ANNUAL REPORT 2005-06
Appendix-XIII
(vide Chapter 3)
Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2004: Profile of Candidates
The Civil Services Examination is conducted in two successive stages viz. the Preliminary
Examination and the Main Examination. The Preliminary Examination consists of two objective type papers
and is meant for initial screening only. Only those candidates who qualify the Preliminary Examination, are
eligible for admission to the Main Examination. The Main Examination consists of written examination of
conventional type papers and a Personality Test. Out of 3,49,020 candidates who had applied for the Civil
Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2004, 3,34,133 were found eligible for appearing in the examination.
However, 1,74,475 candidates appeared in this examination held on May 16, 2004. On the basis of results
of this examination, 5,565 candidates were declared qualified for taking the Main Examination. Community
and gender-wise details of these candidates are given in Table 13.1.
Table 13.1: Number of Candidates who Applied, Appeared and Qualified the Civil Services (Preliminary)
Examination, 2004
Number of Candidates
Community Applied Appeared Qualified
Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
Scheduled
71,595 16,394 87,989 36,845 7,943 44,788 884 89 973
Castes
Scheduled
23,442 5,597 29,039 11,782 2,631 14,413 466 35 501
Tribes
Other
Backward 82,027 17,727 99,754 43,886 8,912 52,798 1,895 100 1,995
Classes
General 98,975 33,263 1,32,238 47,400 15,076 62,476 1,864 232 2,096
Total 2,76,039 72,981 3,49,020 1,39,913 34,562 1,74,475 5,109 456 5,565
2. Out of 5,565 candidates, 5,328 had appeared in the written part of Civil Services (Main) Examination,
2004 held in October–November, 2004. Based on the results of the written part of the Main Examination,
1,163 candidates had qualified for Personality Test. Of those, 1,162 candidates had appeared for the
Personality Test, of whom 453 candidates were recommended by the Commission for appointment to the
civil services. The number of candidates appeared, interviewed and recommended during the last five
examinations are shown in Diagram 13.1.
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3. A comparative statement, showing the number of vacancies to be filled up
through Civil Services Examination (including those reserved for Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) during the years 1995 to
2004 is given in Table 13.2.
Table 13.2 : Year-wise Number of Vacancies - Civil Services Examinations
Year Number of Vacancies Year Number of Vacancies
1995 645 2000 427
1996 740 2001 417
1997 621 2002 310
1998 470 2003 457
1999 411 2004 453
4. The success rate of candidates in the examination by broad stream of
disciplines is given in Table 13.3.
Table 13.3 : Success Rate vis-à-vis Broad Stream of Disciplines - Civil Services (Main) Examination,2004
Number of Candidates
Success Rate
Educational Qualification
Appeared Recommended (Percent)
I Bachelor Degrees 2,779 243 8.7
(i) Humanities 1,116 75 6.7
(ii) Science 491 24 4.9
(iii) Medical Science 220 38 17.3
(iv) Engineering 952 106 11.1
II Higher Degrees 2,549 210 8.2
(i) Humanities 1,834 152 8.3
(ii) Science 598 49 8.2
(iii) Medical Science 33 5 15.2
(iv) Engineering 84 4 4.8
Total 5,328 453 8.5
Note: Success rate is number of candidates recommended as a percentage of those appeared.
4.1 Thus, the success rates of candidates having higher degrees in the discipline of Humanities and
Science were higher than that of those with bachelor degrees in the corresponding streams of disciplines.
However, in cases of Medical Sciences and Engineering subjects, the success rates of candidates having
higher degrees were slightly lower than that of those with bachelor degrees in the corresponding streams of
disciplines.
5. Success rates of candidates in the examination by their academic
qualifications (instead of broad stream of disciplines) are given in Table 13.4.
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Table 13.4 : Academic Qualifications of Candidates vis-à-vis Success Rate - Civil Services (Main)
Examination, 2004
Academic Qualification Number of Candidates
S. Success Rate
No. (Percent)
Appeared Recommended
1. B.A./B.A.(Hons.) 697 45 6.5
2. [Link]./[Link].(Hons.) 214 20 9.3
3. [Link]./[Link].(Hons.) 445 22 4.9
4. [Link].(Agri.) 43 2 4.7
5. B.E./[Link]./[Link].(Engg.) 952 106 11.1
6. L.L.B. 203 10 4.9
7. [Link]. & A.H. 44 1 2.3
8. B.D.S. 20 5 25.0
9. B.C.A. 3 - -
10. M.B.B.S. 138 30 21.7
11. B.I.M.S. 18 2 11.1
12. Company Secretaryship 1 - -
13. Cost & Work Accountancy 1 - -
14. M.A. 1,605 113 7.0
15. [Link]. 189 29 15.3
16. [Link]. 466 28 6.0
17. [Link].(Agri.) 122 21 17.2
18. L.L.M. 15 5 33.3
19. [Link]. 84 4 4.8
20. [Link]. & A.H. 23 3 13.0
21. M.D. 10 2 20.0
22. M.C.A. 10 - -
23. Ph.D. 25 5 20.0
Total 5,328 453 8.5
5.1 As is seen from Table 13.4, a total of 453 or 8.5 percent of the candidates were recommended for
appointment to various civil services. Of them, 243 were graduates and 210 possessed post-graduate or
higher qualifications.
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6. Analysis of performance of candidates at College/ University level shows that candidates who have
achieved higher level of performance as revealed by the division obtained by them perform better, ceteris
paribus, in the competitive examination as is depicted in Table 13.5.
Table 13.5 : Success Rate of Candidates by Division Obtained in Academic Qualification - Civil Services (Main)
Examination, 2004
Number of Candidates Success Rate
Educational Qualification
Appeared Recommended (Percent)
First Division
1. Bachelor Degrees 1,393 159 11.4
2. Higher Degrees 1,399 150 10.7
Sub Total 2,792 309 11.1
Other than First Division
1. Bachelor Degrees 1,386 84 6.1
2. Higher Degrees 1,150 60 5.2
Sub Total 2,536 144 5.7
Total 5,328 453 8.5
Note: The division secured in the highest degree obtained by the candidates has been reckoned.
6.1 It is seen that the success rate of first divisioner candidates was significantly higher at 11.1 percent
compared to 5.7 percent for candidates who obtained second or lower division at College/ University level.
7. The distribution of candidates who appeared and were recommended for
appointment and success rates by the optional subjects is given in Table 13.6.
Table 13.6 : Distribution of Candidates who Appeared vis-à-vis Recommended by Optional Subjects - Civil
Services (Main) Examination, 2004
S. Optional Subject Number of Candidates Success Rate
No. (Percent)
Appeared Recommended
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1. Agriculture 179 31 17.3
2. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary 29 2 6.9
Science
3. Anthropology 298 43 14.4
4. Botany 184 26 14.1
5. Chemistry 109 - -
6. Civil Engineering 30 2 6.7
7. Commerce and Accountancy 150 32 21.3
8. Economics 179 35 19.6
9. Electrical Engineering 32 1 3.1
10. Geography 1,623 149 9.2
11. Geology 14 2 14.3
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Table 13.6 concluded
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
12. History 1,922 79 4.1
13. Law 198 13 6.6
14. Management 12 2 16.7
15. Mathematics 216 11 5.1
16. Mechanical Engineering 88 1 1.1
17. Medical Science 35 12 34.3
18. Philosophy 801 34 4.2
19. Physics 185 24 13.0
20. Political Science and International 482 46 9.5
Relations
21. Psychology 631 88 13.9
22. Public Administration 1,500 125 8.3
23. Sociology 598 57 9.5
24. Statistics 10 2 20.0
25. Zoology 212 18 8.5
26. Literature of Assamese Language 3 1 33.3
27. Literature of Gujarati Language 16 2 12.5
28. Literature of Hindi Language 507 27 5.3
29. Literature of Kannada Language 43 5 11.6
30. Literature of Malayalam Language 9 2 22.2
31. Literature of Manipuri Language 3 - -
32. Literature of Marathi Language 38 4 10.5
33. Literature of Oriya Language 5 1 20.0
34. Literature of Pali Language 29 - -
35. Literature of Punjabi Language 12 1 8.3
36. Literature of Sanskrit Language 44 1 2.3
37. Literature of Tamil Language 128 12 9.4
38. Literature of Telugu Language 63 11 17.5
39. Literature of Urdu Language 16 1 6.3
40. Literature of English Language 19 3 15.8
41. Literature of Persian Language 4 - -
7.1 The following points emerge from Table 13.6:
(i) History was the most preferred subject among the optional subjects chosen by the candidates,
followed by Geography and Public Administration.
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(ii) Amongst the subjects opted by 100 or more candidates, the highest percentage of successful
candidates had opted Commerce and Accountancy, followed by Economics and Agriculture.
(iii) Subjects relating to Humanities including literature of languages were opted by 85.4 percent of
candidates, Science by 12.6 percent, Medical Sciences by 1.6 percent and Engineering by 0.4
percent. This indicates that certain number of recommended candidates having academic
qualifications in Engineering, Medical and Science subjects had made cross-domain shift and
opted for Humanities subjects in the examination.
(iv) Amongst the candidates recommended for appointment, the highest percentage of candidates at
49.0 percent had Humanities as academic background, followed by Engineering at 24.3 percent,
Science at 17.2 percent and Medical Sciences at 9.5 percent.
7.2 Distribution of candidates recommended by broad streams of optional subjects chosen by them in
the Civil Services (Main) Examinations is shown in Diagram 13.2.
457 453
1.7 % 0.4 %
427 2.7 % 1.6 %
417
1.3 % 12.6 %
3.1. % 1.6 % 11.8 %
3.1 %
13.9 % 7.8 %
8.5 %
18.5 %
310
1.6 %
8.6 % 1.3 %
11.2 % 10.8 %
27.9 %
33.2 %
20.6 % 20.5 % 9.0 %
23.1 %
49.9 %
49.7 %
54.2% 42.1 %
47.7 %
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8. A disaggregated analysis of the candidates recommended for appointment
shows that 64 candidates or 14.1 percent belonged to the Scheduled Castes
community, 47 candidates or 10.4 percent to the Scheduled Tribes, 127 candidates
or 28.0 percent to the Other Backward Classes and 215 candidates or 47.5 percent
to the General category. The community and age-wise break-up of the candidates
recommended is given in the table 13.7.
Table 13.7 : Community, Age and Gender-wise Distribution of Candidates Recommended - Civil Services
(Main) Examination, 2004
Age – Group (In years)
Community Recommended 21-24 24-26 26-28 28-30 30 &
Candidates above
T M F M F M F M F M F M F
SC 64 57 7 3 1 13 2 15 2 8 1 18 1
ST 47 41 6 5 2 7 - 12 2 9 2 8 -
OBC 127 114 13 12 - 27 5 25 4 32 3 18 1
General 215 169 46 26 12 58 15 49 16 36 3 - -
TOTAL 453 381 72 46 15 105 22 101 24 85 9 44 2
T Total ; M Male ; F Female
8.1 It is seen from Table 13.7 that the highest percentage of candidates recommended belonged to the
age group of 24-26 years (28.0 percent), followed by 26-28 years (27.6 percent), 28-30 years (20.8 percent),
21-24 years (13.5 percent) and 30 years and above (10.1 percent).
9. The community and age-wise distribution of the candidates who have been recommended for the
Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S.)/ Indian Foreign Service (I.F.S.) is given in Table 13.8.
Table 13.8 : Candidates Recommended for I.A.S. /I.F.S. by Age and Community - Civil Services (Main)
Examination, 2004
Community Candidates Age – Group (In years)
recommended
for 21-24 24-26 26-28 28-30 30 & above
IAS IFS IAS IFS IAS IFS IAS IFS IAS IFS IAS IFS
SC 12 3 1 - 4 1 3 1 1 - 3 1
ST 6 2 - - - - 2 1 1 1 3 -
OBC 34 5 3 - 9 4 7 - 13 1 2 -
General 39 10 8 3 12 1 10 3 9 3 - -
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TOTAL 91 20 12 3 25 6 22 5 24 5 8 1
9.1 Community and age-wise distribution of candidates recommended for I.A.S./ I.F.S. is shown in
Diagram 13.3.
5.1%
26.7%
24.5%
37.5%
35.9%
6.7%
26.5%
26.7%
25.0% 18.0%
26.5%
33.2% 33.3%
37.5%
6.7% 22.5%
7.7%
10. Out of 444 female candidates appeared in the examination, 72 were recommended for appointment,
registering a success rate at 16.2 percent. As against this, 381 out of 4,884 male candidates could be
recommended which represents a success rate at 7.8 percent. Thus, the success rate of female candidates
was significantly higher than that of male candidates.
11. The community and gender-wise success rate of candidates is given in Table 13.9:
Table 13.9 : Community and Gender-wise Success Rate of Candidates - Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2004
Appeared Candidates Recommended Candidates Success Rate (Percent)
Community
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
SC 904 820 84 64 57 7 7.1 7.0 8.3
ST 475 441 34 47 41 6 9.9 9.3 17.6
OBC 1,907 1,809 98 127 114 13 6.7 6.3 13.3
General 2,042 1,814 228 215 169 46 10.5 9.3 20.2
Total 5,328 4,884 444 453 381 72 8.5 7.8 16.2
11.1 It is seen from the Table 13.9 that the performance of female candidates belonging to various
communities viz. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes or General category was
better than that of male candidates of corresponding community.
12. Out of a total of 2,398 physically challenged persons appeared in the examination under reference,
51 qualified the written part of Civil Services (Main) Examination 2004. However four of them were
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recommended for appointment. Of them, one belonged to Scheduled Caste community and three to General
community including one female candidate.
13. The community and gender-wise number of attempts made by the candidates for the examination
are given in the Table 13.10.
Table 13.10: Number of Attempts Made by the Recommended Candidates : Community and Gender-wise - Civil
Services (Main) Examination, 2004
Number of Attempts Made by the Recommended Candidates
Community Gender 8& Total
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
above
Male 2 6 9 10 8 3 1 18 57
SC
Female - - 2 2 - 2 1 - 7
Male 2 2 5 5 6 5 7 9 41
ST
Female - 2 1 1 1 - 1 - 6
Male 5 20 22 18 26 14 9 - 114
OBC
Female 1 1 4 3 3 1 - - 13
Male 28 43 53 45 - - - - 169
General
Female 10 10 13 13 - - - - 46
Male 37 71 89 78 40 22 17 27 381
Total Female 11 13 20 19 4 3 2 - 72
Total 48 84 109 97 44 25 19 27 453
13.2 It follows from the Table 13.10 that only 10.6 percent of candidates could qualify the examination in
the first attempt. However, in the second, third and fourth attempts, the percentage of recommended
candidates was 18.5 percent, 24.1 percent and 21.4 percent respectively. Further the female candidates, on
an average, qualified the examination in lesser number of attempts compared to those of the male
candidates.
14. The University/ Institution-wise number of candidates appeared vis-à-vis recommended and their
success rates are given in Appendix-XIV.
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