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ClearIAS » UPSC Civil Services Exam Syllabus (subject-wise) » Indian Language Syllabus – Civil Services Mains Exam UPSC

Indian Language Syllabus – Civil Services Mains Exam UPSC

Last updated on November 10, 2020 by Alex Andrews George

The qualifying paper on Indian Languages will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard. The marks obtained in this paper will not be counted for ranking. The aim of the paper is to test the candidates’ ability to read and understand serious discursive prose and to express his ideas clearly and correctly, in the English and Indian Language concerned. The minimum marks needed is 30%. (UPSC says, the papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates will be taken cognizance who attain 30% marks in Indian Language and 25% marks in English as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.)

Indian Language Syllabus – Civil Services Mains Exam UPSC

Qualifying Indian Language Syllabus – Civil Services Mains Exam

The pattern of questions in the qualifying Indian Language Paper would be broad as follows:

(i) Comprehension of given passages.
(ii) Precis Writing
(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.
(iv) Short Essay
(v) Translation from English to the Indian language and vice‐versa.

Indian Languages and Scripts Allowed by UPSC for Civil Services Exam

For the Language medium/ literature of languages, the scripts to be used by the candidates will be as under:—

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

Note: For the Santhali language, the question paper will be printed in Devanagari script; but candidates will be free to answer either in Devanagari script or in Olchiki.

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Note: Paper A will not be compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim.

Additional Links:

  1. Useful Civil Services Books
  2. Civil Services Study Materials for Online Preparation
  3. IAS Question Papers
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. hima varshini says

    August 5, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    I want to know the books related to Telugu language paper in main examination..

    Reply
    • Aravind Reddy says

      April 17, 2019 at 3:24 pm

      What are the books for telugu to study

  2. manish says

    August 21, 2015 at 9:54 pm

    can english be taken as language for Paper – I in Mains???

    Reply
    • Sandeep Satrasala says

      July 23, 2016 at 9:21 pm

      Only Indian Languages Manish

    • Shivansh khandelwal says

      August 12, 2018 at 12:34 am

      Sandeep what is the syllabus of Paper-A HINDI ( Indian Language ) ?

  3. Anu says

    October 9, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    What are the Books for Tamil Language ?

    Reply
    • ees says

      June 20, 2017 at 9:10 am

      do have the book list now pls suggest me too

  4. manju says

    October 26, 2015 at 12:28 pm

    Pleas suggest me a book for hindi language?

    Reply
    • Girjesh pal says

      August 19, 2017 at 3:26 pm

      please tell me books name for hindi language

    • kanika says

      November 21, 2017 at 6:22 pm

      india 2017 its published by govt of india

    • Raje says

      March 17, 2019 at 6:00 pm

      Samanya Hindi unique publications

    • Vivek says

      December 6, 2020 at 9:42 pm

      Best of harfuck

  5. rohithsai says

    November 30, 2015 at 10:43 am

    What are the books need to qualify in telugu paper

    Reply
  6. lohi says

    December 2, 2015 at 11:11 am

    Whether hindi language paper is given more importance than any other languages?

    Reply
  7. Parveen Kumar says

    January 18, 2016 at 2:48 pm

    What are the book for Hindi language clearing paper 1

    Reply
  8. Shiba Varghese says

    February 15, 2016 at 9:28 am

    WHAT ARE THE BOOKS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE

    Reply
  9. Harish Mani Tripathi says

    February 21, 2016 at 1:51 am

    For English language which book are perfect

    Reply
  10. Hemanta Das says

    April 10, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    I want to know about Assamese Language materials ….how can I prepare myself as a
    IAS candidate….please give me a suitable
    feedback thank you …

    Reply
    • Hrishikesh Mahanta says

      April 3, 2019 at 11:01 pm

      Tumi matric level Assamese pohilei hobo. Like grammar, essay writing, comprehension etc

  11. sa says

    June 22, 2016 at 11:04 am

    books for tamil language?

    Reply
  12. Varsharani says

    July 7, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    How to prepare for Indian language exam from which study material.

    Reply
  13. Sathish kumar says

    July 29, 2016 at 10:08 am

    I don’t no… how to prepare dis exam please help me……

    Reply
  14. Tribeni says

    August 8, 2016 at 9:26 am

    Could you please post the syllabus and necessary links for Indian Language – Assamese paper ?
    Thanks

    Reply
  15. NITAI HALDER says

    August 23, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    if anyone ardently interested for I.A.S …want to group sitting at Kolkata around college street…plse contact to me ….8900094782…9333286359…

    Reply
  16. takesh says

    September 14, 2016 at 11:50 am

    Sir,,..plz inform me mains papers write in telugu or not sir

    Reply
  17. Pradeep kumar says

    September 23, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    I want to know who book is best for Hindi language…..plz sirmam suggest me.

    Reply
  18. Anupkumar says

    November 7, 2016 at 11:02 pm

    please some one suggest me the books to refer for INDIAN LANGUAGE COMPULSORY (KANNADA), which is qualifying paper

    Reply
  19. raj desai says

    November 9, 2016 at 11:29 am

    i need your Gaydens Can I writ upsc exam in gujrati language oll pepar

    Reply
  20. Vandana Tiwari says

    February 1, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    I want to know that which books are better for hindi language …
    Plzz tell me…

    Reply
  21. Inamul islam says

    February 25, 2017 at 8:04 am

    Sir want to know about indian language’..In ias mains exam

    Reply
  22. yash says

    March 7, 2017 at 9:33 am

    is there any mocks paper for civil services mains language qualifying paper?

    Reply
  23. Siva says

    April 5, 2017 at 4:37 pm

    There are lot of mistakes when I wrote in Telugu is it possible to clear Telugu language paper in mains?

    Reply
  24. nayeem says

    August 8, 2017 at 10:45 pm

    For bengali language, which book are perfect?

    Reply
  25. Shyamal kumar says

    September 12, 2017 at 5:37 pm

    Suggest Syallabus and Book for Odia language paper please..plz soon anyone.?

    Reply
  26. riju says

    September 17, 2017 at 9:28 am

    give the details of malayalam language paper
    its syllubus
    reference books

    Reply
  27. Veena says

    October 22, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    Sir,Pls suggest syllabus and peparation stategy for malayalam language as regional language paper

    Reply
  28. Shakoor Ahmad Dar says

    December 2, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    What are the books required for qualifying urdu compulsory paper…. Plz suggest

    Reply
  29. Akshay says

    December 8, 2017 at 10:31 am

    For a person who chooses hindi,is he supposed to write devanagri too?

    Reply
  30. Arun Kumar Sikder says

    May 24, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    I want suggestions for the best coaching centre for UPSC MAIN Examination. ..

    Reply
  31. Sermon Tisso says

    August 3, 2018 at 8:05 pm

    I from assam and I wanna use only English language. So can I?

    Reply
  32. TAPAS DAS says

    October 21, 2018 at 8:03 am

    I am from Assam. What will be my Assamese qualifying paper’s syllabus?

    Reply
  33. Pooja kalita says

    February 9, 2019 at 1:03 pm

    How to prepare for Assamese and English languages ?

    Reply
  34. Rosanalligari Valli Basha says

    February 21, 2019 at 4:50 pm

    Dear Brother,
    I physically handicapped candidate (Hearing impairment) and studied 10th class and Intermediate in Andhra Pradesh. While I applying UPSC prelims 2019, It showing below

    ” The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for Candidates belonging to
    Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (only Hearing Impairment sub-category) provided that they
    have been granted such exemption from 2nd or 3rd language courses by the concerned education
    Board/University. The candidate needs to provide an undertaking/self declaration in this regard in
    order to claim such an exemption to the Commission.”

    Please explain what is above rule.

    And

    Dear brother , Can I claim Exemption of UPSC Mains Paper-A for physically handicapped candidate (Hearing impairment).

    Please anyone explain this

    Reply
  35. Bikram waikhom says

    April 28, 2019 at 7:38 pm

    Dear sir, I would like to crearify about the paper A in indian language. It says in note as “paper A will not be compulsory for Candidates hailing from the state of arunachal pradesh, manipur, and most North East state”. And I’m from manipur. So, should I prepare for paper A Or not. Please help me to clear my confused.
    Thanks you.

    Reply
  36. Bikram waikhom says

    May 9, 2019 at 4:37 pm

    Dear sir, I like to know about indian language because I confused sir. I’m from manipur so should I attaind the papar A Or not. Therefore I request you to help me erase my doubt.

    Reply
  37. Radra Mahanta says

    June 9, 2019 at 2:22 pm

    I’m belongs to North East India so what does it means “Paper A will not be compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.”…..??? Will u please clear this question

    Reply
  38. pranit santosh naik says

    July 1, 2019 at 8:12 pm

    what books is for marathi plzzzz comment me

    Reply
  39. Kynjai says

    July 21, 2019 at 9:35 pm

    Sir I am from assam but I belong to a khasi tribe and I don’t know assamese language….whether I have to give this paper? Kindly answer me

    Reply
  40. mayank kumar says

    September 29, 2019 at 5:43 pm

    can i write optional papers and gs papers in different languages ??

    Reply
  41. Pulkit Agrawal says

    November 9, 2019 at 7:33 pm

    The article mentions qualifying marks as 30%, i am positive its 25%? Someone?

    Reply
  42. Pranita says

    November 22, 2019 at 8:08 am

    Sir I am from Assam and I want to take Hindi subject for qualifying language paper .Can I take

    Reply
  43. Ravi says

    December 4, 2019 at 5:23 pm

    1.Which books have to read for compulsory Kannada paper for upsc?
    2.in which publication it’s previous solved question papers available?

    Reply
  44. prithi says

    December 30, 2019 at 11:36 pm

    i did nt understand what is qualifying paper English and any Indian language can any one tell me clearly about this doubt and mains papers and questions how many should attempt how many questions will be given from the subjects

    Reply
  45. Deshraj Meena says

    January 20, 2020 at 4:47 pm

    Sir can i choose optional subject Electrical Engg. and write in English while opting Hindi as a Medium for other papers i.e. G.S. and Essay.

    Reply
  46. Susmita says

    March 24, 2020 at 2:15 pm

    Sir ,is the syllabus of optional literature subjects (like bengali, English) are same with the syllabus of qualifying subjects??

    Reply

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