My strategy and resources for General studies in UPSC Mains...........

If prelims is all about remembering a lot of things, mains is all about marketin
g yourself. GOOD WRITING SKILLS WILL BE A DECIDING FACTOR IN MAINS. IT DOES NOT
MATTER HOW MUCH YOU KNOW, IF U R NOT ABLE TO EXPRESS IT IN A LOGICAL MANNER. U n
eed not have scholarly writing skills, but your answer should be free from major
grammatical errors, and shud be presented in a lucid way. Articles of YOJANA an
d KURUKSHETRA can be a model answer for upsc. They are not much flowery but have
a very good beginning, logical flow, and conclusion.
GS paper 1This can be very scoring as most of the topics are factual....like Indian histor
y, World History, and Geography.
Resources for freedom struggle of India1. Bipin Chandra s book on freedom struggle (Penguin Publication)
2. Spectrum publication book on modern India.
Resources for world history
1. Old NCERT (The Story of Civilisation), Two books , by Arjun Dev.
2. Old NCERT (contemporary world history) by Arjun Dev and Indira Arjun Dev.
3. Norman Lowe---for advance level.
Resources for Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the coun
try--1. Ramchandra Guha s India after Gandhi.
2. Bipin Chandra s India since Independence.
Resources for geography---1. For geographical concepts refer to G C Leong. Few of the concepts like contin
ental drift, volcanoes, and earthquakes can be read from Savindra Singh s Physical
Geography.
2. Distribution of world resources can be read from Old NCERT/ Spectrum( Geograp
hy book for optional), just read one chapter.
3. MRUNAL has covered world industries very well.
Social development/ Inclusive growth ----this topic has been mentioned in GS pap
er 1, 2, 3. I would suggest that all the schemes for social development should b
e prepared together. It will help avoid overlapping. You should prepare notes fo
r this topic. These schemes can also be quoted in your answers.
Resources for social development--1. India year book chapters on welfare, agriculture, rural development, urban de
velopment, industry etc.
2. These schemes are also covered by VAJIRAM PRINTED BOOKLET on social sector.
3. Yojana and Kurukshetra are really good.
12th five Year Plan is an excellent document. It will give your answers an edge
over others. It has some very innovative suggestions. For examples the chapter o
n transport sector gives in depth analysis of problems that bedevil India s transp
ort sector.
Imp chapter of 12th FYP are agriculture, social welfare, rural and urban developme
nt, regional planning, education, health, transport, energy, and sustainable dev
elopment.
Indian Society- Introduction from NCERT on Indian Society and Ram Ahuja s Social P
roblems in India can be referred for communalism, and few other topics.
Topics like Effects of globalization on Indian society are best covered from dai
ly newspaper articles.
Few editions of YOJANA are excellent. These are on---- women empowerment, child
rights, disability, NGO s, Self Help Groups etc. They are available online free of
cost.

GS paper 2
The answers of this section need to be supplemented with latest case studies or
examples. So a careful reading of newspapers will be of immense help. For exampl
e answer on judicial activism should have mention of judicial verdicts on interl
inking of rivers, LGBT rights, death penalty, euthanasia etc.
Resources for this paper are--POLITY
1. M laxmikanth book on Constitution.
2. IJPA (Indian Journal on Public Administration) selective articles on judicial a
ctivism, corruption, RTI, electoral reforms, local bodies, e-governance etc. (Pu
blication for Public Administration paper 2 by a coaching Inspiration is a good co
llection).
3. Summary of 2nd Administrative reform commission should be quoted in your answ
ers. Just read the summary of Law and Order chapter OR Ethics in governance, you
will feel the difference.
4. M P Singh book on Politics in India .
5. Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries One
chapter of Laxmikanth book on Public administration.
6. Salient features of the Representation of People s Act---download the entire ac
t from internet.
Resources for International Relation
The answers on this topic call for good factual substances and philosophical und
erpinning. For example if u r writing on Indo-Afghanistan relation then do menti
on Salma Dam, construction of chah bahar port, construction of Afghan Parliament
, training of Afghan forces by Indian Army, attack on Indian Embassy, recent vis
its of State heads etc. The philosophy of answer should be optimistic and futuri
stic, and the answers should end at a positive note. Even if u r writing on Indo
-Pakistan relationship, please don t be cynical and pessimist. You should support
people to people contact, strengthening of democracy in Pakistan etc. (no matter
how bleak are the chances of peace).
Resources for International Relation1. Website of Ministry of External Affairs for basic info.
2. World focus annual issue. (released in November and December)
3. IDSA website( Institute of Defence studies and analyses)---EXCELLENT ARTICLES
.
4. For rapid fire revision in the month preceding mains...u can read either SRIR
AM IAS s material or Vajiram s for current update.( Printed material)
Two websites Centre for Policy Research, and South Asian Analysis can also be re
ferred for this paper.
PRS website is very good for covering recent bills.
GS Paper 3
This is the paper having diverse range of topics, and many of them are new ones.
SO INTERNET WILL PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE HERE. As far as printed material is concer
ned....VISION IAS and SRIRAM booklets on paper 3 are good.
Other sources are
1. For security related issues---IDSA website is very good. It has many articles
on border security, cyber security, role of media, drugs and arms trafficking,
and naxalism.
2. Land reforms Yojana issue on land reform and Bipin Chandra s India Since Independ
ence.
3. Science and tech- most of the questions are asked from the current affairs se

ction. So THE HINDU (Thursday edition) of last one year should be read carefully
. Other good sources are VAJIRAM and SRIRAM s PRINTED material which is released i
n the month preceding mains exam.
4. Disaster Management can be prepared from---SRIRAM PRINTED MATERIAL.
GS Paper 4---This is a newly added paper, and market is full of material. I have read very fe
w books for this paper. Good writing skills will be again play a vital role for
this paper.
Resources are--1.For introduction- Vajiram classroom/ Mohanty Sir s classroom notes
SRIRAM IAS s printed material for Indian and western philosophers, and aptitude an
d emotional intelligence.
2. 2nd ARC report on Ethics in governance.(full report)
3.R K Arora book on ethics in administration.
Case studies---the best way to prepare them is to make a group of 4-5 people and
discuss them one by one. You should discuss all the course of actions with back
ing of rational arguments. Some sources for these case studies are---1. MRUNAL website
2. Halfmantr website
3. Some Given by Synergy
Reading of few good books outside your syllabus will help improve your writing s
kills, and broaden your vision. They also break monotony of your hectic schedule
. Some of them which I have read are--1. Pax Indica-- by Shashi Tharoor.
2. India from Midnight to Millenium-- by Shashi Tharoor.
3. India the Future Is Now-- by Shashi Tharoor.
4. India after Gandhi-- by Ram Chandra Guha.
5. The difficulty of Being Good-- by Gurcharan Das.
6. India Unbound-- by Gurcharan Das.
7. The Uncertain Glory Amartya Sen and Jean Dreeze.