STRATEGY FOR PAPER 2

Hi Friends, I have divided Public Administration

Preparation module in three parts viz
1) Academic Material according to syllabus;
2) Hidden Syllabus with book source &
3) Contemporary Add-ons according to UPSC.
In this document, I am sharing sources for
Academic Material. Please Share & Subscribe
to my Telegram Group: t.me/PubAd4U
PUBLIC SAMDHYAN
DesiJat
ADMINISTRATION
Syllabus and Book Source for Paper - 2

Telegram
SAMDHYAN: https://t.me/samdhyan
 STRATEGY FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PAPER 1
Public Administration Unit Wise Source of Preparation
To be wise is to learn by the experience of others
Friends, following are the excerpts from Stategy by Lohit Matani Sir with my personal touch :p what I
think is necessary to meet the present UPSC demand.
Note:
1. Please make personal notes from IGNOU, ARC reports and any other source one may read over the
internet because it will become very difficult to come back to the sources again and again. On the
contrary, making personal notes will make life easy.
2. This paper is straight forward and scoring. But one needs to maintain a standard language and cover all
the points while writing answers. So its better to decide your sources and read them 3-4 times.
3. Please read any report that is released during the preparation period, e.g., Damodaran Committee
Report on Regulation of Business and Planning Commission report on CPSEs.
4. Moreover, watching Big Picture on Rajya Sabha at 9:30 pm on Moday to Friday may help in honing
your knowledge and making it current based.
5. Nothing is more important than writing answers to the questions asked in last 20 years question
papers. Book by KBC Nano provides unit wise division of questions.
6. Again, make notes of material other than standard textbooks, like ARC, reports, and so on. It will make
your life easy.

Unit wise source

1. Evolution of Indian Administration- Very beautifully covered in Part 1 of the book Indian
Administration by Rajni Goyal and Ramesh K Arora. Read it diligently several times.
2. Philosophical and Constitutional framework of governmenta. Salient features and value premises;
Constitutionalism; Political culture-
a. Chapter 4, 5 and 6 of the book Indian Administration by Rajni Goyal and Ramesh K Arora.
b. Bureaucracy and democracy; Bureaucracy and development- Chapter 3 and 4 of the book
Social Theory and Development Administration by Mohit Bhattacharya.
3. Public Sector Undertakings:
a. Chapter 9 of the book Public Administration by M Laxmikanth. +
b. S.K Roongta Committee report
http://planningcommission.gov.in/reports/genrep/rep_cpse1912.pdf
4. Union Government and Administration- Read pertinent topics from Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora. +
read ARC report on Union Administration.
5. Plans and Priorities-
a. Again pertinent topics from Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora
b. any new report on the website of Planning Commission.
c. Read Scenario planning + Read about the recent changes being made in the planning
architecture and method of grants disbursal.
6. State Government and Administration- This is a very important topic.
a. Read chapter 9, 16, 17 and 18 from Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora.
b. Read the report of Punchchi Commission. It is very important. One can always quote it.
c. Read the ARC report 15th on State and District Administration.
7. District Administration since Independencea.
a. Changing role of the Collector- Chapter 33 of the book Indian Administration by Avasthi and
Avasthi.
 b. Union-state-local relations- Punchhi Commission report.
c. Imperatives of development management and law and order administration- The first topic is
current based and is also covered in the 15th report of ARC. Second topic will be covered in law
and order administration.
d. District administration and democratic decentralization- Part 5 of Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora
+ 15th report of ARC.
8. Civil Services- Already covered in paper 1.
9. Financial Management-
a. Sources mentioned in Paper 1
b. Part 7 of Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora.
10. Administrative Reforms since Independencea.
a. Major Concerns- Chapter 30 of Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora.
b. Important Committees and Commissions- Just make a summary of all the major reports
released after independence. A list of them is provided in the book Indian Administration by
Avasthi and Avasthi.
c. Reforms in financial management and human resource development- These topics will be
covered in ARC reports on financial management and Personnel Administration. Also keep a
track on newspaper reports for these topics.
d. Problems of implementation- This is a dynamic topic. So read newspaper reports for problems
in implementing various reforms. 12th plan document would also be very helpful for this topic.
Reading it is anyway necessary for GS.
11. Rural Development-
a. Pertinent topic from Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora
b. ARC report on local governance.
12. Urban Local Governmenta.
a. Municipal governance: main features, structures, finance and problem areas;
b. 74th Constitutional Amendment;
c. Global & local debate-
i. Pertinent topic from Rajni Goyal and Ramesh Arora
ii. ARC report on local governance.
iii. New localism- Refer to this link http://swapsushias.blogspot.in/2012/09/what-is-
newlocalism.html
iv. Development dynamics, politics and administration with special reference to city
management- ARC report on local governance + Chapter 12 of Nicholas Henry book.
13. Law and Order Administration-
a. Indian Administration by Avasthi and Avasthi
b. ARC report on public order+ Annual report of MHA+ Report on Punchchi Commission.
14. Significant issues in Indian Administrationa. Values in public service- already covered in paper 1
a. Regulatory Commissions- already covered in paper 1
b. National Human Rights Commission; Problems of administration in coalition regimes- Book by
Avasthi and Avasthi + this is a current based topic so please read newspaper articles on this
topic+ Big Picture on Rajya Sabha may also help.
c. Citizen-administration interface- already covered
d. Corruption and administration- New Horizons of Public Administration- Chapter 13, 21, 22, 26
e. ARC report on ethics in governance & DoPT report on Values in Administration
f. Disaster management- One can read the MHA report on Disaster Management. It is
voluminous, so making notes once would be helpful.
Some of the things which we must remember/follow/understand in pub-ad.
1. The most important thing in pub-ad is conceptual clarity. Unfortunately, most of us rely completely on
coaching notes and end up having only superficial knowledge which is very dangerous in present setup
of UPSC exam and especially in pub-ad.
2. Until n unless u have conceptual clarity you wont be able to understand the question in the first place.
3. All of us write answers in pub-ad and feel that we have written it well but the problem is most of us
interpret questions differently and end up writing different answers.
The correct interpretation of question will only happen if your concepts are clear.
a. The secret of success for writing good answers in Public Administration lies in understanding
the questions. Most of the students fail to write good answers simply because of their failure to
understand the questions. In the last two years, UPSC has deliberately increased the difficulty
levels of question paper as they are more interested in those students who have conceptual
clarity and ability to write those concepts in a simple manner.
4. Answer writing is very important in pub-ad. You must write some answers before mains and show it
your pub-ad trainer.
5. Try to write answers in point format as much as possible so that you can stuff more content in few
lines. And also, your answers will be more concise and to the point which will be helpful for the
examiner to evaluate.
6. Use as simple language as possible. Strict no to flowery language without any content. This is not
semester exam of B.Tech/ MBA. They will punish you if you start faking answers by using flowery
language.
7. One of the very important thing which we must follow while writing answers is our ability to interlink
Paper-1 and Paper-2. For this you must remember syllabus completely. Close your eyes and try to
interlink them.
a. If we take a closer look at the questions that were asked in the previous two years, one thing is
very much clear. UPSC wants us to have conceptual clarity and more importantly have in depth
knowledge about inter linkages among the theories and thinkers.
b. Next comes the ability of the candidate to link concepts in Paper I with the examples from
Indian Administration. Again, the trend in the last few years is that there is not much of
difference in the questions that were asked in Paper I and Indian Administration.
Candidates are expected to give examples from Indian Administration while explaining the
concepts in Paper I.

Tips to write a decent answer for pub ad are;

1. Use more quotes from thinkers/personalities/your own in certify your stand in the answer. Use
analytical keywords to link paragraphs and to give the answer a logical flow. It comes through practice
and proper feedback.
2. Write heading to each answer. It serves two purposes.
a. First, you will convince the examiner that you are sticking to question.
b. Second, you will also not divert away from the question. Hence, it helps in writing relevant
answer.
c. Forget what other say against giving heading. This is just another exam and you want marks and
nothing else from main exam!
3. Write very relevant introduction by using the keywords asked in the question. For e.g.
a. If there is question on significance of policy implementation, your intro should talk
about significance in a simple and general words. But dont write intro about public policy or
government. Because, each topic in pub ad is big enough to give relevant introduction for that
 topic. If a person asks you to introduce yourself in 30 seconds, you will have to tell about
yourself instead of your parents/family in such a short time. Hope you got the point.
4. Quotes are key to score well in pub ad. Collect two or three quotes for general topics like planning,
training, performance, efficiency, motivation, civil service neutrality, human rights, disasters etc. Also,
collect 4 or 5 quotes from each thinker from the book.
a. Collect from quotes from the articles of the constitution especially Part VI (e.g. Art 39). Keep a
separate note book for these quotes. And, literally mug them up.
5. Test series is important but without personalized feedback, tests are worthless. Hence, take feedback
from good teachers/seniors by approaching them personally. Just cover 60% of the syllabus, then
directly start writing answers. Never wait to cover full syllabus to write answers.
6. Compulsorily, solve last 10-year previous year questions. Read a question. Imagine the answer sheet in
your mind. Then, start thinking about the structure of the answer in each page. Think about the
thinkers concepts to be used and the quotes relevant for the answer. Just think and get a good
structure. Then, write it down in a note book below the question. This is the effective preparation.
7. Think very simple and write like a student. Dont think you have to write extra points which is not
present in others answers. It will be a blunder to write strange points. Read normal books but write
good answers by using relevant quotes and by linking all the concepts of the subject. Every question
comes with an answer. Books provide you raw materials to write answers and no book can provide you
full answer required for the exam. Think simple and just chill.
8. Dont ever be hesitant or afraid to take a step (Eminem song! ). I mean, take a stand on the question
confidently. Because, there can never be a perfect answer for Pub Ad.
a. Everybody has a right to take a stand. But you should use QUOTES to certify your stand. The
best thing about Pub Ad is the freedom to take a stand. Use the concepts/keywords from the
Thinkers to give evidence to your stand. And your stand is always right.
9. There wont be any time after Essay/Compulsory/GS papers for Pub Ad. You must be able to revise
everything in that small gap. If you dont revise, your chances to fall in a gap of one more year
increases immensely! Needless to say, you have to revise many times before especially in the last one
month of the mains exam.
10. Dont write General Studies answers for Paper 2. Write like a Pub Ad student. For e.g.,
a. If they ask a question on cabinet/committees/group of ministers etc. then, just dont write GS
answers. Use the coordination concepts from Fayol/Follet/Bernard in your answers. For a
question on the role of planning commission, use the sentence like Planning is the heart of
Fayols elements of management and Riggs differentiation/integration concepts in the
answers. Dont try to reproduce the text book answer. Think simple and write relevant answer.