Targeted Approach To Program and Policies in Civil Services Exam

The Civil Services exam is regarded as a highly coveted exam in India. This exam is taken to produce highly qualified and distinguished bureaucrats who are responsible to help to form legislations and execute them in the country. They are also responsible to administer law and order situations in certain parts of India. Pertaining to this Program and Policies become a crucial part of the Civil Services Prelims Exam and every year there are a fair number of questions are asked from this section in UPSC Prelims Exam. The government of India frames policies to tackle a plethora of problems plaguing the country, in different spheres such as employment, health, women empowerment, etc. Various programs and initiatives launched by central and state governments that create a societal impact remain the focus areas of the exam. The departments and ministries associated with these programs are also asked in the exam. Schemes and policies have various dimensions on which questions are based upon. The information like objective, targeted beneficiary, and main features are the key areas on which the questions are based upon.

There are various sources to prepare for the schemes and programs. The most important among them being India Year Book. But the basic problem that remains is skimming relevant information from the book as it is flooded with lots of information. Skimming important points from this ocean of information is quite cumbersome and exhaustive. Amid this scenario, it is important to find a material that can furnish necessary information that can be directly used in the prelims exam. But before moving ahead let's have an analysis of what to study and how to study.

It is beneficial to form a chart or table while studying the government policies. The following points must be added in this table related to a certain scheme :

• Scheme Name
• Ministry under whose ambit the scheme falls. Sometimes more than one Ministry might be involved.
• Target Beneficiary (age group, economic group, etc.) and benefits (how much money is provided, or how much food grain or other benefits provided or number  cylinders of LPG is provided, amount of subsidy, etc.)
• Collaborating stakeholders (providing logistics/funding/technical expertise)
  • Some schemes create confusion as they are similar in their goals and target groups. It is advisable to spend more time on such ambiguous schemes to avert any kind of confusion.
  • For example, Maternity schemes create maximum confusion. Some schemes fall under the Ministry of health while others fall under the Ministry of  Women. Some of them remain for the first child and some remain for consequent births. Some schemes  give direct benefit transfer in beneficiary’s account while others give free hospital care only.

People often tend to mug up the data only and are not able to understand the motive behind asking such questions. The entire purpose is to ask such kinds of questions is to have an assessment of problems and issues of vulnerable sections of society and what the government is doing for uprooting such problems. The student is often targeted schemes and policies for the purpose of prelims exam only and doesn’t update them accordingly. These schemes should always be prepared in such a manner that they can be used during mains exam and essay also. The integral approach not only useful for prelims but for the mains exam also.

It is important to interlink these policies with the static portion as well. Like if a scheme related to women and children being studied then the articles related to women and child welfare must be studied in this regard. Also one should be aware of various other laws that are being targeted through these programs. GS SCORE PRELIMS SAMPOORNA yearly compilation of Programmes and Policies will ensure that you score maximum in this section. This compilation covers all the important schemes and policies of the government along with its provisions and stakeholders.