The UPSC examination is considered as one of the most coveted examinations in India. Thousands of students sit for UPSC exam every year with the dream of cracking the examination and securing a respectable position in the Indian Government.
If you are preparing for the UPSC examination, we are sure you are well acquainted with the exam pattern and syllabus of the examination. As a website solely dedicated to UPSC examinations, we often receive comments stating confusion between GS Paper I and GS Paper II.
If you are someone who wishes to know how GS paper I from GS paper II, then stick to the end of the article as we share syllabus, structure and strategies to prepare the papers.
General Studies Paper I
In UPSC Mains examinations, GS Paper I is one of the four general studies papers. The paper includes subjects like Art and Culture, Geography, History and Indian Society.
So the subjects can be divided as follows
Subjects: History, Geography and Indian Society
Sub-Topics:
- Art & Culture
- Modern HistoryWorld History
- Physical Geography of India & World
- Human Geography
- Demography, Social Issues, and Developments in Indian Society
Unlike the other, there are few areas in the subjects from where you can expect direct questions. Therefore, the areas where you should focus while preparing for the paper are as follows
- Art and Culture
- Classical dances
- Literature
- Music and musical instruments
- Temple architecture
- Themes of ancient Indian history
- Modern History
- Contributions of important Indian and Foreign personalities
- Important movements: Swadeshi and Boycott movement, Khilafat and Non-cooperation movement, Civil Disobedience movement, Quit India movement.
- Social/religious reform movements: personalities and their contributions
- India after Independence & Political Philosophies
- Admission of princely states
- Capitalism
- Communism
- Important movements after 1947
- Role of important personalities
- Socialism
- World History
- American, French, Russian and Industrial Revolution
- Current affairs
- International pages of The Hindu and The Indian Express
- World War I and II
- Society of India
- Diversity in India
- Issues in Indian Society
- Women Empowerment
- Geography
- Cyclones, hurricanes, earthquakes
- Climate change
- Location of industries in India
- Natural Resources
- Water bodies
GS Paper I consists of 20 questions prinited in English or Hindi. The word limit for 10 marks questions is 150 and 15 marks question is 250.
General Studies Paper II
Now coming to GS Paper II, the subjects included in this paper are governance, constitution, polity, social justice and International relations. Similar to GS Paper I, you can expect direct questions from certain topics, however, one requires critical thinking to answer the questions up to the point.
For preparation of GS Paper II, mentioned down below are the focus areas that you should definitely cover as calculated from the previous year's question patterns.
- Polity
- Amendments in Indian Constitution
- Constitutional and non-constitutional bodies
- Features of Indian Constitution
- Indian Constitution
- Provisions
- Governance
- Accountability
- E-governance applications
- Government policies and interventions
- Governance
- Transparency
- Social Justice
- Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services
- Issues relating to poverty and hunger
- International Relations
- Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Bilateral Groupings
- Regional and global groupings
GS Paper II also contains 20 questions printed in English or Hindi. The word limit for 10 marks questions is 150 and for 15 marks questions is 250.
Now there you go, a comprehensive analysis of GS Paper I and GS Paper II. GS paper I contains subjects like History, Geography and Indian history whereas GS paper II deals with subjects like Polity, Governance, International Relations and Social Justice.
The article provided you with just a snippet of the important focus areas of both the papers. If you wish to know which books you should study for subjects, our articles detailing the required textbooks can help you out.