UPSC Civil Services exam Books & tips for Public Administration

Public Administration - Civil Services Mains Examination:

The advantage and disadvantage of this optional is the huge availability of material. Aspirants waste most of their time searching for the books and material. The secret for success in this optional is writing practice. Unless well practiced, it is not possible to score good marks. So writing skills matter a lot in securing good marks. But with practice it is always possible to improve.

Though a lot of books can be mentioned for this optional but we will mention the standard ones which should suffice.

PAPER-I BOOKS

1. New Horizons of public administration by Mohit Bhattacharya
2. Administrative thinkers by prasad and prasad (theories part)
3. Public Administration by Sharma and Sadana (read administrative law, personnel administration, financial administration, development administration, comparitive administration and other paper-I topics)
4. IGNOU material (read public policy)
5. Public Administration by Avasthi and Maheshwari (read administrative law and administrative reforms)

PAPER-II BOOKS

1. Indian Administration by Rajini Goyal and Arora (covers most of the topics of paper II)
2. Public Administration by Avasthi and Maheshwari (read public sector)
3. Indian Administration by Avasthi and Avasthi (read administrative reforms, administration of law and order)
4. Introduction to the constitution of India by D.D.Basu and last but not least
5. Articles from IIPA Journals (aspirants can get Mr.Minocha’s collection of articles from IIPA Journals which is sufficient)

Some topics like welfare administration, administration of law and order should be collected while reading newspapers, India yearbook etc.

Other Books for your interest/reference:

• Ramesh Arora - Indian Public Administration Comparative Public Administartion
• Sachdeva - Social welfare administration
• Public Policy - Sapru
• Rumki Basu - Public Administration
• Maheshwari - Indian Administration
• NCERT books
• IJPA special edition in1998 on the occasion of Golden Jubilee
• Social Theory & Development Administration – Mohit
• CPA – Ramesh Arora

Note:

• The questions might seem indirect and vague, but with good basic clarity any question can be attempted. In recent times, the long questions are being asked directly. The examiner only expects you to write a simple logical answer with clarity.
• Do not try to remember too many quotations as it is difficult to reproduce.
• The introduction and conclusions should be written well
• Do not read all the books from end-to-end. Prepare topic wise in a comprehensive manner. The main priority should be given to gain the basic clarity.
• Practise the previous years’ papers.
• Use examples, contemporary relevance, case studies, flow diagrams etc.
• Read case studies from The Hindu, Frontline, Kurukshetra, Yojana and EPW.