Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPCS) - Pattern | 09 Aug 2021

Last Updated: May 2024

Introduction

• Most of the aspirants also appear in the State Civil Services (PCS) examinations while preparing for the Civil Services Examination. This trend is mostly seen in the candidates of Hindi language states. Apart from the candidates of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh native, the examinations conducted by the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC), Raipur are also an option for the candidates of other states preparing for civil services (especially Hindi medium).
• Despite the difference in the nature and procedure of questions, the study of the syllabus of Civil Services Preliminary and Main Examination has a significant role in these examinations of CGPSC. That's why students preparing for civil services exams are successful in these exams as well.

Examinations Conducted by the Commission

• The state-based government, semi-government, judicial and other subordinate services in Chhattisgarh are mainly conducted by the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC), Raipur.
• The most popular examination conducted by this commission is the 'Chhattisgarh State Service Examination'.
• The 'Chhattisgarh State Service Examination' is also often known as 'CGPCS'.

Nature of Exam

• This competitive examination conducted by the commission generally consists of three levels sequentially-

1. Preliminary Examination – Objective Nature
2. Main Examination – Descriptive Nature
3. Interview – Oral

Exam Process

• Process of Preliminary Examination
  
  • First of all, the release related to these examinations is issued by the commission. After that, the process of filling the online application form starts. The detailed information related to the process of filling the form is given under the heading 'How to apply online?' under the 'Release'.
  • A detailed description of various aspects related to the said examination is given in the release. Therefore, it is beneficial to study it before filling the form.
  • After the completion of the form filling process, the preliminary examination is usually conducted after 2 to 3 months.
  • This preliminary examination is conducted on one day at different centers of the state as decided by the commission.
  • The nature of this preliminary examination conducted by the commission is objective (multiple choice), in which one has to choose the correct option out of four possible options (a, b, c and d) given for each question.
  • This chosen option related to the question has to be filled with a black ballpoint pen at the appropriate place in the respective circle in front of it in the OMR sheet given by the commission.
  • There is a provision of negative marking for wrong answers in this exam conducted by CGPSC. For each wrong answer, 1/3rd of the marks assigned to the correct answer will be deducted.
  • The cut-off in the Preliminary Examination will be decided on the basis of marks obtained in the first paper i.e. General Studies only.
  • If a candidate gives more than one answer to a question, then that answer will be treated as wrong, even if one of the given answers is the correct answer, even then the same penalty will be given for that question as above.
  • If a question is not attempted by the candidate, i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, then there will be no penalty for that question.
  • The question paper is given in two languages (Hindi and English), in case of language dispute in any word/sentence, the word/sentence written in the Hindi language will be considered as the basis.
  • Questions related to Hindi language knowledge and Chhattisgarhi Language will be in the same language, translation will not be available.
  • In 2012, the nature of this preliminary examination was changed by the commission, according to which the question paper of 'aptitude test' was adopted instead of the optional subject (objective) asked in the second paper.
  • At present, two compulsory papers (General Studies and Aptitude Test) are asked in this preliminary examination of the Commission, the examination of which is completed on the same day in two different shifts in a time duration of two hours each. The question paper of 'aptitude test' is also known as 'CSAT' (Civil Service Aptitude Test).
  • This preliminary exam has a total of 200 marks.
  • The first paper is of 'General Studies', in which the total number of questions is 100 and the maximum marks are 200.
  • The second paper is the ‘Aptitude test', in which the total number of questions is 100 and the maximum marks are 200. The second question paper is in the form of a qualifying paper.
  • Generally, 50-60% marks are required to pass this exam, but sometimes this percentage can be less depending on the difficulty level of the questions.
  • The preliminary examination is qualifying in nature. The marks obtained in this are not added with the marks of the main exam or interview.

• Mains Exam Process
  
  • For the successful candidates in the preliminary examination, the main examination is organized by the commission at various centers of the state.
  • According to the new syllabus published in the Chhattisgarh Gazette, now seven compulsory papers will be asked in this main examination.
    
    • In which the first two papers are from 'Language' and 'Essay' respectively and the other five papers from General Studies ('History, Constitution and Public Administration', 'Science, Technology, Aptitude Test, Reasoning Ability and Intelligence and Environment', 'Economy and Geography', 'Philosophy and Sociology' and Welfare, Developmental Programs and Law, International and National Sports, Events and Organizations and Educational Institutions and Human Development).
    • Its detailed information is given in the heading 'Syllabus' under 'Brief Description of the release'.
  • The questions in the main exam are of traditional type, short, medium and long answer type. In this, the word limit of answering questions (30 words, 60 words, 100 words, 125 words and 175 words) is taken care of. The answers to all these questions have to be written in the answer-book given by the commission within a maximum time limit of three hours.
  • The main examination is of a total of 1400 marks in which a maximum of 200-200 marks have been fixed for all the papers (7 papers).
  • Except for the first question paper 'language', all other papers can be answered in Hindi or in English only, but no question paper can be answered partially in English and Hindi.
  • The second paper (essay) will have two parts (national level problems and Chhattisgarh state problems). The candidate will have to write a total of four essays in about 750-750 words on problem-solving (reasons, current situation with data and solution) by selecting any two options out of the given four options from each part.
  • Each paper will be divided into 5 sections from the third paper to the seventh paper. In this, questions of 30 words, 60 words, 100 words, 125 words and 175 words will be asked from each section respectively.
  • Generally, 60-65% marks are required to be scored in this stage of the examination. However, due to the change in the syllabus, this percentage may be slightly less.
  • The marks obtained in these papers will be added to the merit list as before.
  • Credit will be given to the organized, subtle and powerful expression in the least number of words in all the subjects of the examination.

Click on this link for a strategy to develop a good writing style in the main exam.

Interview Process

• The candidates selected in the main examination usually have to appear for an interview before the commission after one month.
• During the interview, the personality of the candidates is tested, in which oral questions are asked by the members of the commission at the designated place on commission, which the candidate has to answer orally, this process goes on for more than one day depending on the number of candidates.
• A total of 100 marks have been fixed for an interview in the CGPSC exam.
• A merit list is prepared on the basis of the aggregate of marks obtained in the main examination and interview.
• The list of finally selected candidates is released usually one week after the completion of the entire interview.

Click on this link for strategy to score good marks in an interview.