WBCS

West Bengal Civil Service (Exe) etc. Examination (Popularly known as WBCS)

Conducted by : Public Service Commission, West Bengal

The services and posts to which recruitment is made on the results of the WBCS (Exe.)  etc. Examination are divided into groups: A, B, C and D with a graduated syllabus. A candidate may compete for one or more groups but is required to submit one application only indicating choice of group(s).

• West Bengal Civil Service (Executive)
• Assistant Commissioner of Revenue in the integrated West Bengal Revenue Service
• West Bengal Co-operative Service
• West Bengal Labour Service
• West Bengal Food and Supplies Service
• West Bengal Employment Service

• West Bengal Police Service

• Inspector of Co-operative Societies
• Panchayat Development Officer under the Panchayat and Rural Development Department
• Rehabilitation Officer under the Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department

Scheme of the Preliminary Examination :

The Preliminary Examination of WBCS, consists 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.

(i)	English Composition	25 Marks
(ii)	General Science	25 Marks
(iii)	Current events of National & International Importance	25 Marks
(iv)	History of India	25 Marks
(v)	Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal	25 Marks
(vi)	Indian Polity and Economy	25 Marks
(vii)	Indian National Movement	25 Marks
(viii)	General Mental Ability	25 Marks

SYLLABI FOR PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

Questions on English Composition will cover Synonyms, Antonyms, Idioms and Phrases, Vocabulary test, Phrasal Verbs, the same words bearing more than one meaning, use of appropriate and qualifying words etc. Questions on General Science will cover general appreciation and understanding of science, including matters of everyday observation and experience as may be expecte d of a well-educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific discipline. In History, emphasis will be on broad general understanding of the subject in its social, economic and political aspects. Questions on the Geography of India will relate to Physical, Social and Economic Geography of the country, including the main features of Indian Agricultural and Natural Resources with special reference to West Bengal. Questions of Indian Polity and Economy will test the knowledge of the country’s Political System, Panchayatee Raj, Community Development and Planning in India, Questions on the Indian National Movement will relate to the nature and character of the Nineteenth Century Resurgence, Growth of Nationalism and Attainment of Independence. General Mental Ability will relate to Logical perception, understanding and natural conclusion.

Scheme of the Main Examination

The Main Examination of WBCS consists of six Compulsory papers and one optional subject consisting of two papers (Only for candidates applying for group A and / or B) to be chosen from the list of optional subjects given below. There will be two papers of the optional subject of 200 marks each. Each paper, Compulsory or Optional, will carry 200 marks and will be of 3 hours duration.

Compulsory Papers : Six compulsory papers are as follows:-

• Paper I          :   (Conventional type written examination)  Bengali/Hindi/Urdu/Nepali/Santali – Letter writing (within 150 words) / Drafting of Report (within 200 words), Précis Writing, Composition and Translation from English to Bengali/Hindi/Urdu/Nepali/Santali
• Paper II        :     (Conventional type written examination) English – Letter writing (within 150 words) / Drafting of Report (within 200 words), Précis Writing, Composition and Translation from Bengali/Hindi/Urdu/Nepali/Santali to English
• Paper III       :   (MCQ Type)   General Studies-I : (i) Indian History with special emphasis on National Movement and (ii) Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal.
• Paper IV        :     (MCQ Type) General Studies-II : Science and Scientific & Technological advancement, Environment, General Knowledge and Current Affairs.
• Paper V         :     (MCQ Type) The Constitution of India and Indian Economy including role and functions of the Reserve Bank of India.
• Paper VI        :     (MCQ Type) Arithmetic and Test of Reasoning.
• Optional Subject : Paper I & Paper II

Group ‘A’ & ‘B’ Services & Posts : All 6 compulsory papers and one optional subject consisting of two papers. Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ Services & Posts : All 6 compulsory papers.

Subjects and Marks Main Examination and Personality Test

Personality Test

A number of candidates selected in order of merit on the results of the Main Examination for all the services and posts included in Groups A, B, C and D shall have to appear at a Personality Test. Each candidate will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the test will be to assess the candidate’s personal qualities e.g., alertness of mind, power of clear and logical exposition, intellectual and moral integrity, leadership and also the candidate’s range of interests.

Booklist for WBCS

English

• Objective General English – by S.P. Bakshi
• A Text-Book of Higher English Grammar, Composition & Translation (Anglo-Bengali) by P K De Sarkar
• News Paper reading & writing practice for Mains

History

• Swadesh Savyata o Vishwa by Jiban Mukherjee
• Bharater Itihas by Atul Chandra Roy
• A Brief history of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir

Geography

• Certificate of Physical Geography by GC Leong
• Bharat o Paschim banger bhugol by Kartik Chandra Mondal
• 9-10^th Text Book of West Bengal Board (preferably Old Syllabus)
• India:A Comprehensive Geography by D.R. Khullar (Selective reading only)

• Indian Polity by Laxmikanth

Economy

• Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
• Indian Economy For Civil Services and Other Competitive Examinations by Nitin Singhania
• Economy classes from mrunal.org
• Bharoter Arthoniti – Tojammel Hossain (In case one is not comfortable with english, this book will help to understand the concept in bengali)

Current Events

• Achievers
• Pratiyogita Darpan ( Follow any one of the monthly magazine)
• To know about various schemes of West Bengal Government : https://wb.gov.in/government-schemes.aspx

General Mental Ability

• 9th & 10th standard Maths book
• General Aptitude & Reasoning book by R S Agarwal

General Science

• 9th-10th standard life Sc & physical Sc. Book (preferably Old syllabus)
• Lucent GK book (Science Part)
• News Paper reading
• Environment by SHANKAR IAS

Others

• WBCS General Studies Manual by Nitin Singhania

Few Tips for beginners

First of all there should be a very clear idea about the detailed syllabus of the examination (both preliminary and mains examination). One candidate must identify his strengths and weaknesses in the syllabus, based on his/her educational background and area/s of interest. It’s suggested to start with those portions/topics which an aspirant is having more confidence, otherwise starting with critical or complicated topics may be demotivating at the beginning and many candidates just become disinterested immediately after few days of starting, the preparation for this examination.

Secondly, selection of Optional subject in WBCS, is very important as this is not only a deciding factor of getting selected in GR- A or B, but also getting service as per preference, also depends on Optional subject. It is suggested that, one need to identify 2/3 optional subjects, based on area of interest of the aspirant and success rate of those Optional subjects in the recent past. After that, basics of those subjects may be studied for at least 5-7 days and also last 10 years question papers of those subjects may also be consulted to get an idea about the type and variety of the questions. Also availability of study materials of a particular subject to be considered.

Thirdly, preparation of General Studies papers should be started simultaneously for Prelims and mains, as major portion of the syllabi of Prelims and mains examination are overlapping in nature and it’s absolutely meaningless to start preparation of mains examination, after qualifying in prelims.

Fourthly, for the language papers, last 3-4 years papers may be consulted. As, very basic type of questions are being asked in these papers, practicing from standard books and previous year papers is sufficient. However regular practicing is required to improve the writing skills for these papers.

Like any other examination, to start with, one need to understand the structure of the examination, study the syllabus carefully & read the basic books again & again – in this very first post related to WBCS, tried to discuss few of these aspects only. Obviously this will not be helpful for the aspirants, preparing for long, but may be of some use for the candidates who have just started their journey for WBCS. Also, while going through the syllabus, I realised that some of the modules like History, Geography & Polity have much similarities with CSE. Aspirants can visit the prelims & GS 1 section , for some notes which had been uploaded for CSE , but can be useful for WBCS also.

Be it CSE or WBCS, the basic things remain same – keep your sources limited, read the basic books first, practice as much as possible and always remember, nothing can replace your hard work, patience and perseverance.

Best Wishes.

Special Mention: Sudipta Roy, WBCS(Exe), presently posted as DMDC, Darjeeling, for his contribution to this page