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Civil servants and top rankers in the Civil Services advised UPSC aspirants on how to approach the exam, what to study and how to stay motivated to crack the exam

Purnima Sriram

Indian Telugu Civil Service Association, which was set up to guide UPSC aspirants, in collaboration with the NGO Prajahitha Social Service Organisation founded by Madhusudhan Reddy in the year 2012 conducted a seminar for the aspiring civil servants at Sundarayya Bhavan on Saturday in Hyderabad. About 10 civil servants spoke about how they cracked the exam and gave guidance in different aspects of UPSC examination to the students who attended the programme.

K Shashanka, All-India 16th rank, gave the students an overview on UPSC examination and advised them to have a planned approach towards the exam. "Students should come out of the illusion that only the studious can get through the examination," he said. "We should first ask ourselves why we want to be a Civil servant. Then everything will fall in place. One should have stamina and patience to become one. As General Studies is now for 1,000 marks, one should adopt a sustained and consistent approach to tackle it. Mock tests play a major role as analytical and opinion based questions are part of the exam," he said.

Giving advice on specific subjects he said, "For Economics in prelims, learn fundamentals from NCERT Class XI and XII books. For Mains, in Economics, learn the fundamentals and also applications with the current affairs. Ensure that you are thorough with introduction and conclusion of all the chapters. Read newspapers, especially editorials and business magazines," he added.

Meghnath Reddy, another UPSC top ranker, spoke about the importance of following current affairs. "Telugu medium students should read Telugu newspapers and weekly magazines. Internet is the best source for current affairs. Prs.india.org is the best website to know about the laws passed in the Parliament � an important topic for the exams. Make your own notes for current affairs", he added. He also spoke on how to take failure positively. "Failure is not the end, think, learn, un-learn and work for yourself. When you fail, one gets into an analytical mode which shows you the path to success," he added.

Prof KS Chalam, who is part of the selection team in UPSC examination, said many things have changed in the last ten years. "Telugus are ready for Civils and fortunately, they are receiving enough support from their parents too. UPSC is a discipline-based knowledge. It creates integrity in the nation as a Telugu civil servant works for the welfare of the people of Punjab or Tamil Nadu. Public sector is the only thing that can make India strong," he said adding that Anthropology was started in India especially for the Civil servants.