already answered it… 3. pub ad can b prepared in 2 months…if u have good knowledge of polity…it wudn’t b tht difficult…psych requires at least 3-4 months… 4. m&k is good for prelims…but for mains…it wudn’t b enough…the kind of Qs asked now r not the ones u will b able to answer by gng thru just m&k… Reply

kumar says: August 21, 2010 at 7:55 am

sir,my 1st attempt in 2011 with pub ad and psycho as optional,in view of csat1.seeking suggestion for the choice of optional subject that could go alongwith GS preparation. 2.as per some other strategist could i rather finish both optionals and exclusively devote last 3 months for prelims.thanks in advance. Reply

anaydwivedi says: August 21, 2010 at 1:14 pm

hi kumar 1. the primary factors behind choosing the optionals shud b interest and aptitude…and not so much on overlap… but yes, pub ad has got good overlap with GS…and psych helps through an added perspective… 2. hmm…u can do tht if u feel tht wud b better…it all depends on ur abilities and u r the best judge of it…but gs requires a lot of prep…and dont knw if 3 months wud b enough…i feel it wud take at least 5 months to develop a good base… Reply

Mrunal Patel says: August 23, 2010 at 6:13 pm

Hi Anay, This country has better future and hope, with officers like you in charge of the administration who care for others. Thanks for this article, and please do maintain and update this blog regularly. Reply

kamlendra says: August 23, 2010 at 7:15 pm

sir i m preparing for 2011 cse i opted for pub ad ….. i started reading mohit bhattacharya …….. but it is quit diff to grasp…… pls mention the starting approach Reply

anaydwivedi says: September 5, 2010 at 3:25 am

hi kamlendra… i referred only the books i have mentioned in the pub ad mains post… mohit bhattacharya isnt tht useful in my opinion… start with either fadia and fadia or prasad and prasad…read accroding to the syllabus as i have mentioned in the post… Reply

Surjeet says: September 5, 2010 at 6:31 am

Hi anay … from which book u referred for comparative administration and devolopment administration…. i m finding it hard to correlate both in syn with the question asked in CSE…. please suggest ..

anaydwivedi says: September 15, 2010 at 12:09 pm

hi surjeet… i went thru fadia and fadia and fred riggs chapter in prasad and prasad for these topics… try to find a few things on dev admin and the anti-dev thesis on the net…

maverick says: August 29, 2010 at 9:03 pm

Sir: I’m currently pursuing B.Tech (4th yr). I’m attending Geog. classes at ALS. My 2nd optional is PubAd. Actually, I intend to enrol in LLB program after graduation as I’m eyeing CSE ’12. Does Law course complement PubAd? Reply

Reema Tripathy says:

September 1, 2010 at 6:04 pm

Hi Anay Thanks for all the responses…..jus a basic thing as per my understanding the pub ad approach,style of writing is similar to that of the GS paper. Should then an attempt be made to drive in that its a pub ad answer ? If yes how ? An example should help Thanks a lot Regards Reema Reply

sagarkatdare says: September 8, 2010 at 9:52 am

Hi Anay Sir, [First of all congrats for your grand success and thanks for putting in so much blogging efforts.] my 3 doubts here: 1. For Paper-I I have been referring Prasad & Prasad which is really good. For the remaining portion, I am referring Mohit Bhattacharya, which is a little bit tough [u have also mentioned it to be not so useful..but i recently came across your blog]..So shall i stop referring Mohit and switch over to “Fadia and Fadia: Administrative theories and concepts”? I believe in not referring to too many books..so your suggestion on this dilemma would be of great help. 2. For Paper-II I follow your approach of studying by what is mentioned in the syllabus. I have been referring “Fadia & Fadia: Indian Administration” which single handedly covers most of the syllabus of paper-II. But, what I felt is, it gives more of info rather than analysis like different organizations for central/state/local level administration, their structure,powers,elections n all. But, questions are never directly asked based on all these aspects (though it is imp to know about this ‘structural’ info). So, how should our approach be while studying for Paper-II ? 3. In almost all the cases, I have seen toppers recommending to study IIPA journals. What would u advice on that? I have gone thru some of the journals, they seem to be having good amount of data. But, going thru the reqd books, making notes n all itself consumes much of a time that I wanted to know about importance of journals. (Thanking in anticipation) Reply

anaydwivedi says: September 23, 2010 at 6:12 am

hi sagar…thanks 1. as far as my strategy went…mohit bhatt…wasnt a part of it…so u have to decide accordingly…fadia is better any day in my opinion…and u r right when it comes to reading only a few books again and again… 2. yup…u need to add info frm the newspapers as they r the best sources of telling u wht is happening arnd u…so the actual working, examples, etc need to b taken frm the newspapers and the theoretical base frm fadia… 3. i didnt read iipa journals as the info i had frm newspapers was more than enough for writing my answers…i didnt have the time to go thru them..so it is not necessary tht u must go thru ijpa to score well in pub ad… Reply

dolfin says: September 9, 2010 at 1:40 pm

hello sir have u gone thru the whole ARC (1,2) reports to get the main points. regards Reply

anaydwivedi says: September 23, 2010 at 7:08 am

hi there.. i went only thru arc 2 reports…tht too the recommendations summary…noted arnd 30 points for every report and tht too the ones i cud easily understand and remember… Reply

VIVEK PANDEY says: September 11, 2010 at 3:40 pm

hello guys, im 2010 engg passout stdent n opting pub-ad as one of my optional,anybody wudpls like 2 advice me about” BHAWANI SINGH OR MOHANTY “classes,their pros n cons???Shud i 1st made a base in this paper n then join d classes or directly join them ……..plssssss give ur valuable suggestions in this regard Reply

VIVEK PANDEY says: September 11, 2010 at 3:44 pm

hello guys, im 2010 engg passout stdent n opting pub-ad as one of my optional,anybody wud pls like 2 advice me about” BHAWANI SINGH OR MOHANTY “classes, in english medium abt their pros n cons???Shud i 1st made a base in this paper n then join d classes or directly join them ……..plssssss give ur valuable suggestions in this regard Reply

dolfin says: September 11, 2010 at 4:01 pm

@vivek my say one shud have a base first……………………one shud know wat to get from coaching so that Reply

raviramjain says: September 21, 2010 at 10:29 am

Sir I have found two books on thinkers by the same authors kindly suggest which one to be refereed… http://www.sterlingpublishers.com/bookinfo.asp?na=8120709619 http://www.sterlingpublishers.com/bookinfo.asp?na=9788120754140 Reply

anaydwivedi says: September 23, 2010 at 6:16 am

hi there… i referred the 1st one… Reply

dolfin says:

September 22, 2010 at 3:38 pm

hello sir how u covered ARC reports……………gone thru its whole text or covered it from some other source? regards Reply

anaydwivedi says: September 23, 2010 at 6:14 am

hi there… i went thru the recommendation summary and noted arnd 25-30 points frm each report which i cud easily remember in the exam… Reply

raviramjain says: September 25, 2010 at 9:44 pm

Sir kindly suggest some good publisher for mains solved papers.. For Pub Ad. I am trying hard to keep up with Examination Bias.. Reply

anaydwivedi says: October 10, 2010 at 4:20 am

hi there… i dnt think there is one in the mkt with solved pub ad papers… Reply

Ajinkya Ghorpade says: September 29, 2010 at 6:05 pm

Thanks Reply

Digvijay Jain says: September 29, 2010 at 7:23 pm

Hi anay Congrats on ur great success!!!! Please guide me on from when newspapers are required to be followed before giving pre exam and mains ??? how many months before ? thanks in advance Reply

anaydwivedi says: October 10, 2010 at 5:55 am

hi digvijay…kindly go thru the GS prelims and GS mains post to get an idea…

start reading newspapers ASAP… Reply

akhi says: November 12, 2010 at 8:09 pm

hello sir…1st i wanna thank you for ur guidance..it was extremely helpful for both gs and psycho.but my zoology paper didnt go well…so i have decided to change my optional and choose pub ad…i wanna prepare on my own..i read ur post and syllabus but not able to make out from where to start…can u pls tell me the basic book which i should read 1st to build my base as i think i cant go for topic wise prepartion presently..and how vast is the syllabus as compared to psycho…( i have heard syllabus is even smaller than psycho ).. Reply

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