How to Conquer GS in UPSC Mains,

Explained By Anudeep Durishetty AIR 1

CSE 2017
With 1000 marks spanning across four papers in Mains, GS feels like one giant,
insurmountable mountain. The point of this article is to convince you that those fears are
unfounded.

I’ve written this post assuming someone who had already read the foundational books for
GS Prelims. If you haven’t read them as yet, you should first read my post on GS
Prelims. At the end of this article, I embedded download links to my complete GS notes
and answer copies. There I had marked two particular answer booklets that accurately
represent my writing style in Mains. I hope aspirants who are struggling with answer
writing find them useful. I had also written previously about how to prepare for the Essay
in this post.

As you start reading the books I mention here for GS mains, please keep the following
points in mind:

1. Along with these books, get a printout of the syllabus and read it carefully. Your
final aim must be: for each topic mentioned in the syllabus, you should have enough
content to write a 250-word answer.
2. Go through the past five years’ question papers to understand the breadth and
depth of questions UPSC usually asks. It’ll give you a good perspective of what’s
important and what’s not.
3. Use the internet extensively, especially for topics like Science and Tech. Your
target must be to gain knowledge, be it through books or through the internet.
4. For all subjects, you have to superimpose current affairs over it, especially for
GS-2 and GS-3. For both these papers, current affairs form the nucleus. You will
inevitably do a lot of reading on the internet, so use Evernote to organise and
highlight content like this.
5. Give adequate time for revision. Without it, you will not be able to recollect
whatever you may have read. So please dedicate enough time to it, whether you are
giving a mock test or the actual exam.
6. Many aspirants commit one fundamental mistake: they read and revise, over and
over, but never practise. Remember that the examiner checking your copy will have
no idea about the number of books you’ve read or the number of hours you’ve
slogged. Your answers are all that he has to judge you. So it makes sense to learn it,
practise it and perfect it.
7. Mains exam demands not only our memory and intelligence but also endurance. If
you lack prior practice, writing relentlessly for 6 hours a day and do this for 5 days
will cause both mental and physical fatigue. The only way to overcome it is to
practice enough before the final exam.
8. General Studies demands only a peripheral understanding of an expansive set of
topics. So it’s important that you try to gain minimum sufficient knowledge over a
diverse set of subjects rather than obsessively focussing on one topic. For instance,
it doesn’t make sense to read World History for three months at the expense of all
other subjects. Always maintain that fine balance between all the topics and don’t
get imprisoned in one.
9. In GS, there will be very few questions where you will have absolutely no clue.
Even if you only have a vague idea, write those generic points. For instance, in last
year’s GS-1 paper, for the question on Malay peninsula, I knew no specific fact
except a vague idea that Singapore had a partition story similar to India. So I just
wrote a generic answer comprising of problems such as ethnic strife, insurgency,
and economic collapse. The examiner checking my copy might have given 2-3
marks for it, which I am sure any aspirant would gladly take.
10. You must develop the skill to speed read a committee or an organisation’s report
on your computer (reading online saves you a lot of time) and highlight important
lines as you read along. In the second reading, this highlighted portion is what you
need to revise. It should look something like this.
11. In GS papers, map of India is your most effective tool for illustration. For
example, I drew India maps and labelled relevant parts for questions on river
linkage (GS-3), North-East insurgency (GS-3), Inland navigation (GS-1), India’s
18th-century fragmented polity (GS-1) etc. Practise it enough so that you are able to
draw and label it under 60 seconds.
12. If you are taking a test series, please give those tests with all the seriousness of the
final UPSC exam. In the mock test, if you take 10-15 additional minutes to finish
the paper, you are cheating no one except yourself. Observe strict time limits.
13. You will never feel content with your Mains preparation and there is always a
nagging tendency to just keep reading and procrastinate writing answers or skip an
upcoming test. You have to overcome this reluctance through conscious effort.
Suppose before a mock test if you were unable to finish the syllabus, you can
postpone your test by a day or two, but don’t skip it altogether.
14. Perfectionism is your enemy. If you keep referring to countless sources to make
that “perfect notes”, if you keep postponing your mock tests in order to write
“perfect tests”, this mentality will bring you to ruin. Getting a good score in Mains
is about attempting all questions to which some answers are excellent, some good
and many above average. So instead of waiting for that elusive perfection, start
imperfect and then keep improving.
15. When you are buying coaching material, always ask yourself: “what new is this
material adding to my preparation?” If you can’t answer that question
convincingly, then the material probably isn’t really useful.
16. Just because I am AIR-1, it does not mean that my notes are the best or that this
book list is the last word. If you have been studying some other material, that’s fine,
too. To succeed in this exam, the source of material is not important. What’s
important is you to understand the concepts, memorise the facts well and have
a firm grip over the entire syllabus.

Stiffer the climb, better the view.

The list of books for GS Mains:

GS 1

Indian Art and Culture

1. An Introduction to Indian Art – Class XI NCERT

2. Chapters related to culture in Ancient and Medieval India NCERTs
3. Centre for Cultural Resource and Training (CCRT) material
4. Heritage Crafts: Living Craft Traditions of India -NCERT

For someone who is starting just now, this topic can overwhelm them. So I suggest
beginners read this section after they get acquainted with other GS topics.
In Art and Culture, questions asked by UPSC in recent years are more analytical—
which requires both the factual content and good analysis to answer the why and
how. You can answer such questions well only when you understand the historical
background in which such art was produced. This is why it’s important that you read
NCERT XI Ancient India for it gives you that historical context.
For instance, don’t just memorise features of say, Sangam literature or Chola
architecture, but understand the social, political, religious and economic context in
which such grand art was produced. They will form the analysis part and will help
you write great answers.
Make good use of the internet to watch both visual and performing arts to
understand how they actually look in real life. You will be able to recollect such
visuals more easily. They will help you write a decent answer for questions which
you only have a vague idea about.
Wherever relevant, draw diagrams to illustrate your answers. For instance, you
can draw a rough sketch to show the features of a Stupa, Dravida, and Nagara style
architecture, Paleolithic art, Folk arts such as Warli, Harappan pottery etc. You don’t
need to be a Michelangelo for this, but you must ensure that the fundamentals are
correct. For example, in Warli art, human bodies are represented by triangles, heads
by circles and hands by simple lines. Just get these basics right. Link to download
diagrams is given at the end of the article.
Art and Culture requires a ton of memorisation and there’s really no shortcut to
mastering it except through multiple revisions.

Modern Indian History

1. A Brief History of Modern India- Spectrum Publications

2. India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra (Read selectively for topics not
covered in the Spectrum book)

Questions on Indian history are something that every serious aspirant will answer
well, so you really cannot afford to let go of these questions. If you had done your
prelims preparation for this topic well, that is good enough. You just need to practice
answer writing.

India’s Post Independence History

1. India Since Independence by Bipan Chandra

2. For certain topics, I made notes from this book. Download link is given at the end.

World History

I prepared entirely for this topic from this outstanding book: Download
Since revising this big book before the exam was difficult, I prepared concise notes
from it. I also practised maps to demonstrate major world historical events.
Link to download my notes and maps is given at the end of the article.

Geography

The study plan is the same as for prelims, which I’ve explained here.

Indian Society

This is a generic, nebulous topic with no style or structure. Questions are

sometimes vague, philosophical and the challenge we face is not so much in lack of
content as in presenting it concisely in 200 odd words. To understand the basics,
read NCERT Sociology Std XI and XII. Make concise notes on each topic that
includes: a crisp definition, latest statistics, govt schemes, criticism of these
schemes; causes of issues such as communalism and regionalism, historical and
current examples, their impact on our society, and your suggestions as the way
ahead. (you can get these suggestions from the internet or ARC 2 or some
committee report). In case if you find good coaching material for these topics, that’ll
do as well.
For this topic, a generic answer with proper structure and subheadings that cover
multiple dimensions is good enough to fetch you marks. You can find my notes at
the end of the article.

GS 2

Polity, Governance and Social Justice

Static Portion:

1. Laxmikanth
2. Polity Notes (this will provide analytical content. Download link is given at the end
of the article)
3. ARC 2 (One of the best reports ever written for the government. It’s been more than
ten years since the reports were published, but the content is still priceless. Read
complete reports, memorise only recommendations)

Current Affairs:

1. The Hindu
2. The Big Picture on RSTV
3. CivilsDaily current affairs material
4. I also referred to Insights/ForumIAS current affairs material for topics not covered
well by CivilsDaily
5. PRS India for latest legislation
6. All India Radio – Spotlight (used to listen during my commute to the office)

Open your answers with Constitutional articles. Question on Governor? Art 153
must be there in the first line. Question on Civil Services? Art 312 is where you
begin. If there’s a technical term like ‘Parliamentary Sovereignty’, ‘Political
democracy’ or ‘Social Audit’ — define them in your introduction telling the
examiner what you understand by those terms.
Supreme Court judgements are very important. Make a list of important
judgements (both historical and current) and quote them to substantiate your answer.
For example, when you are answering a question on Free speech, quoting SC
judgement in Shreya Singhal vs Union of India case will add tremendous value to
your answers.
For a debatable topic, always write both sides of the issue even if not explicitly
asked in the question. Example: A question might ask: Do you agree that Civil
Services is in need of drastic reforms? For this, explain under a subheading why
drastic reforms are needed. And in the next paragraph, counter by saying why
drastic reforms are harmful. In the end, you can add the view of ARC
2/Hota/Surendranath committee to convey your view and end on a balanced note.
For miscellaneous topics like the comparison of Constitutions, RPA Act, SHG, e-
Governance etc refer to any good coaching material to have 200-word worth
content. Source latest examples and issues from newspapers and quote them in your
answers.
Prepare thoroughly on Govt policies and bills. PRS India is an excellent resource
for all the latest legislation in the offing and The Hindu for policy criticism. But the
newspaper is patently leftist and they publish articles incessantly and nauseatingly
ranting on policies they don’t like (Eg: Aadhar). But as someone aspiring to be a
civil servant, you need to be more dispassionate. This is why you must actively
pursue articles with a contrarian and balanced opinions like this and this.
Cram latest statistics pertaining to health, employment, education, poverty etc.
Also apart from committees, you may quote authentic reports from reputed
organisations such as Lancet, Transparency International, UNICEF, FAO etc to
substantiate your point. I made notes on important statistics that can be used for all
papers of GS and essay. Download link is given at the end of the article.
Conclusion: Wherever possible, end with a committee/ commission
recommendation or observation. For instance, a question on Centre-State relations
should invariably end with Punchhi Commission, a question on death penalty with
Law Commission and a question on Indian Constitution with NCRWC. Referring to
Sustainable Development Goals, Preamble, DPSP is also another good way to end
your answers.

International Relations

Any good book that adequately covers the historical aspect of India’s bilateral
relations.
Current affairs: The Hindu, India’s World on RSTV, CivilsDaily or Insights or
ForumIAS depending upon the topic.
Questions on IR will be almost, always be about the current happenings in the
world. But before you run after the Hindu or some other latest magazine for this
section, it’s important that you understand the historical background of India’s
relationship with other countries. This is indispensable because every bilateral issue
that you see in the news can be traced back to history. Once you understand this
historical context, this topic becomes uncomplicated.
For example, let’s take India China relations. Don’t merely focus on Doklam crisis
and troop positioning, but understand the larger context of our border dispute with
China, the agreements we had signed starting with the Simla Accord of 1914. For
India-Sri Lanka, don’t just concentrate that India voted for or against Sri Lanka at
the UN, but understand how India always championed peace between the Tamils
and the Sinhalese, the 1987 accord, its fallout, Sri Lankan civil war and what India
did during these times. When you have that bigger picture in mind, each part of the
puzzle becomes easier to fit in.
For miscellaneous topics like diaspora and international institutions, refer to any
good coaching material.
Draw map wherever relevant. Example: for India-Iran relations, you can draw a
rough map to show how the Chabahar port helps us to bypass Pakistan and reach
Afghanistan. Act East policy can be demonstrated with arrows pointing from India
and showing our specific relationship with Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Singapore,
Australia and ASEAN, MGC, BIMSTEC etc.,
Each bilateral relationship or a global grouping is multi-faceted. To make your
answers comprehensive, always write a multidimensional perspective that includes:
the strategic dimension, defence co-operation, technology, education, culture,
diaspora, trade and investment, co-operation in global fora etc.

GS 3

Economy

Static part:

1. Standard resources I already mentioned in my prelims post

2. Budget (any coaching material compilation)
3. Economic Survey (gist)
4. Niti 3-year Action Plan report (a good resource for policy recommendations that
come in handy while you write conclusion)

Current Affairs:

1. The Hindu
2. CivilsDaily
3. I referred to Insights/ForumIAS current affairs material for topics not covered well
by CivilsDaily

Indian Agriculture, Land reforms, PDS, Food Processing, LPG, Infrastructure

1. Mrunal.org
2. Vision IAS
3. The Hindu and CivilsDaily for current affairs

You need to remember that for GS-3, questions revolve around current affairs and
there is no dearth of material. It may sound counter-intuitive, but the trick is to
restrict yourself to material that’s good enough for you to write a 250-word answer
for all topics. It’s very important that you don’t get sunk under the heap of current
affairs and coaching material.
So for each topic mentioned in the syllabus, make concise notes from the resources
mentioned above. I also found Niti Aayog’s 3-year Action Plan report really helpful
for this paper. And just as I had mentioned for GS-2, statistics and committee
reports are very important.

Security

Vajiram and Vision IAS material

The Hindu and CivilsDaily for current affairs
Prepare crisp and clear definitions of technical terms such as cybersecurity,
terrorism, organised crime, money laundering, left-wing extremism etc.
For questions on border security, draw India map to illustrate.

Disaster Management

Fundamental reading: CBSE book

Prepare concise notes on NDMA (structure, functions, rules etc), international
agreements such as Sendai Framework, latest current affairs from newspapers,
internet and coaching material.
Draw diagrams to illustrate concepts like river embankment, land zoning, watershed
management etc.

Environment and Ecology

Shankar IAS book

The Hindu and CivilsDaily for current affairs
My handwritten notes (Download link given at the end)

Science & Tech

1. The Hindu
2. Vision IAS Mains 365
3. YouTube

This topic terrifies many aspirants, and for good reason. There’s no single book or
resource to help one navigate this section and it all feels like one big haze. But
there’s good news: the questions asked in S&T are mostly from current affairs and
you are expected to have only a general understanding of the topics.
During my preparation, I used to note down in my book whatever scientific term or
technology that’s frequently talked about in news. For instance, these days we
repeatedly encounter terms such as Artificial General Intelligence, Blockchain,
Machine Learning, Cryptocurrency, CRISPR-CAS9 in news and on the internet.
Note down all such scientific concepts that are in news and then scour the internet
(especially Youtube) to understand them. There are many explainer videos on
Youtube that explain the concept so well that even a school student can understand
it. For instance, take this excellent video on blockchain technology. Once you see it,
it’s impossible for you to miss a question on blockchain and its practical
applications.
Apart from the above, you need to learn fundamental terms and technologies used in
Space (PSLV, GSLV, Cryo Engine etc), Nanotech, Nuclear Research (Fast breeder
reactor, Uranium enrichment, Nuclear fission and fusion etc.), Defence (Cruise
missile, Ballistic missile, Stealth Bomber etc), Biotech (Gene editing, Stem Cells,
GM food etc), Communication (LIDAR, RADAR, LiFi, 5G etc). Any
comprehensive material of a coaching institute will be sufficient for this (I referred
to Vajiram printed notes).
Whatever S&T topic you are learning, always focus on the concept, why is it in
news, practical applications, potential threats, benefits far into the future etc. Just do
this and you will easily handle this topic in the final exam.

GS 4

2nd ARC reports: Ethics in Governance, Promoting E-gov, RTI, Citizen-centric

Administration, Personnel Administration. Read all ARC reports completely,
memorise only recommendations.
For moral thinkers, Google them to read about their major contributions and for
misc topics such as corporate governance, I referred to Vajiram printed material. I
also prepared some notes for certain topics (download link at the end of the article)
I went through the syllabus and tried to define each term in clear words and simple
sentences. I found this exercise very useful because these definitions inevitably
formed the introduction to most of my answers. For all of ethics paper, the essence
can be distilled as just this: a clear and simple definition of the term and a real-life
example to illustrate the concept. You can draw flowcharts and schematics wherever
apt.
It’s important to understand that each question is an opportunity to display your
ethics. This will be best demonstrated by the actions you did or some other
personalised/ real-life examples you quote. Reflect on your childhood, school life,
college time, professional career etc and glean examples that are simple,
unpretentious and at the same time bring out your ethical values clearly. For some
questions, you can also quote historical examples from the lives of great leaders.
For case studies, my aim was not so much in writing ingenious, extraordinary
solutions, but to write something that’s realistic and practicable and finish the paper
no matter what.
I always started with Q1 and not with case studies because I could not see how one
mark in Section B (case studies) is superior to one mark in Section A. I gave equal
importance and dedicated equal time to both the sections.
Rest of the GS papers have 20 questions each, Ethics has only 14. But don’t let that
number 14 fool you. I’ve always found GS-4 to be the lengthiest paper of all. Every
question in Section A has many sub parts that drain an inordinate amount of your
time. In fact, if we go by the absolute numbers, we write more words in GS-4 than
in other papers. So to manage your time well: Abide by the rule that you must
complete at least 80 marks worth of questions in each hour, irrespective of whether
you start with Section A or Section B.
Just before GS-4, you would have had written three stressful GS papers that would
put your body condition under severe mental and physical strain. But it’s important
to stay mentally tough during this crucial period and push your endurance limits so
as to survive another 3 hours of relentless writing. Remember that it’s all in the
mind— it can be your biggest enemy or your greatest strength.

My Notes

GS 1

World History Textbook

World History Notes
World History Maps
Art and Culture Diagrams
India Since Independence
Geography – Resource Distribution
Indian Society

GS 2

Polity
Constitutional Articles you need to memorise

GS 3

Environment

GS 4

Ethics

Misc

Important Statistics for GS

ARC 2 Notes

Essay

Notes
Quote collection
List of important topics

My GS Answer Copies

GS 2

Answer Booklet 1
Answer Booklet 2 (accurately represents my writing style in the final exam)

GS 3

Answer Booklet 1
Answer Booklet 2 (accurately represents my writing style in the final exam)

GS 4

Answer Booklet 1

Essay

Essay Copy

GS may look insurmountable at first, but remember that it’s always the small steps
towards the summit that count. Through effective planning and adequate practice, anyone
can conquer it.

My best wishes.

Until next time,

Anudeep.

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