Joining the Elite Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services

Joining the Administrative Services is the most sought Government Career Options. One needs to be simply the best in order to clear the requirements and join the Services. One can be a part of the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services by clearing the HPAS Exam that is conducted once a year. The examination is conducted in the month of June or July. As is the case with the IAS Exam the Exam is Held in 3 Phases.

1. Preliminary Exam.
2.Mains Exam
3.Interview

Candidates should note that the Preliminary Exam is primarily for qualification for further rounds. Once the candidate has appeared in all the 3 phases, a final merit list is made by combining the marks obtained in the Mains and the Interview. Here is the Distribution of Marks of each stage.

1. Preliminary:
The IAS prelims exam round consists of two papers. The Prelims is essentially an eliminating round in which, from about 5 lakh people (on average) who take the exam, only about 10 – 15 thousand clear it. The marks secured in this exam decide whether aspirants can go on to the next stage or not. It is important to prepare well and have a comprehensive understanding of the subjects covered in this exam. In this article, we bring you an analysis of the trends in marks distribution according to various subjects covered in the exam over the past decade.

The prelims papers consist of objective type questions with negative marking for incorrect answers. The structure of the prelims exam is as follows:

Paper Total marks No. of questions Duration Type
General Studies Paper 1 200 100 2 hours Objective
General Studies Paper 2 (CSAT) 200 80 2 hours Objective

Important Instructions for the Candidates appearing for HPAS Exam.
1. Negative Marking of one-third (0.33) shall be deducted for every wrong answer.
2. Paper-II Or the Aptitude Test of the Preliminary Exam is for qualification and fixed at 33%.
3. Marks obtained in the General Studies Paper -1 shall decide the eligibility for the Mains Exam.
4. Number of Candidates appearing for the Main Examination is about 20 times the number of available vacancies.

2.The Mains
The HAS Exam consists of the following papers
Paper Subject Marks
Paper1 English 100
Paper 2 Hindi 100
Paper 3 Essay 100
Paper 4 General Studies1 200
Paper 5 General Studies2 200
Paper 6 General Studies3 200
Paper 7 Optional Paper 1 100
Paper 8 Optional Paper 2 100
Instructions
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1. All papers shall be of three hours duration.
2. Paper 1 and Paper 2 are of qualifying nature(Minimum 40% to be secured in each paper), will not be counted for the overall ranking.
3. The Merit of the candidates should be on the basis of the cumulative total of Paper 3-8 (Minimum 45% aggregate necessary).
4. There is a list of 31 optional subjects from which the candidate has to select one.
5. Interview and the Personality Test carries 150 Marks. The Interview would include:
a)Psychometric Test
b) Assessment Test and lastly
c)Personal Interview.
The marks obtained in the Test and the Interview shall be added in the declaration of the final merit.