WBCS Optional Economics Course (Note: Optional Economics has very high success rate in WBCS)

WBCS Optional Economics Course

(Note: Optional Economics has very high success rate in WBCS)

Success rate measures the percentage of candidates getting selected with an optional subject No wonder this rate is among the lowest for so called popular subjects like Anthropology and Psychology. 

The Course is conducted by a Professor of Economics who himself topped WBCS with Economics as Optional Subject (and worked as Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector) . 

The Course covers the entire syllabus as given below: 

Paper – I : Micro-Economic Theory and Macro-Economic Theory (Market and Price Determination : Functions of Money : full employment and Say’s Law : Modern Monetary System : Public Finance : International Economics : Growth and Development Economics).

Paper – II : Indian Economy (Evolution of Indian Economy till Independence : Indian Economics in Post-Independence Era.)

Course Fees:

For Class Room Guidance: Total course fees: Rs. 15000 only. Fee Break-up: Admission Fee: Rs.1000; Course Materials Fee: Rs. 5000 (payable in two installments of Rs.2500, first at the time of admission and the second at the beginning of 4th month). Monthly Tuition Fees: Rs.1500 (x 6 months). Pay Rs. 5000 (Rs. 1000 + Rs. 2500 + Rs. 1500) at the time of admission. Course Duration: 6 Months.

Class room course includes regular assessment and tests. More stress on developing writing skills.  

For Postal Guidance: Total course fees: Rs. 8000 only. Admission Fee: Rs.1000; Course Materials Fee: Rs. 5000. Courier charges: Rs.2000. Pay Rs.8000 in all. Study materials will be sent to your address over a period of six months.

Enrol now and be confident. Take advice from an Expert (Professor and Author). Many of his students have got selected in the IAS and allied services, Indian Economic Service (in fact, one of  his student stood first in the IES), and also in the WBCS (Executive).  

For more details, write to:

 wbcsstudyroom@gmail.com 

or sms/call +919051484147

Enroll now:Limited Seats

7th Foundation Course on Indian Economics for 

WBCS Mains, 2013

Classes have started on Sunday 9 June, 2013

ADMISSION IS STILL OPEN

JOIN NOW, FEW SEATS

(The Course is strictly meant for very serious candidates who want to make it (WBCS) in their very next attempt or want to go for higher services (IAS) in the immediate future.)

For WBCS aspirants main problem is to find appropriate books for Five Year Plans in India. BA pass course books published from West Bengal are not adequate. Similarly, books from Delhi cover too much topics all of which are not relevant for WBCS. And without proper guidance and study materials students score miserably in this section. This amounts to wastage of time, chances and money.

The course focuses on Indian Economics, its Economic and Social Development during Five Year Plans, including Financial Sector Reform, Sustainable Development, Education and Health, Inclusion and Social Justice etc. The course is conducted by an economist (University rank-holder) who is also a WBCS (Exe) Topper (among the first ten) in first attempt. Many of his students have got selected in the IAS and allied services, Indian Economic Service (in fact, one of  his student stood first in the IES), and also in the WBCS (Executive). He has been a regular contributor to CSR and has edited one Magazine on Competitive Examination. He is now working as a member of board of editors of a forthcoming Manual for IAS Examination to be published from New Delhi in July this year. He has been associated with WBCS teaching for the last five years. He is also a member of the mock interview board of a leading Training Centre in Kolkata. The course and its study materials would immensely benefit aspirants of West Bengal Civil Service.

Normally non-economics background candidates get lowest marks in Five Year Plans. Your confidence as well as marks will greatly improve after attending this course. This course will help you further at the time of interview.

Admission is open. The course commences from June, 2013. Weekly classes near Lake Town, Kolkata. Batch I Full. Few seats available in Batch II. Only 8-10  candidates per Batch. Individual attention. Extended classes of at least 3 hours every week. Special Classes if required. Quarterly Tests.

Course Fees:

For Class Room Guidance: Admission Fee: Rs.1000; Course Materials Fee: Rs. 1000. Monthly Tuition Fees: Rs.1000. Pay Rs. 3000 at the time of admission. Rest in two installments in successive months. Total course fees: Rs. 5000 only. Course Duration: 3 Months. 

For Postal Guidance: Admission Fee: Rs.1000; Course Materials Fee: Rs. 1000. Courier charges: Rs.1000. Pay Rs.3000 in all. Study materials will be sent to your address.

Enrol now and be confident.
For more details, write to:

 wbcsstudyroom@gmail.com 

or sms/call +919051484147

Excerpts of the Study Materials on Indian Economics: Monetary Policy in India

Traditional and New Tools of Monetary Policy

Bank Rate Policy: Bank rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country provides loan to the commercial banks. If the bank rate is low, the banks are encouraged to borrow reserves against which they can advance loans. This facilitates credit creation. An upward revision of this rate discourages borrowing and exerts a contractionary effect on money stock. When central bank raises the bank rate, the commercial bank raises their lending rates, and it results in less borrowings and reduces money supply in the economy.

Open Market Operations: Open market operation consists of purchase and sale of securities by the central bank of the country. The sale of security by the central bank leads to contraction of credit and purchase thereof leads to credit expansion.

Cash Reserve Ratio: Cash Reserve Ratio is a certain percentage of bank deposits which banks are required to keep with RBI in the form of reserves or balances. When CRR is increased, the loanable funds at the disposable of commercial banks get reduced and the money supply contracts. The opposite effect occurs if the CRR is reduced. This increases the ability of the banks to create deposit money. Since it is rather a drastic way to change the money supply, the variation in CRR is not used very frequently.

Selective Credit Control: Selective Credit Controls  are aimed at regulating  the distribution of credit amongst sectors or purposes. RBI uses this measure to prevent speculative hoarding of essential commodities and chech undue rises in prices. Selective credit control measures include fixing the margin requirements for loans, fixing the maximum limit for advances and charging discriminatory interest rates on selective advances. RBI may also instruct banks not to provide loans for a specific purpose.

Repo Rate:  Repo (Repurchase) rate is the rate at which the RBI lends shot-term money to the banks against securities. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive.  Therefore, we can say that in case, RBI wants to make it more expensive for the banks to borrow money, it increases the repo rate; similarly, if it wants to make it cheaper for banks to borrow money, it reduces the repo rate.

Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which banks park their short-term excess liquidity with the RBI.  The banks use this tool when they feel that they are stuck with excess funds and are not able to invest anywhere for reasonable returns.  An increase in the reverse repo rate  means that the RBI is ready to borrow money from the banks at a higher rate  of interest. As a result, banks would prefer to keep more and more surplus funds with RBI.

Thus, we can conclude that Repo Rate signifies the rate at which liquidity is injected in the banking system by RBI, whereas Reverse repo rate signifies the rate at which the central bank absorbs liquidity from the banks

(Continued next page) 
(From my forthcoming book on IAS General Studies Manual being published by Access Publishing India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi).

Excerpts of Study Materials on FYP: Financial Sector Reforms

Narasimham Committee Report

In November 1991, a committee set up by the Government to study the working of the financial system, better known as the Narasimham Commmittee, submitted its report. The main recommendations of the Committee were: a) to bring down the SLR in a phased manner to 25 per cent over five years; b) to use the CRR as an instrument of monetary policy and not as a means of controlling the secondary expansion of credit brought about by monetization of the fiscal deficit; c)  to  phase  out  directed  credit  programmes  and  to  reduce the requirement to lend to ‘priority sectors’ down to 10 per cent of aggregate credit; d) to bring the interest rate on government borrowing in line with other market-determined interest rates and to phase out concessional interest rates; e) that banks and financial institutions achieve a minimum 4 per cent capital adequacy ratio in relation to risk weighted assets by March 1993; f) that the more profitable public sector banks be permitted to issue fresh capital to the public through the capital market; g) that banks and financial institutions adopt uniform accounting practices in regard to income recognition and provisioning for non-performing loans; h) that branch licensing be abolished and the matter of opening and closing of branches be left to the commercial judgement of individual banks; i) to liberalize policies toward foreign banks with regard to the opening of offices as branches or subsidiaries; j) that a quasi-autonomous body under the aegis of the RBI be set up to supervise banks and financial institutions; k) to phase out the privileged access of development finance institutions to concessional finance; and l) in the capital market, freedom be given to issuers of capital to decide on the nature of the instrument, its terms and its pricing. The recommendations of the committee provided the blueprint of the reforms that followed in the financial sector.

Most of the major recommendations of the Narasimham Committee have been implemented. We summarise them below:

(i)                              Cash Reserve Ratio: Average CRR was reduced from 15 percent to 14.5 percent in 1993-94 and gradually to 10 per cent in 1996-97.

(ii)                            Statutory Liquidity Ratio: SLR got reduced from 38.5 per cent to 31.5 per cent in 1994-95 and further to 27 per cent in March,1997.

(iii)                          Lending rates structure has been rationalised with six categories being reduced to three by 1993-94 and to 2 in 1994-95.

(iv)                           Minimum lending rate(MLR) for credit limit of over Rs.2 lakhs has been reduced from 20 percent to 14 percent by 1993-94 and abolished by 1994-95.

(v)                             Interest rate on domestic term deposits above one year and on non-residential non-repatriable (NRNR) rupee deposits has been decontrolled.

(vi)                           An agreement has been reached in 1994-95 between RBI and the GOI on pre-determined limit on net issue of ad hoc T bills.

(vii)                         A risk-asset ratio system for banks was introduced in 1991-92 as a capital adequacy measure.

(viii)                       A system of income recognition and provisioning for non-performing loans was introduced in 1991-92. As funding required for provisioning was placed at Rs.14000 crores, it was phased over two years. The GOI made a capital contribution of Rs.5700 crores in the budget for 1993-94 and another Rs.5600 crores in the budget for 1994-95.

(ix)                          The Board of Financial Supervision (BFS) was set up in 1994-95 under the Chairmanship of Governor of RBI to ensure implementation in asset classification, income recognition, and capital adequacy. RBI has set up BFS and a new department called Department of Supervision to strengthen the supervisory and surveillance system of banks and financial institutions.

(x)                            Approval was given by RBI ‘in principle’ for establishment of new banks in the private sector. Branch licensing policy was liberalised considerably.

(xi)                          ‘Banking Companies Acts’ of 1970-80 were amended in 1994-95 to raise capital by nationalised banks up to 49 per cent from the public. SBI was the first to raise through public issue over Rs.1400 crores as equity, and Rs.1000 crores as bonds.

(xii)                        Regarding capital markets, SEBI was granted statutory powers. Functions of Controller of Capital Issues was transferred to SEBI.

Malhotra Committee Report on Insurance Sector Reform

In April 1993, the Government of India appointed a committee under Chairmanship of R.N. Malhotra, former Governor of RBI, to look into the possibilities of reforms of the insurance sector. The committee submitted its report in January 1994 with a reform package containing wide ranging suggestions on both organizational and functional aspects of the insurance sector. Some of the important recommendations are: (i) The private sector should be allowed to enter the insurance business, (ii) The proportion of LIC and GIC investments in Government securities should be reduced, iii) Government stake in the LIC  and GIC  should be reduced through disinvestment.

A brief overview of the other financial institutions and the effects of financial liberalization on their workings suggest the following broad conclusions:

i)      Captive and subsidized sources of funds to almost all the all India development banks have been reduced and consequently they have been forced to turn to the market for funds.

ii)  There has been a phased deregulation of interest rates.

iii) SIDBI which lends and refinances loans that are exclusively made to the  small  scale  sector  continues  to  receive  support  from  the Government of India and RBI in terms of subsidized credit.

iv) The refinancing operations of both SIDBI and IDBI have reduced substantially after 1990-1.

v) The mutual funds business has been opened up for entry to private firms thus ending the monopoly position that UTI enjoyed. A comprehensive set of regulations regarding the organization and operations of mutual funds is now in place.

vi) The insurance sector reform has begun with the opening of this sector to the private sector.

(Continued next page)
(From my forthcoming book on IAS General Studies Manual being published by Access Publishing India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi).

Excerpts of Study materials on FYP: Twelfth Plan (2012-17)

Twelfth Plan (2012-17)

Visions and Aspirations:
The broad vision and aspirations which the Twelfth Plan seeks to fulfil are reflected in the subtitle:
‘Faster, Sustainable, and More Inclusive Growth’. The simultaneous achievement of each of these elements
is critical for the success of the Plan.
The Need for Faster Growth
The Twelfth Plan fully recognizes that the objective of development is broad-based improvement in the economic and social conditions of our people. However, rapid growth of GDP is an essential requirement for achieving this objective.
There are two reasons why GDP growth is important for the inclusiveness objective. First, rapid growth of GDP produces a larger expansion in total income and production which, if the growth process is sufficiently inclusive, will directly raise living standards of a large section of our people by providing them with employment and other income enhancing activities. The second reason why rapid growth is important for inclusiveness is that it generates higher revenues, which help to finance critical programmes of inclusiveness. There are many such programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), Mid Day Meals (MDMs), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), and so on which either deliver benefits directly to the poor and the excluded groups, or increase their ability to access employment and income opportunities generated by the growth process.
Growth Prospects
The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan had set a target of 9 per cent average growth of GDP over the Plan period. That was before the Eurozone crisis in that year triggered a sharp downturn in global economic prospects, and also before the extent of the slowdown in the domestic economy was known. Taking account of all these factors, the Twelfth Plan had set a target for an average growth rate of about 8.2 per cent in the Plan period. Two sub-targets of growth rates are: 4 per cent for the agricultural sector and 10 per cent for the manufacturing sector.
The Twelfth Plan’s strategy for growth depends crucially on productivity gains as one of the key drivers of growth. These traditional sources of growth are not likely to be enough for India in the coming years and we must therefore focus much more on productivity improvements among all constituents: big businesses, MSMEs, farmers and even government. This can be done by improving the business regulatory environment, strengthening the governance capacity of States, investing more in infrastructure rather than subsidies, and by using Science and Technology (S&T) to drive innovation.
The Twelfth Plan should aim at a growth process that preserves emphasis on inclusion and sustainability while minimising downside effects on growth. This inclusive strategy involves a much greater role of the States, and closer coordination between the Centre and the States. This is because most of the policy measures and institutional support required for small and medium entrepreneur led growth lie in the domain of State Governments and local bodies. The Centre’s contributions would lie mainly in creating the appropriate macroeconomic framework, financial sector policies and national level infrastructure.
(Continued next page)
(From my forthcoming book on IAS General Studies Manual being published by Access Publishing India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi).

First Day of Foundation Course on Indian Economics: Lecture Delivered on 9 June, 2013

Are the objectives of five year plan mutually consistent? What are the major areas of conflict?

Possible areas of conflict between different objectives in the short run can be noted as follows:

1. Rapid Economic Growth and Employment: The process of economic growth can be accelerated by the use of capital-intensive high technology of production. But this type of technology is generally labour-displacing. Thus a choice made in favour of this type of technology could only be at the cost of employment generation in the economy. Likewise, labour intensive tech niques of production, generally create large employment opportunities. But such techniques are relatively less efficient; more employment may be created only at the cost of possible higher rate of growth.

2. Economic Growth and Equality : If the objective of equity is pursued seriously even by attempting redistribution of wealth and income, it may have diverse effects on the rate of economic growth. The propensity to save of the richer sections of the society is generally higher than the propensity to consume. A redistribution of income and wealth in favour of poor would only mean that the available resources are being diverted from saving to current consumption. Howsoever desirable this diversion may be from the social point of view, it cannot be practiced for long as it would adversely affect the rate of economic growth and this would end up in equal distribution of poverty rather than equal distribution of wealth.

3. Economic growth and balanced regional development: Balanced regional development would require diversion of resources from relatively less developed regions to backward regions. In the former regions, generally, the developed infrastructure is available which adds to the efficiency of the resources. On the other hand, the same amount of investment in backward regions with hardly any infrastructural facilities would result in relatively lower growth; thus, the balanced regional growth can be had only at the cost of efficient utilization of resources.

4. Economic growth and price stability: A gradually rising price level generally results in rising profits, that stimulate private investment. On the other hand, stationary price level will have adverse effect on the rate of profit investment and growth in the economy.

Thus, there appears to be a conflict among the different objectives at least in the short-run; though in the long run, various objectives may  supplement and reinforce each other. In the short run therefore it may be necessary to spell out the “trade offs” among different objectives in various plans.

(For more up-to-date study materials on Indian Economics, please write to wbcsstudyroom@gmail.com)

First Class of Foundation Course on 9 June, 2013: Excerpts of the Lecture Materials

What is economic planning?

Economic planning as a technique of achieving certain self-defined and predetermined goals within a given period of time has been very popular amongst the policy makers. Planning is a sort of conceiving, initiating, regulating and controlling economic activity by the State according to set priorities with a view to achieving well defined objectives within a given time span. Planning is a sort of making of major economic decisions on the basis of a comprehensive survey of the economic system as a whole.

In his book ‘Problems of Economic Planning’, E. F. M. Dublin has defined economic planning as follows: ‘To plan is to act with a purpose to choose and choice is the essence of economic planning.’

In the words of Dickinson, ‘Economic planning is the making of major economic decisions of a determinate authority on the basis of comprehensive survey of the economy as a whole.’

The planning commission of India is of the opinion that planning is essentially a way of organizing and utilizing resources to get maximum advantage in terms of defined social ends. The two main constituents of the concept of planning are:

(a) system of ends to be pursued and b) knowledge as to available resources and their optimum allocation to achieve these ends. The availability or resources conditions the ends to be efficiently achieved.

Thus, we can identify the following characteristic feature of economic planning:

(i) formation of objectives or goals;

(ii) fixing targets to be achieved and priorities of productions for each sector of the economy;

(iii) mobilization of the financial and other resources required for the execution of the plan;

(iv) creation of the necessary organization or agency for the execution of the plan;

(v) creating assessment machinery for assessing the progress made;

                                                                                      (For more: keep visiting wbcsstudymat.blogspot.in)

WBCS Success Secrets

How to prepare for WBCS Prelims:

The WBCS examination is a test to choose suitable administrators in the state of West Bengal. It tests the candidate right from the stage when one starts the preparation. One common misconception about the prelims is that it is a test of facts and figures. This is not so. A candidate should have the right frame of mind and the will power to succeed in the exam. A proper action plan is needed for the preparation itself since he /she will be tested for some essential qualities like power of retention, clarity of concepts, ability to identify the correct alternatives with efficiency and accuracy. All this requires a quick decision making power. Since the preliminary exam in particular is a test of endurance the candidate needs to prepare himself on the physical as well as mental level. The main constraint is the time one gets to answer questions. On an average one gets around 45 seconds for each general Studies question. One sure way of dealing with this stress is to count numbers or to take a few deep breaths. Meditation and Yoga also help in dealing with stress to a great extent.

Now we come to the actual preparation for the prelims exam. Since it is a multiple choice question paper, it needs a different preparation and a proper strategy. The first thing a candidate needs to bear in mind is that the examination is designed to evaluate certain qualities like a sharp memory and basic retention power. There are ways to increase one's memory like preparing charts. One gets confused when faced with mind boggling facts and figures. Important facts and figures can be simplified and represented on charts and they can be arranged in the form of tables or graphs. Another thing to remember is to make short and brief notes on each topic so that the entire syllabus can be revised a day before the exam. It is better to use diagrams and link words which make it easier to understand difficult concepts. One more technique to help in retaining information is the use of abbreviations. Since the syllabus involves exhaustive information abbreviations help you to remember it better. It is a good method to remember dates, facts and figures in a picture format and to break up complex names and places into smaller and simpler words. The last and the most important technique is doing regular revision. This helps in retaining the maximum information. A separate time slot should be given to doing not only regular but multiple revisions like daily, weekly, monthly etc.

Many candidates make a mistake of overloading themselves with lots of information and end up remembering nothing. One should be able to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information. Since the preliminary exam is an elimination round the candidate should also learn to focus only on the information needed and filter out the rest. It helps to discuss with friends and teachers but the most reliable way is to past years question papers for the optional subject whereas for the general studies paper, one should keep abreast with current events and information related to them.

An important thing to remember is that for this exam it is just enough to remember information but to understand the concepts well instead of memorizing facts and figures.  Therefore emphasis has to be on conceptual clarity. Any concept has to be understood with its origin, merits and de-merits, then it needs to be analysed with other relevant topics and lastly it has to be correlated with the events that have taken place during the year.

The preliminary exam requires candidates who have the acumen and the ability to choose the right option of many given options. This needs a proper method of elimination. It is a good idea to go through previous years and model question papers and solve as many as possible. Taking a mock test of a certain number of G.S. questions would be a good practice and help to pick out the most appropriate option.

Each prelims paper is for two and half hours but a lot of time is wasted in signing attendance sheets etc, therefore there is a lot of need for effective Time Management not only for the exam but in the preparation as well. It is not enough to know the right answer but it has to be marked correctly on the answer sheet. Speed and Accuracy are important, so solving model question papers on a regular basis would be a great help.

A good presence of mind is needed to eliminate the least appropriate options and arrive at the right one. Tick out the least correct answer first and go on to the next option. Even when faced with a question for which you do not have a ready answer, with basic common sense and a good presence of mind, it is possible to make your guess a smart and a correct one.

Throughout the preparation for the prelims exam, it is important to remember that any topic or concept should not be studied in isolation. It is better to understand and establish a correlation between related concepts from other subjects and current events and happenings.

Even with all this preparation, it is necessary to have a positive attitude and a great amount of will power to succeed to achieve your goal, that of getting through the civil services examination with flying colors!

Success Secrets:

Hard work:

Remember that there is no substitute to hard work. All successful candidates say the hard work is one of the first pre-requisites for the success. There is no short cut to success and hard work never goes unrewarded.

Planning and systematic study:

Proper planning right from the stage of selection of optional subjects and selection of text books is absolutely necessary. Though there is no one way of studying, there are ways to study more effectively and with less stress and more enjoyment. It is important to know how to make use of the sources available to you in the best possible way. It is wise to take a three pronged approach to preparation, reading to learn, making effective notes and able to write answers to various kinds of questions.

Time management:

Effective time management is another requirement. If we spend our time in a frenzy of activity, we can achieve very little because we are not concentrating on the right things. We keep hearing the word "Busy" a lot. There are two kinds of ‘busy’(ness): chaotic, disorganized busy and calm, effective busy. It goes without saying that being the latter helps to pack in more productivity in your work. Improving our "effectiveness quotient" calls for mastery of basic time management skills.

Self-confidence:

            Your self-confidence can make the difference. Your self-confidence should be at an all time high - always. You should be in the company of people, who can increase your motivational levels high and can inspire you. Form a group of close friends, who are as determined as you are to make it to the WBCS Examination.

Dedication:

Be totally dedicated and focused in your studies. You have to sacrifice something like movies, parties, and entertainments etc at this stage of your life to achieve bigger things.

Patience:

            As the WBCS Exam preparation spans a minimum of one year, right from the Preliminary stage to the interview state, it requires a lot of patience to maintain your tempo. One should not lose patience and the tempo throughout the preparation period till success.

Tips for answering questions at the Prelims:

Don’t waste time:

Start answering the questions from the minute you get them. The time allotted is very limited, so waste no time on reading the entire question paper first. First answer all the question you are sure you know the answers to. Skip all the difficult questions in the first round: in this round if you find yourself stuck in a question for more than 10 seconds, just skip it.

However, keep making a small mark on the question paper to indicate that you have skipped that question in the first round. This will enable you to save time in the next rounds. If you answer a question in the second round, cancel this mark, so that in third round you know which questions still remain unanswered. Three rounds should be sufficient, bur you could break the process into a fourth round too.

Negative marking:

There will be penalty for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the objective type question papers. There will be four alternatives for the answer to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty. If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be same penalty. But if a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question. Hence you need be very cautious in the second and third rounds when you are attempting those questions you are fairly, but not absolutely, certain about or those questions that you know absolutely nothing about.

New Syllabus:

Scheme of the Preliminary Examination :

The Preliminary Examination will consist of only one paper, viz., a paper on “General Studies”. The paper will be of an objective type consisting of 200 multiple-choice questions. The paper will carry 200 marks and will be of 2½ hours duration. The standard of the paper will be of the level of knowledge as expected of a graduate of any faculty of a recognized University. The paper will include questions covering the following field of knowledge:       Indian Polity and Economy (25 Marks)

Questions of Indian Polity and Economy will test the knowledge of the country’s Political System, Panchayatee Raj, Community Development and Planning in India.

The Preliminary Examination is meant to serve as a Screening Test only for the purpose of selection of candidates for the Main Examination. The marks obtained in this examination by the candidates will not be considered for final selection. Only those candidates who will be declared qualified at the Preliminary Examination in a year will be eligible for admission to the W.B.C.S. (Exe.) etc.(Main) Examination of that year.