CGPSC exam or the Chattisgarh Public Service Commission exam is conducted every year and is associated with coveted job opportunities in the State Government. As you may already know the CGPSC exam involves three stages – prelims and mains exam followed by the interview.
The CGPSC 2020 prelims exam was conducted on the 9th of February 2020. Candidates who clear the prelims examination can appear for the mains exam. The CGPSC mains exam was scheduled to be held on the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th of June 2020 but the exams have been postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 outbreak. If you are one of the aspirants preparing for the CGPSC mains exam then this is a blessing in disguise since you get more time to prepare for the exam.
In this article, we will cover all the essentials to solidify your chances of cracking the CGPSC 2020 exam.
First things – Familiarize yourself with the CGPSC Syllabus and CGPSC Exam Pattern for the mains stage.
The CGPSC mains involves 7 papers. (5 General Studies papers, 1 Language paper and an Essay paper).
The 7 papers are as follows:
| Paper | Topics |
| Paper 1 | Language |
| Paper 2 | Essay Writing |
| Paper 3 | Public Administration, Constitution and History |
| Paper 4 | Environment, Technology and Science |
| Paper 5 | Geography and Economics |
| Paper 6 | Logical Ability and Maths |
| Paper 7 | Sociology and Philosophy |
All papers will be conventional in nature. Each paper carries 200 marks and candidates will be given 3 hours for each paper. Candidates who clear the mains exam will be eligible for the third stage – personality test/interview worth 150 marks. Three candidates who qualify the mains exam will be invited for the interview for every vacancy.
CGPSC like any other state service exam emphasizes on state-specific general knowledge. You can find plenty of study material on the internet for this in both Hindi and English.
Every stage of the CGPSC exam is qualifying in nature. Candidates who clear the qualifying and overall cutoff will be eligible for the next round. The cutoff is decided by factors such as the number of applicants, difficulty level of the exam and the total number of vacancies.
The qualifying marks for each category as per the official notification are as follows:
| Stage of Exam | Category | Qualifying cut-off percentage | Qualifying marks |
| Prelims | General | 33% | 66 (out of 200) |
| Prelims | General | 23% | 46 (out of 200) |
| Mains | SC/ST/OBC/PWD | 33% | 458 (out of 1400 – 200 for each paper) |
| Mains | SC/ST/OBC/PWD | 23% | 322 (out of 1400 – 200 for each paper) |
You can check the official website www.psc.cg.gov.in for further details and notification about the official date of the mains exam.
Static GK is the most crucial part of general studies. For current affairs, focus more on the state-specific issues and read the local newspaper daily.
Here are a few books that you can refer to for the mains exam apart from NCERT books:
History
India’s Ancient Past – RS Sharma
History of Medieval India – Satish Chandra
History of Modern India – Bipan Chandra
Indian Art & Culture – Nitin Singhania
Geography
Certificate Physical Geography – G C Leong
Indian Geography – Majid Hussain
Polity
Indian Polity – Laxmikanth
The constitution of India – P.M.Bakshi
India’s Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri
Samajshastra by B.K. Nayak
Economics
Economy – Competition Community
Indian Economy – Dr Manoj Agrawal
Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh
Indian Economy: Performance & Policies – Uma Kapila
General Science
Advance Computer Awareness by Youth Competition Times
Environment by Competition Community
Encyclopedia of General Science by Arihant Experts
Technology by Competition Community
Now that you are equipped with all the information, get started with your prep!
P.S. Recently, the CGPSC also released a notification for 178 vacancies for Forest Ranger and Assistant Forest Guard. If you are interested in applying for the openings then please check the official website for further information.
Good luck!
