CGPSC Syllabus and Exam Pattern for State Service

How the CGPSC state service exam is staged

CGPSC fills a long list of state posts through one combined State Service Exam. Each stage filters the field for the next one:

1. Preliminary exam: two objective papers held on the same day. It only screens candidates; none of its marks travel forward to the final list.
2. Main exam: seven written papers in which you write answers of 30 to 750 words, in Hindi or English.
3. Interview: a personality test of 150 marks. Your rank, and so the post you get, comes from mains plus interview marks.

If you are also weighing other commissions, the MPPSC syllabus is the closest neighbour in style, and the UPSC syllabus shows how far the national exam goes beyond the state one.

CGPSC exam pattern at a glance

Each question offers four choices, and every incorrect bubble shaves off a third of the item's value. Reported notifications ask for at least 33% in each paper for unreserved candidates and 23% for reserved categories, and reports on the scheme say the list of candidates called to mains is drawn from the General Studies merit.

Each mains paper is 3 hours. Apart from the language paper, you may answer in Hindi or English, but you cannot mix both inside one paper.

CGPSC prelims syllabus

This is the cgpsc pre syllabus as described in the commission's scheme, also searched as the cgpsc prelims syllabus.

Paper I: General Studies

Part 1, national and general topics:

• History of India, the national movement, and Indian philosophy, art, literature and culture
• Physical, social and economic geography, of India and globally
• Indian Constitution and polity; the Indian economy
• General science and technology, environment
• National and international current affairs and sports

Part 2, Chhattisgarh:

• History of Chhattisgarh and its role in the freedom struggle
• Geography, climate, water, minerals, energy, forests and census data of the state
• Literature, music, dance, art, folk culture, tribes, festivals and traditions
• State economy, agriculture and industry
• Administrative structure, local government and Panchayati Raj
• Tourist places, plus recent happenings within Chhattisgarh

Paper II: Aptitude Test

• Reading comprehension, communication and people skills
• Logic and analysis, choosing a course of action, solving practical problems
• General mental ability puzzles
• Numbers and data tables pitched at class 10 level
• Hindi and Chhattisgarhi language knowledge at class 10 level, asked in those languages without translation

The Chhattisgarhi questions in Paper II catch many outsiders by surprise. Read a few pages of Chhattisgarhi prose each week so that the grammar and vocabulary feel familiar on exam day.

What the CG PSC mains syllabus asks in each paper

• Paper I, Language: General Hindi (comprehension, precis, grammar, letter and report writing, translation, Hindi literature and writers of Chhattisgarh), General English (comprehension, precis, vocabulary, tenses, voice, idioms, error correction) and Chhattisgarhi (its origin and growth, literature, grammar and use in media and administration).
• Paper II, Essay: Part A on national and international issues and Part B on Chhattisgarh. You pick two topics from each part, about 750 words and 50 marks each.
• Paper III: India's past across the ancient, medieval and modern periods and the national movement; the Constitution, union and state institutions, centre-state relations and public administration; the history of Chhattisgarh, including its dynasties, princely states, 1857 and the formation of the state.
• Paper IV: physics, chemistry and life science basics; number system, commercial maths, statistics, probability and logical reasoning; information technology, energy, agricultural science, biodiversity and waste management.
• Paper V: national income, planning, banking, public finance and the economy of Chhattisgarh; physical and human geography of India and of Chhattisgarh, including forests, minerals, industry, transport and tourism.
• Paper VI: Indian and Western philosophy, ethics in public life and administration; sociology concepts, social institutions, change and tribal social organisation; tribal development, folk arts and saints of Chhattisgarh.
• Paper VII: social laws on human rights, protection of women, atrocities against SC and ST, RTI, environment, consumer protection and anti-corruption; state laws and welfare schemes; the UN, IMF, World Bank, WTO, BRICS and other bodies; sports events; education, employment and human resource development.

How cgpsc mains answers are marked

Papers III to VII follow a fixed answer format, as reported from the commission's scheme. Knowing it helps you train your word limits from the first day:

So nearly a quarter of each paper is very short answers. Facts, dates, names of schemes and article numbers earn quick marks here, while sections 4 and 5 reward a clear structure with an introduction, points and a short conclusion.

Who can sit the exam

Apply only once you hold a bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, from a recognised institution. For the latest cycles, reports of the notification give the age range as 21 to 30 years for most posts and 21 to 28 for Deputy Superintendent of Police, counted on 1 January of the exam year. SC, ST, OBC, women and some other groups get upper age relaxation under state rules, and residents of Chhattisgarh have historically received extra relaxation and fee benefits. Precise relaxations, along with the date used to work out your age, appear in each notification, so check them there rather than relying on older figures.

For a broader view of how eligibility rules are written, see the exam eligibility checker guide. Other state commissions with a similar ladder are listed on the state exams hub, and if you are writing both, the UPSC mains syllabus overlaps heavily with Papers III, V and VI here.

A study plan built around Chhattisgarh

Because Chhattisgarh appears in prelims Part 2, in four of the seven mains papers and in the essay, local knowledge is worth far more here than in most state exams. A practical order:

1. Months 1 to 2: NCERT textbooks from class 6 to 12 in the four core humanities subjects, which serve both Paper I of prelims and Papers III and V of mains.
2. Months 3 to 4: Chhattisgarh history, geography, tribes, festivals and economy from the state's official publications and the economic survey of Chhattisgarh.
3. Month 5: aptitude sets on alternate days, with Chhattisgarhi reading in between.
4. Month 6 onwards: after prelims, daily answer writing in the 30, 60 and 100 word formats, then essays twice a week, one national and one state topic.

CGPSC syllabus in Hindi

सीजीपीएससी का सिलेबस (cgpsc ka syllabus) राज्य सेवा के तीन पड़ावों से बना है। प्रीलिम्स में दो वस्तुनिष्ठ प्रश्नपत्र हैं: सामान्य अध्ययन और योग्यता परीक्षा, दोनों में 100 प्रश्न, 200 अंक और 2 घंटे। गलत जवाब देने पर उस सवाल के अंकों का एक तिहाई हिस्सा कम होता है। मुख्य परीक्षा में सात वर्णनात्मक प्रश्नपत्र हैं: भाषा, निबंध, इतिहास और संविधान, विज्ञान और गणित, अर्थशास्त्र और भूगोल, दर्शन और समाजशास्त्र, तथा कल्याण योजनाएं और कानून। हर प्रश्नपत्र 200 अंक का है। अंत में 150 अंक का साक्षात्कार होता है। हर चरण में छत्तीसगढ़ का इतिहास, भूगोल, संस्कृति और अर्थव्यवस्था अहम है।