Optional subjects for Civil Services(Main) Examination

List of Optional Subjects for the UPSC Civil Services(Main):

Agriculture
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
Anthropology - Find Syllabus Here
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography 
Geology
History
Law
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science and International Relations 
Relations
Psychology
Public Administration 
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology
Literature of one of the following languages:
Arabic, Assamese, Bodo, Bengali, Chinese, Dogri, English, French, German, Gujarati,
Hindi 
Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya,
Pali
Persian, Punjabi, Russian,
Sanskrit 
Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

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Notes:

• Candidates will not be allowed to offer the following combinations of subjects:–
• Political Science & International Relations and Public Administration;
• Commerce & Accountancy and Management;
• Anthropology and Sociology;
• Mathematics and Statistics;
• Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.
• Management and Public Administration;
• Of the Engineering subjects, viz., Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering–not more than one subject.
• Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science.

• The question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type.
• Each paper will be of three hours duration. Blind candidates will, however, be allowed an extra time of thirty minutes at each paper.
• Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the language papers viz. Papers I and II above in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in English.
• Candidates exercising the option to answer papers III to IX in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution may, if they so desire, give English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms, if any, in addition to the version in the language opted by them.
• Candidates should, however, note that if they misuse the above rule, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to them and in extreme cases, their script(s) will not be valued for being in an unauthorised medium.

The question papers other than language papers will be set both in Hindi and English.
General Instructions (Preliminary as well as Main Examination) :

(i) Candidates must write the papers in their own hand. In no circumstances, will they be allowed the help of a scribe to write the answers for them. However, blind candidates will be allowed to write the examination with the help of a scribe.

(ii) An extra time of twenty minutes per hour shall be permitted for the candidates with locomotor disability and cerebral palsy where dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function (minimum of 40% impairment) in the Civil Services (Main) Examination only. However, no scribe shall be permitted to such candidates.

NOTE 1 : The eligibility conditions of a scribe, his/her conduct inside the examination hall and the manner in which and extent to which he/she can help the blind candidate in writing the Civil Services Examination shall be governed by the instructions issued by the UPSC in this regard.

Violation of all or any of the said instructions shall entail the cancellation of the candidature of the blind candidate in addition to any other action that the UPSC may take against the scribe.

NOTE 2 : For purpose of these rules the candidate shall be deemed to be a blind candidate if the percentage of visual impairment is 40% or more. The criteria for determining the percentage of visual impairment shall be as follows :

All with corrections Percentage

Better eye Worse eye

Category 0 6/9-6/18 6/24 to 6/36 20%

Category I 6/18-6/36 6/60 to nil 40%

Category II 6/60-4/60 3/60 to nil 75% or field of vision 10-200

Category III 3/60-1/60 F.C. at 1 ft 100% or field of to nil vision 100

Category IV FC. at 1 ft F.C. at 1 ft 100% to nil field of to nil field of vision 1000 vision 1000

One eyed 6/6 F.C. at 1 ft 30% person to nil

NOTE 3 : For availing of the concession admissible to a blind candidate, the candidate concerned shall produce a certificate in the prescribed proforma from a Medical Board constituted by the Central/State Governments alongwith his application for the Main Examination.

NOTE 4 :

(i) The concession admissible to blind candidates shall not be admissible to those suffering from Myopia.
(ii) The Commission have discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination.
(iii) If a candidate’s handwriting is not easily legible, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to him.
(iv) Marks will not be allotted for mere superficial knowledge.
(v) Credit will be given for orderly, effective and exact expression combined with due economy of words in all subjects of the examination.
(vi) In the question papers, wherever required, SI units will be used.
(vii) Candidates should use only international form of Indian numerals (i.e. 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc.) while answering question papers.
(viii) Candidates will be allowed the use of Scientific (Non-Programmable type) Calculators at the conventional (Essay) type examination of UPSC. Programmable type calculators will however not be allowed and the use of such calculators shall tantamount to resorting to unfair means by the candidates. Loaning or interchanging of calculators in the Examination Hall is not permitted.

It is also important to note that candidates are not permitted to use calculators for answering objective type papers (Test Booklets). They should not therefore, bring the same inside the Examination Hall.