ICDS supervisor syllabus and exam pattern for West Bengal

Three parts of the selection

1. Preliminary screening test: multiple choice items answered by darkening bubbles. Clearing it on merit gets you to the written exam, but these marks are dropped afterwards.
2. Written examination: four conventional papers where you write answers in full.
3. Viva voce: an interview for candidates shortlisted on the written result.

Because screening marks are not carried forward, a safe score in Part I is enough. Your real competition begins in the descriptive papers, where answer writing, language and neat working of sums decide rank.

ICDS supervisor exam pattern in a table

Wrong answers in the screening test attract a penalty; how much is cut appears in the advertisement and on the booklet cover. The descriptive papers carry no negative marking. Papers III and IV may be answered in English or Bengali.

Part I syllabus: GK, arithmetic and reasoning

• General knowledge: Indian history, Indian plus world geography, the economy, polity, science and technology, current events and recent treaties.
• Arithmetic, class 10 level: percentages, gain, loss and discount, averages, ratios, number series, work rate and speed questions.
• Reasoning: verbal and non verbal items, Venn diagrams, logic, coding and decoding, number analogy and blood relations.

Sixty minutes across a hundred items works out near 36 seconds apiece, so practise quick arithmetic shortcuts and skip any sum that needs more than a minute.

ICDS supervisor syllabus for the four written papers

Paper I: English

Comprehension, grammar, an essay, a precis, translation from Bengali into English and general writing such as a letter.

Paper II: Bengali or another listed language

Grammar, composition and report writing in the language you choose.

Paper III: general studies

• Life science with stress on nutrition and health
• Basics of child care and early childhood development
• Women's empowerment and the right to education
• The mid day meal programme and other welfare schemes for women and children
• Social welfare policy of India and of West Bengal
• Current affairs

Paper IV: arithmetic

Sums on percentages, gain and loss, both kinds of interest, ratios, work done by groups, speed problems and areas and volumes, set at class 10 level and solved with full working.

Eligibility in brief

• Gender: women only.
• Nationality: citizen of India.
• Qualification: graduation in any subject, from a university that is recognised.
• Language: spoken, read and written Bengali is required.
• Age: the last advertisement set the upper limit at 39, reckoned as on the first day of that recruitment year.

Applicants holding SC, ST or OBC status from another state count as unreserved here. Confirm every figure in the fresh advertisement.

How to split your preparation

Part II carries 400 of the 450 marks that make up the merit list, so it deserves the larger share of your hours even before the screening date is announced.

• Read the NCERT home science and biology chapters on nutrition, deficiency diseases and child growth for Paper III.
• Practise translation both ways, since a supervisor writes reports and reads circulars in both languages.
• For Paper IV, show every step; partial credit is possible in a conventional paper.

Other supervisor and West Bengal exams

Many states fill a similar post under names such as mahila supervisor or mukhya sevika, with very different papers. If you are looking at another state, start with our mahila supervisor syllabus page. Within West Bengal, the WBPSC miscellaneous syllabus and the WBCS syllabus share the general studies base, and guides for other state commissions sit under state exams.