Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPCS) Pattern

Introduction

Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), Indore organizes various subordinate services including various posts related to state special administration.

• Most of the candidates preparing for the Civil Services Examination (Especially Hindi medium) appear in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination as well as in the most prestigious ‘Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination’ conducted by this commission.
• Despite the difference in the nature and procedure of questions of UPSC, The study of the syllabus of the preliminary and mains examination has a meaningful role in this examination.
• Studying the syllabus of Preliminary and Mains Examination of the UPSC plays a significant role in this examination, so students preparing for the Civil Services Examination are successful in this examination as well.

Examinations Conducted by the Commission

• The state-based government, semi-government, judicial, state forest service and other subordinate services in Madhya Pradesh are mainly organized by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), Indore.
• The most popular exams conducted by the commission are ‘Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination’ and ‘Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination’.
  
  • In the year 2017, the format of the application was changed so that candidates can now fill the common online application form for both these examinations, provided they are eligible to appear in the State Forest Service Examination as well.
• The general educational qualification for ‘Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination’ is to pass graduation with any subject, whereas for ‘Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination’ it is generally mandatory to pass graduation examination with science as a subject.
  
  • Candidates studying in the final year of graduation are also eligible (subject to certain conditions) to fill the application form.
• ‘Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination’ is also often known as ‘MPPCS’.

Nature of Exam

• This competitive examination conducted by the commission generally consists of three levels sequentially-
  
  1. Preliminary Examination – Objective Nature
  2. Main Exam – Descriptive Nature
  3. Interview – Oral
• In the year 2019, the MPPSC Significant changes were made in the nature and syllabus of the Preliminary Examination and Mains Examination, Which will be applicable from the state service exam year 2020.

Exam Process

Process of Preliminary Exam

• • First of all, the release related to these examinations is issued by the commission, after that the process of filling the online application form starts. Detailed information related to the process of filling the form ‘How to apply online’ under ‘Notification’? is given in the title.
  • A detailed description of various aspects related to the examination is given in the release. Therefore, it is beneficial to study it before filling the form.
  • After the completion of the form filling process, the preliminary examination is usually conducted after 1 to 2 months.
  • This preliminary examination is conducted on the same day at different centers of the state as decided by the commission.
  • The nature of this preliminary examination conducted by the commission is objective (Multiple Choice) in which one has to choose the correct option out of four possible options (a, b, c and d) given for each question.
  • The selected options related to the question are filled in an OMR sheet given by the commission. It is to be filled with black ball point pen.
  • There is no provision of any kind of negative marking for wrong answers in this examination conducted by MPPSC.
  • If the candidate gives more than one answer to a question, then that answer will be treated as wrong.
  • The question paper is given in two languages (Hindi and English), candidates can answer the questions in any of these two languages depending on their ease.
  • The nature of this preliminary examination was changed by the commission in the year 2012, according to which the question paper of ‘General Aptitude Test’. It was adopted instead of the optional subject (objective) asked in the second paper.
  • At present, in this preliminary examination of the Commission, two compulsory papers (‘General Studies’ and ‘General Aptitude Test’, respectively) are asked, the examination of which is completed on the same day in two different shifts in two hours duration.
    
    • The question paper of ‘General Aptitude Test’ is also known as ‘CSAT’ (Civil Service Aptitude Test).
  • The first paper of ‘General Studies’ has the total number of questions is 100 and the maximum marks are 200.
  • The second paper of ‘General Aptitude Test’ has a total number of questions is 100 and the maximum marks are 200.
  • From the year 2017 onwards for ‘Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination’ and ‘Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination’, the same (Common) Preliminary Examination is conducted while the Mains Examination will be conducted separately as before.
  • This Preliminary Examination for ‘Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination’ is of 200 marks and the marks obtained in the question paper of ‘General Aptitude Test’ is not added to the cut-off determination, whereas for ‘Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination’ this exam is of total 400 marks as the marks obtained in the question paper of ‘General Aptitude Test’ are added to the cut-off determination.
  • From the year 2015, the Commission has made a question paper of ‘General Aptitude Test’ of qualified nature. That is, only the candidates who obtain the qualifying marks prescribed by the Commission in this paper and the cut-off level prescribed in the General Studies paper will be declared successful for the Mains examination.
  • Generally 75-80% marks are required to pass the preliminary exam, but sometimes this percentage can be less depending on the difficulty level of the questions.
  • The preliminary exam is qualifying in nature. The marks obtained in this are not added with the marks of the Mains exam or interview.

Note:

• • To be eligible for the Mains examination, it is mandatory for the candidate to obtain a minimum of 40% marks in each paper of the preliminary examination.
  • The minimum qualifying marks for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes and Disabled category of the state has been fixed at 30%.

Mains Exam Process:

• • The number of candidates to be admitted to the Mains Examination shall be 15 times the total number of vacancies to be filled from different categories of service and posts as displayed in the advertisement and the candidates securing equal marks (category wise/category wise) will also be declared qualified for the Mains Examination.
  • For the successful candidates in the preliminary examination, the main examination is organized by the commission at various centers of the state.
  • In the year 2014, there was a radical change in the syllabus of this main exam of MPPSC. Earlier, in this main examination, along with general studies, two optional subjects were also asked, which have now been removed.
    
    • Now in this main examination there are six compulsory papers [General Studies First Paper, General Studies Second Paper, General Studies Third Paper, General Studies Fourth Paper, General Hindi and Grammar Fifth Paper and ‘Hindi Essay and Draft Writing’ Sixth Paper] will be asked. Its detailed information is given in the title ‘Course’.
  • The nature of the main examination will be descriptive/analytical, the nature of questions will be very short, short and long answers or essays in nature.
    
    • The answers to all these questions have to be written in the answer-book given by the commission in a time limit of maximum three hours (time limit of two hours for the sixth paper ‘essay writing’).
  • The main exam is of total 1400 marks.
    
    • In the three papers of General Studies (General Studies Paper, General Studies Second Paper and General Studies Third Paper) respectively a maximum of 300-300 marks are fixed for each.
    • For General Studies IV paper & General Hindi and Grammar (Paper 5), 200-200 marks are allotted.
    • 100 marks are allotted for ‘Hindi Essay and Draft Writing’ (Sixth paper).
    • Except the question paper of General Hindi and Grammar and ‘Hindi Essay and Draft Writing’ all four papers of General Studies will be available in Hindi and English medium.
      
      • The candidate will be able to take the test only in the language which he/she has selected as the medium in his/her application form for the mains examination.
  • Paper I II and II of General Studies will be divided into two sections (‘A’ and ‘B’). Each section will be of 150 marks. Each section is divided into 03 units according to the syllabus.
    
    • There will be 15 very short answers, 10 short answers and 3 long answer or essay type questions from each unit.
    • The number of questions can be changed by the Commission as per the requirement.
  • The fourth paper of General Studies is divided into two sections and four units. In the first unit there will be 15 very short answers, 15 short answers and in the second section two case studies are asked which consist of eight questions. The number of questions can be changed by the Commission as per the requirement.
  • The fifth question paper will be of ‘General Hindi and Grammar’. Candidates will have to compulsorily answer it in Hindi.
  • The sixth question paper will be ‘Hindi Essay and Draft Writing’. This question paper will be divided into three sections.

Essay Writing Strategy

• Generally 60-65% marks are required to be scored in this stage of the examination. However, due to change in curriculum, this percentage may be slightly higher or lower.
• The essay in the MPPSC Main exam has to be written in Hindi Language (Devanagari Script).
• The marks obtained in these papers will be added to the merit list as before.
• Credit will be given to the organized, subtle and powerful expression in the least number of words in all the subjects of the examination.

Interview Process

• The candidates selected in the main examination usually have to appear for an interview before the commission after one month.
• The personality of the candidates is tested during the interview. In this oral questions are asked by the members of the commission at the prescribed place in the commission for which the candidate has to answer orally. This process lasts for more than one day depending on the number of candidates.
• In the year 2014, a total of 175 marks were fixed for the interview in this exam of MPPSC (Earlier it was of 250 marks).
• Merit list is prepared on the basis of aggregate of marks obtained in the mains examination and interview.
• The list of finally selected candidates is released usually one week after the completion of the entire interview.
• It is mandatory to obtain 40 percent marks in each of the above mentioned papers. The minimum qualifying marks for SC/ST, OBC and disabled category candidates will be 30 percent.