Indian Forest Service (IFoS)

Part A-Preliminary Examination:

Paper I (200 Marks | Duration: 2 hours)

• Current events of national and international importance
• History of India and Indian National Movement
• Indian Polity and Governance- Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development- Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialisation.
• General science.

Paper II (200 Marks | Duration: 2 hours) 

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Decision making and problem solving
• General mental ability
• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)

Part B-Main Examination:

The standard of papers in General English and General Knowledge will be as may be expected of a Science or Engineering graduate of an Indian University. The scope of the syllabus for optional subject papers for the examination is broadly of the honours degree level i.e. a level higher than the bachelors degree and lower than the master's degree. In the case of engineering subjects, the level corresponds to the bachelor's degree. There will be no practical examination in any of the subjects.

General English (Paper I):

• Candidates are required to write an essay in English. Some other questions are also present, designed to test their understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. Passages are usually set for summary or precis.

General Knowledge (Paper II):

• General Knowledge including knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspects as may be expected of an educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific subject.
• The paper also includes questions on Indian Polity including the political system and the Constitution of India, History of India and Geography of a nature which the candidate should be able to answer without special study.

Optional Subjects (Papers III, IV, V and VI):

• Total number of questions in each question paper of optional subjects is eight; with four questions in both Part A and Part B.
  • Out of eight questions, five questions are to be attempted (with at least two questions to be attempted from each part).
    • One question in each part will be compulsory (to be mandatorily attempted).
    • Out of the remaining 6 questions, 3 must be answered taking at least one question from each part.
• For comprehensive details of syllabi for all the optional subjects, refer to the latest official notification of UPSC for IFoS 2024 exam (Click here)