MNREGA: My View

MNREGA is flagship programme of government of India and if implemented in letter and spirit then this law has potential to change, alter and revolutionize the rural quarter. The MNREGA is a flagship programme of the Government of India that guarantees employment to one adult member of the family for minimum hundred days in rural areas. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is essentially demand driven scheme which provides employment to labour. With implementation of MNREGA 2.0, it is aspired that drawbacks of earlier times will be curtailed, minimized, and will be implemented in letter and spirit.

A basis of starting of NREGA is “development economics” and can be called as “Keynesian Economics”. UPA I, came to power on slogan of “aam aadami” and had support of Communist Parties, enacted this act which essentially based on welfare principle. The Ministry of Rural Development’s (MORD) budget has increased nearly 3-fold since FY 2006-07. In FY 2012-13, MORD allocations account for 14% of GOI’s budget. In FY2012-13, MGNREGA allocations account for 36% of total MORD budget. Recently Government has announced that MNREGA will be base of second green revolution. This underlines the pivotal role of this act in all welfare schemes.

 “Ragnar Nurkse, had pointed out that capital starved over-populated countries could build “social capital” in a big way by employing the surplus labour on a variety of projects. He had listed schemes concerning irrigation, drainage, roads, railways, housing, etc. In his view, the only danger was the onset of inflation caused by the increased demand for food and other wage goods,”[1] is written by P.S.APPU is his article on MNREGA in The Hindu. India has surplus and cheap labour which by this act is used for different productive purposes such as WBM road, digging of ponds, irrigation works and plantation. These activities are creating different assets in rural areas.Thus MNREGA is the way by which employment can be generated in rural areas with durable assets. It is often claimed by critics that MNREGA is nothing but “white elephant” and public money is spend and thus money like any other social security scheme is siphoned off to large extent. On other hand, supporters of this act, ideologically left wing, always support this scheme as panacea, cure and solution for all ills of rural India.  

Facing Changed Pattern of UPSC:-

At last much waited change has been reality and thus years of speculations are ended. But now aspirants are more confused, and thinking that years of preparation are now rendered futile and unproductive.

Let me assure that your years of preparation are not wasted and will help you preparation in coming days. One should take this change in positive way, as thinking of past will hamper your studies.

One must also remember that “Change is the only constant”, and species (In our case aspirants) who swiftly adapts to changed conditions service. (Essentially UPSC also follows law of Darwin….survival of the fittest).

But one thing has been amply clear by UPSC is that general studies (GS) will carry maximum marks and aspirant has to focus more on current events, issues of national importance, history and geography in context of India and so on.

Coming years will make things more clear and those who have long term plans can employ good strategy of “wait and watch”! 

History Main Paper I Historical Sites:-

In History Optional  paper I, mapping of historical sites is very important question. Three years ago this question was supposed to be "scoring one", as mapping of sites was relatively easy. But now days sites which are asked are so unknown, that is not so scoring.

But I am enlisting different historical sites here, which are taken from syllabus of Diploma in Archaeology, conducted by archaeological survey of India. Just collect some information of these sites and be aware of geographical location of these different sites. And also do mapping from spectrum book of historical sites. But concentrate more on enlisted sites as current trend of UPSC is to ask sites related to neolithic, chalcolithic and megalithic era, or sites which are recently discovered.

IMPORTANT SITES FOR HISTORY MAIN PAPER I

UPSC preparation for Beginners- 2013

By Pooja Ranade 

Hello, I am presently preparing for UPSC and will be giving my attempt in 2013.

I will not mention all the books and magazines, because the books suggested earlier blogs are the main ones.

For a basic preparation, decide and analyze the perspective and scope of UPSC CSE. Begin by checking the GS syllabus, check earlier question papers, and understand the changing trends in papers, decide which books are needed, don’t purchase unnecessary books, but buy the essential ones, decide which subjects are going to be optional subjects depending on liking, interest and availability of guidance, check the syllabus, papers and decide its books and fix a time table for everything, which is extremely important.

CSAT Preparation: The way Ahead

How to prepare for CSAT:- By Rushikesh Dudhat 

Last year UPSC brought in a major change in civil services preliminary exam pattern by removing the optional subject and introducing a new paper 2 commonly known as CSAT. Though it caused lot of anxiety in students initially, the two preliminary examinations on new pattern gives us fair idea about paper 2. Most importantly it dispels the myth that CSAT favors students with mathematics background. In fact the number of mathematics questions in 2011 paper which were around 15, could be categorized into more of logical questions and this year, i.e. in 2012 paper the number of  mathematics question were reduced to just two.

Also a comparative analysis of paper 1 and paper 2 shows that , CSAT paper consists of 80 questions with each question carrying 2.5 marks as against 2 marks carried by each question of paper 1 (G.S.) having 100 questions. So the weightage is more to paper 2. But the number of question may vary in coming years as UPSC has not specified number of questions thus making the current pattern more dynamic.

Syllabus and Book list: History Main Exam

History optional is one of the popular optional and also a scoring subject. Because syllabus is  minutely defined, it seems that it is very vast subject. Even if we accept it as vast, it is very safe subject and well directed preparation will always fetch good marks. Lot of material is available in market because of which  confusion regarding study material is not uncommon as far as this subject is concerned. Following is the syllabus and material concerned for each topic.
 1. Sources: Archaeological sources: Exploration, excavation, epigraphy numismatics, monuments. Literary sources: Indigenous: Primary and secondary ; poetry, scientific literature, literature , literature in regional languages, religious literature. Foreign accounts: Greek, Chinese and Arab writers. IGNOU Notes of Ancient India.

Newspaper Reading for UPSC Mains Exam

Current Affairs forms a crucial aspect of Mains exams. Keeping in mind the changing nature of Mains exam; it is very crucial to be very rigorous in Current Affairs. And the best source for preparing for Mains current exam is your daily newspapers. But it is often observed that students spend too much time on reading newspapers, they are often bogged down by the sheer volume of news that one has to read. In this post I will try and give some tips about how to make newspaper reading more effective and reduce the time spent on it. 

History:- Optional Preparation

By Rugved Thakur IAS:-
The best way to prepare for any optional subject is to start with the basics. We should start by creating a strong foundation and later build on it.


The following is a step-wise guide. 

1. Familiarisation with our optional subject 
• For history, we can start our preparation by reading NCERT books of standard 7-8th onwards uptill 12th. Books till standard 10th will give us a feel of the subject.
• These books need to be read from cover to cover. It will provide a quick overview to the optional subject.

Strategy for GS Mains 2012

Preparation for GS Mains 2012

1. Dear friends with best of my wishes I would say that you  must have scored good marks in prelims paper, and you will surely writing this year's Main paper.   Here I am writing about GS Mains 2012 preparation.I am also providing booklist for the GS also. But this booklist only for aspirants appeared in CSE Prelim 2012.

2. Secondly kind of variations GS paper is having I won’t recommend reading too many books though I have provided you detailed booklist. It is now more about your understanding and analysis about the issues.

Book list for GS Mains 2012:-

Book List:- Medical Science

1.Dear Friends I attempted three mains with Medical Science as one of my optional. And i consistently scored 300 plus in every attempt. I would say every MBBS graduate think about this subject as one of the optional. But considering the technicalities of the subject i wont suggest it as a good optional for BAMS, BDS or any other field graduate.

2.Preparation for Medical Science requires around 45 days for an average medico. This period varies with ones study during graduation.
3. Medical Science also required sound understanding about applied aspect of medicine and holistic orientation. Sometime questions are asked which are very remotely related with the syllabus provided.
4.Writing an answer is same as we write during our graduation. But one should put in extra effort for diagram, flowcharts etc. This will help to score good marks in papers. Secondly don't write too many extra things it is very much advisable to write what is asked only with all possible diagrams and flowcharts. Thus SPECIFICITY is very important for writing exam.

Answer Writing for Main Exam

By Rugved Thakur IAS

Answer writing is the key to getting good marks in Main Examination. The  Main areas of concentration should be Meeting expectation of UPSC answering style and Presentation.

When an answer requires 250 words or more, it is better to prepare synoptic notes in rough. This involves quickly jotting down the main points we are to write in the answer. Arranging the points in order of importance. This gives a good structure and flow to the answer.

Selecting Optional

Selecting Optional :- 

By Rugved Thakur IAS .

Very simple advice was given to me by a retired I.A.S officer at the start of my preparation - choose only those optionals that you like. So I selected History and Public Administration.

The idea behind selecting an optional that you like is that you will have to spend more than 2 years studying it. At no point during the preparation can you get tired or bored with the optional. You do not know how long you will have to prepare for Civil Services Examination. If one requires 2-3 attempts then for each attempt one should be ready to keep reading on the optional subjects and trying to improve one's score in the optionals.

Booklist for General studies by Amrutesh Aurangabadkar AIR 10

Hello friends,
Here's a short booklist for G.S. :
History: Spectrum, NCERTs, Bipan Chandra's book
Polity: Laxmikanth, Bakshi's constitution
Geography: NCERTs, Goh Che Leong (book by Majid Hussain is equally good)
Social Issues, International Relations, Economy: newspapers and magazines
Science and Technology: Notes, Newspapers, magazines, (herad that Arihant and CST issues about the same are good, though I didnot refer these :D ;) )
Statistics: Spectrum guide

Being an economics graduate, I did not work upon it as such. Also I did a diploma in National Security and international relations...so din't have to work upon it as well....
Sociology being my optional, socila issues were covered therein..
but my focus was always on latest happenings...

QUERY MODULE:-

Friends if have you any questions, doubts, queries  in your mind about anything related to all Competitive Exams ( Like Book list, How to start preparation, good classes, Study material etc.) . You can ask your questions in this post. Contributors will be happy to answer all your doubts. You have to write your question in "Post a Comment " box which will be answered without delay. 

Gearing up for the Final Assualt -- The UPSC interview

UPSC Civil Services Interview is a crucial tipping point. Many candidate who faltered at the interview; and despite having a good score in Mains, could not make it to the final list. And then there are others, who have made it to the final list because of a good score attained in interview.  There is no single way to prepare for the interview and following any kind of structured preparation pattern for interview is of no use.  In this blog-post, I will through my interview, try and draw out some points on interview preparation.

Book List for Public Administration Sarveshwar Bhure IAS

 By Sarveshwar Bhure IAS :-

Book List provided here is extensive and topic-wise, i have given topic wise breakup and suggested reading, if you are able to follow all topics it provide you extensive coverage.

* aster-ix means this source is for secondary reading.

For further query post your comment ....I will reply to you.

Book list : Political Science- Marathi Medium

By Shivprasad Nakate IAS :-

UPSC Interview of Shri. Navanath Gavhane : Part I

UPSC personality test

Duration: 30 mins from 1515 hours to 1545 hours

Panel chairperson Rajni Razdan

Number of Panel members: 4

Afternoon session

Date :April 25th 2012

I had a reporting time of 1515 hours. I went to UPSC office ( Shahjahan Road, New Delhi) with my friend Harish Kale. I reached office around 1230 hours. Delhi was seething hot at 40 degree celcius. I entered office from gate number 2. I submitted my cell phone at the counter. The waiting room was around 20 feets away. There was an interesting Confucian thought on the wall, which said “Whatever you don’t like about others, you must not behave in the same manner with others”.