MPSC Syllabus for the State Service (Rajyaseva) Exam

The three stages of Rajyaseva

MPSC recruits Deputy Collectors, Deputy Superintendents of Police, Tehsildars, Block Development Officers and many other Group A and Group B officers through this exam. In recent cycles the commission has held a combined preliminary test for its gazetted civil services, with separate mains for the state service and for the forest and engineering streams.

1. Preliminary exam: two objective papers. It decides who reaches mains and nothing more; prelims marks do not enter the final merit.
2. Main exam: long-form written papers in Marathi or English.
3. Interview: 275 marks, added to your mains merit marks to make the final list.

Since the design now mirrors the national exam, many aspirants prepare for both. The UPSC syllabus page shows where the two overlap.

MPSC exam paper pattern

A wrong answer is penalised at 25% of that item's value. Both papers are set in Marathi and English.

MPSC prelims syllabus

Paper 1: General Studies

• Recent events that matter to Maharashtra, the country and the wider world
• Indian history with a Maharashtra lens, and the freedom struggle
• Land, people and economic activity: geography of the state, the nation and the globe
• Constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj, city governance, public policy and rights, for Maharashtra and India
• Growth with equity: sustainability, poverty, inclusion, population trends and social sector programmes
• Ecology, biodiversity and climate change at a general level
• Everyday and general science

Paper 2: CSAT

• Passages to read and answer from
• Dealing with people and communicating clearly
• Reasoning and analysis
• Picking the best response to a workplace situation
• Mental ability puzzles
• Numbers, orders of magnitude, tables and charts, all pitched at class 10
• Marathi and English comprehension at class 10 or 12 level

Since CSAT only needs 33%, the race for mains is decided on Paper 1. Even so, test your CSAT score early, because a weak paper here ends the attempt regardless of your GS marks. This answers the common question about the mpsc pre syllabus: the topic list looks like the national prelims, but Maharashtra appears in nearly every line.

MPSC mains syllabus under the descriptive scheme

• Marathi and English papers: essay, precis, comprehension, translation and grammar. They are qualifying, but reports on the scheme indicate that failing them can keep the rest of your answer books from being counted, so do not leave them to the last week.
• Essay: long essays on social, economic, political and philosophical themes, with room for Maharashtra examples.
• General Studies I: Indian heritage and culture, modern Indian history, the history of Maharashtra and its social reformers, world history, Indian society, and the geography of the world, India and Maharashtra.
• General Studies II: the Constitution, polity and governance, the Maharashtra state government and local bodies, social justice and welfare schemes, and international relations.
• General Studies III: the Indian and Maharashtra economy, agriculture, technology, ecology, internal security and disaster response.
• General Studies IV: values and probity for officers, tested through case studies on dilemmas in public service.
• Optional papers: two papers in one subject chosen from a list of 26 under the current scheme.

What is changing: the optional subject

Recent news reports say the commission has decided to remove the optional subject from the State Services main exam from an upcoming cycle. Under that plan the two optional papers of 250 marks each go away, the written merit total falls from 1,750 to 1,250, the interview stays at 275, and the final total becomes 1,525. The Marathi and English papers stay qualifying.

What this means for you depends on when you plan to write mains. If your attempt falls before the change, prepare your optional as usual. If it falls after, shift that time to GS I to IV and essay writing, since each of those will carry a bigger share of the merit.

Who can apply

You must be a graduate; certain posts within the combined exam ask for a particular degree, such as commerce or engineering. Going by reports of the latest notification, open category candidates must be between 19 and 38, up to 43 for backward classes, orphans, ex-servicemen and meritorious sportspersons, and up to 45 for persons with disabilities. Domicile, Marathi knowledge and other conditions are spelt out in the advertisement; go through that part carefully before paying any fee.

MPSC syllabus books and a reading order

A short list revised many times beats a big pile read once:

• Foundation: the NCERT series from the middle school years up to class 12, across the humanities and science.
• Maharashtra layer: the Maharashtra State Board textbooks for history and geography, which are written with the state in mind, and the latest Economic Survey of Maharashtra.
• Polity and governance: one standard book on the Indian Constitution, read along with the bare text of key articles.
• Current affairs: a daily newspaper, government press releases and the state budget speech.
• Ethics: the second Administrative Reforms Commission reports on ethics in governance, plus your own case study notes.

For a deeper look at answer writing under the national scheme, the UPSC mains syllabus page is a helpful companion.

MPSC syllabus in Hindi

एमपीएससी राज्य सेवा परीक्षा तीन पड़ाव में होती है। प्रीलिम्स में सामान्य अध्ययन (100 प्रश्न, 200 अंक) और सीसैट (80 प्रश्न, 200 अंक) के पेपर हैं, दोनों दो-दो घंटे के। सीसैट में केवल 33 प्रतिशत लाना जरूरी है। मेन्स में लंबे उत्तर लिखने होते हैं: मराठी और अंग्रेजी (केवल पास होना जरूरी), निबंध, जीएस के चार प्रश्नपत्र और एक वैकल्पिक विषय के दो प्रश्नपत्र। साक्षात्कार 275 अंक का है। खबरों के अनुसार आगे चलकर वैकल्पिक विषय हटाया जाएगा, इसलिए अपनी परीक्षा की अधिसूचना जरूर पढ़ें।