Every year, UPSC conducts the most coveted exam of all, the Civil Services Exam (IAS Exam) to recruit candidates in various prestigious services under the government of India. It is a two-stage exam consisting of Prelims, Mains and Personality test/Interview round.
Indian Economy is the one subject in the Civil Services Exam that most applicants are nervous about. From the standpoint of a test, the subject is highly crucial. Confusion abounds when it comes to concepts, hypotheses, and questions. This could be due to a lack of dependable and good materials, as well as the subject’s dynamism.
Candidates have reservations regarding the strategy and study materials for the Civil Services Prelims and Mains Economics segment. Most of the time, applicants are perplexed as to which books and resources would cover the whole UPSC syllabus of economics in both the prelims and mains.
On that note, let’s break down the subject along with discussing a few crucial books and tricks that will help you clear concepts with ease while having fun.
Syllabus Breakdown
Sustainable development, poverty, inclusiveness, demographics, social sector activities, and so on are all examples of economic and social development.
Economic growth and development, finance, the Indian banking system, types of banks in india, the budget, the balance of payments, poverty and related issues, population composition and related characteristics, social sector initiatives related to education, health, and sanitation, and international financial institutions are all topics that must be covered in this section.
The UPSC Economics syllabus for mains is covered in General Studies Paper III, which includes a section on Economic Development. The topics presented here have a broader scope and practical implications. The complete IAS syllabus should be scanned properly.
Previous Year Papers
Previous year’s Economy questions should always be attempted. This not only allows you to gain a sense of the types of questions that are commonly given in tests, but it also allows you to gauge your level of preparation. These questions only appear in the exam in the rarest of circumstances, but they help you prepare and feel more confident.
Books and Resources
The following books can be used for Indian economy preparation; however, this is only a suggestion; students are free to add their own books as they see fit:
- Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh.
- Indian Economy Since Independence by Uma Kapila
- The latest Economic Survey of India.
- The latest publication of India Year Book.
Preparation Strategy
UPSC economics preparation can be divided into two stages.
Stage 1
Building conceptual understanding should be prioritized. Learning economics will always be enjoyable if you understand the concepts. Then there won’t be any more cramming, only correlating what you’ve previously learned in real-life settings. As a result, it is critical not to become perplexed at the outset.
Learn concepts such as GDP, REPO, Reverse REPO, CRR, SLR, Inflation Indices, Growth, Inclusion, Development, and Important Indian and Indian Economic Institutions like national sample survey office (NSSO), Central Statistical Office (CSO) and so on.
Stage 2
Your theoretical economics knowledge is tested against practical scenarios. While most of the IAS Mains exam questions will be along these lines, UPSC Prelims will also put your economics knowledge to the test.
Mugging up isn’t going to cut it in this situation. However, it is equally crucial to note that there is no need to prepare as if you will be taking a Ph.D. in economics to properly write Indian economy-related questions for Prelims and Mains (GS).
The difficulties and answers relating to the Indian economy are what you need to know. In that sense, newspaper economics should take precedence over textbook economics.
The economy section of standard English newspapers (The Hindu) will be more useful than any literature at this stage.
