How to prepare Paper A in UPSC Mains 

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UPSC civil services mains exam includes nine papers, out of which, Paper A is the compulsory Indian language paper. this is a qualifying exam, the score received in this paper is not included in establishing the final rank. To clear this paper, you must score 25% or 75+ out of 300. The candidates are eligible to give a paper in any of the Indian languages. But, It should be emphasized that it is not compulsory to give the paper, candidates belong to states of Nother-east, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim.

List of Compulsory Indian Language (Paper A):

Language and their scripts –

  1. Assamese – Assamese
  2. Bengali – Bengali
  3. Gujarati – Gujarati
  4. Hindi – Devanagiri
  5. Kannada – Kannada
  6. Kashmiri – Persian
  7. Konkani – Devnagari
  8. Malayalam – Malayalam
  9. Manipuri – Bengali
  10. Marathi – Devnagari
  11. Nepali – Devnagari
  12. Odia – Odia
  13. Punjabi – Gurmukhi
  14. Sanskrit – Devanagari
  15. Sindhi – Devnagari or Arabic
  16. Tamil – Tamil
  17. Telugu – Telugu
  18. Urdu – Persian
  19.  Bodo – Devnagari
  20. Dogri – Devnagari
  21. Maithili – Devnagari
  22. Santhali – Devnagari or Olchiki

For Candidates who appear for the examination in the Santhali language, their paper is printed in the Devnagari Script. But, they are free to write the paper in any of the scripts between Devnagari and Olchiki.

Paper A Pattern in UPSC examination

  • Comprehension of the Passages – 60 Marks
  • Precise Writing – 60 Marks
  • Usage of Grammar 40 marks
  • Short Essays – 100 Marks
  • Translation from Indian language to Engish and English to Indian language 20 + 20 = 40 marks

Writing Tips for Paper A of the IAS Exam

  • Critically analyze the previous five years’ question papers to get a sense of the kind of questions asked.
  • Focus on important topics
  • Before writing the exam, thoroughly review the question paper.
  • First, answer the sort of question about which you are clear, comfortable, certain, and confident.
  • This is a language paper, s make sure your grammatical abilities are up to par. Because you will be required to create essays, passages, translations, and exact writing where your grammar will be scrutinized.
  • If grammar isn’t your strong suit, don’t attempt this in the first place. First, compose a comprehension paragraph.
  • Finally, write an article in basic yet powerful language with an open mind.
  • In your work, avoid grammatical and spelling errors.