 Hello friends, my name is Dilip Pratap Singh Shakavath, I have secured All India Rag 72 in civil service examination 2018, my optional subject was public administration and this was my third attempt at the examination. Now here I will discuss a detailed strategy of general studies paper 2. General studies paper 2 was very important in my preparation in this year's examination because I specifically focused on this paper and I tried to use the benefit of my optional subject that is public administration into that paper and it helped me score this year very good marks that is 118 marks in general studies paper 2 and in this way I would like to tell you some of the strategies which you must adopt the general strategy and some of the tips which can help you get an extra edge over other candidates. So the first important thing is the book list in the general studies paper 2. I think the general studies paper 2 can be very well divided into three broad parts. First is the quality and the constitution part, second is the governance part and the third is the international relations part. So in this manner first we will take up the quality and the constitution part. So the most important sources in this section is the first important source is the NCRTs. The NCRTs of class 11 that is Indian constitution at work is very important. It forms the basics of your study and then moving on 12th class quality that is politics in India after independence is again very important to give you a very good idea about the things related to quality and politics as well after the Indian independence. So it is also important. Then moving on a very important source in this paper is quality by M. Lakshmikanth that is always a traditional source and has to be revised many, many times and you must know this thing that many of the candidates they think that this paper is all about current affairs and he stops reading the Lakshmikanth and the traditional sources but this year's paper has proved them wrong. The many of the questions were very, very static and you must have a good idea of the constitution and the quality of India and for that Lakshmikanth has to be revised again and again even before the main examination. So this would be a tip from my side. Then you have to cover the constitution very, very selectively. There are some important parts of the constitution which you must be very, very thorough with. For example, fundamental rights are very important. Then directive principles very, very important. It suggests always suggest a way forward in the Indian polity. Then coming to fundamental duties, there are around 10 fundamental duties in the Indian constitution that again is very important and provides you some of the important clues when you are writing answer. If you mention a fundamental duty or a directive principle it adds value to your answer. So in this way constitution must be read very, very specifically and very, very selectively. So that also helps in this paper. Now coming to the next topic in this paper governance. Now governance though I had the benefit of my optional subject in this part but for the people who are not having public administration as an optional and are going with other optionals must ensure that you do not have to read any textbook in this area. But I would suggest that a good reading of the summary of the secondary RC reports will benefit you in this area. For example, there are reports on e-governance, the report on citizen static administration, state and district administration are very, very good and they will provide you a very, very good perspective going forward with regard to the issues related to governance in India. So in this way secondary RC reports some of the reports I have mentioned are very important in this part. Another very important area in the governance sector is that you must be always very thorough about the government programs and policies because this paper is more about current affairs and if you are good with governments programs and policies and if you do a very good analysis and mostly a critical analysis you will be able to make out the pros and cons of that scheme and the way forward if there are any issues you will be able to discuss and it will help you score more in this paper. So this was regarding the governance section. Now the social justice there is a subtopic of social justice which can be covered in the governance segment as well because there are some issues related to poverty and hunger. So these areas has to be prepared very, very specifically. I would suggest that you must read the syllabus very, very thoroughly in this paper and you must always try to segregate it into different topics. Suppose there is a topic of social justice in that there is a subtopic known as poverty and hunger. You must be able to know the bare basics in these topics like poverty in India, you must be knowing the statistics, you must be knowing the government programs which has been taken after independence then what the government is doing. So in this way current affairs reading and a critical analysis of all the government schemes and policies whether in the present or important schemes from the past has to be done in a comprehensive manner to score good in this paper. Now coming to the next part international relations. Now international relations always is very important part both in the prelims examination in the main examination and the interview. So you always have to read this section international relations throughout your preparation. But as regards general studies paper 2 it has to be read with an analytical mindset. You must always have a very analytical approach when you are dealing with the relations of India with any other country. You must be knowing that what cooperation has been earlier when were the diplomatic relations established then what are the pros and cons, what are the issue areas which are coming up and what is the future of those relations. So in this way you have to read the newspapers with a very analytical approach. And if there is any issue happening between two countries you do not have to read that specifically only and you have to always go back and read out the previous relations what has happened earlier. In what sectors we are cooperating in what sectors we have issues and what is the future you see and what are the solutions to these issues which are emerging. So in this way newspaper reading is the best source to prepare international relations. So in this way we have dealt with the book list and I have also stated that what book list is there and why it is important. Now coming to the next part that what approach you must have while you are writing answers for the general studies paper 2. Now general studies paper 2 you must have an approach of a very generalist administrator. You must not restrict yourself with polity or governance or international relations. When you are writing answers in this paper you must try to interlink those answers with other general studies papers also. If there is a question on suppose e-governance you always have to link it with different parts also. You can link it with security you can link it with the ethical dimension that how it helps to curb corruption. So you must try to touch upon different general studies papers. So this interlinking approach comes out to be very very helpful in making your answers different from others. So it also breaks the monotony of the examiner which will be reading many copies in a day and your copy will stand out. So interlinkages approach and correlation is very very important in this paper. Now for value addition again as I mentioned in my earlier videos it is very important that you use value addition things like constitutional articles, supreme court judgments then if there is any government program or policy in that sector you must mention it and if you have any expert committee set up for example the secondary R.C. reports I have already mentioned and if there is any expert committee set up for a particular issue you also have to mention that because see in this paper I think all the 20 questions the candidates will be comfortable because this is a paper with deals with current affairs, most of the time and current affairs everybody is going through. So if you have to stand out you have to focus on these value addition things and these will really help you to boost your marks in this paper. So this has to be kept in mind. Now coming to the third aspect that is answer writing. How should we write good answers to questions in this paper? So first important thing is that if you have to score good marks you have to write daily. Daily answer writing is very important in this paper because what happens is when you write daily you always have a connect with the things which are going on around you and which is the issues which are there in the country and which are very important in this paper and when you write continuously you also improve your wisdom and when you have good wisdom you always try to innovate and if you innovate you always try to bring out something very special which can help you score better marks than other candidates. So this is very important and you can write on daily basis you can take question from any of the online platforms and you can write on daily basis get it reviewed from your friends or mentors and this will help you. Another very important part is you must join a very good test series. If your main examination is away you can join a year long test series and if you have given a preliminary examination and you are preparing for the main examination you can join a short test series till means because see you must be knowing the concepts very well you must have covered the syllabus very comprehensively but when it comes down to presenting yourself presenting your knowledge in a very good manner so that it impresses the examiner you have to write very well and when it comes to writing there is no solution except hard work and consistent practice. So that can come via daily answer writing and evaluation and for joining a good test series and trying to locate your strengths and weaknesses always taking confidence from your strengths and working on your weaknesses will help to score good marks in this paper. So in this way a combination of these three approaches that is the book list you must ensure that you must have this restricted book list and you must ensure that you read less revise more so that you retain more things your concepts are very clear then a good tap over current affairs you must be very good with the newspaper and also you must memorize the syllabus and then read the newspaper and any of the current of a magazine so that you are able to link and if you are forming any notes for the general studies paper too you must divide those notes in these three topics that is polity governance and international relations so that when you revise for the main examination it becomes very very handy and it again becomes a value added material for you which can help you both get very good marks in this paper. So in this way having this approach and focusing on answer writing I think it is a very good way to get good marks in this paper and this was the strategy from my side I would suggest the candidates to have a analytical approach in this paper and having a mindset of writing better than others how to gain that extra mark will help you in the examination so this was a strategy of general studies paper too thank you very much. Don't forget to subscribe with us and press the bell icon to never miss the video on Chanakya IES Academy.