GS3 Strategy

GS3 Strategy

GS3 presents the toughest challenge to everyone, having the most diverse syllabus of all gs papers as well as being conservative in marking.

I personally put a lot of efforts in gs3, however, my score does not resonate with my efforts.

Let's cover the 6- pillars of gs3:

1. Economy

Tough questions, requires thorough understanding and interlinking of concepts to answer the questions well. Syllabus has keywords such as resource mobilization, jobless growth etc.

Sources

1. Mrunal sir ke handouts ( used the freely available ones) : here, since sir already segregates his notes in pillars, it becomes easy to filter stuff for mains.

2. 12th FYP : the keywords of syllabus has Infact been picked up from the name of chapters in the 12th FYP document. It is a gem of a resource to use.

3. Budget of last 2 years

4. Economic survey of last 4 years : just the key themes for value addition.

5. Ncerts of 11th and 12th, especially for the part on static economy, land reforms etc

6. Niti ayog India @75 report, 3 years action plan report especially for Infrastructure part

I made consolidated notes integrating everything above. 😁

(mains writing junta : don't freak out 😁)

X factors:

1. DATA DATA DATA

Using unsubstantiated arguments in gs3 is as good as leaving the page blank. Any argument must pivot on reports from Budget, survey etc. Don't write anything which you think, it'll be treated as an assumption

Example : Poverty in India has decreased ❎

Poverty in India has decreased as per UN MDPI✅

2. Committee reports. If there is a question on PPP, then your answer must mention Kelkar committee recommendations.

3..quoting ideas from Budget, economic survey etc

2. Agriculture

Most interesting, precise syllabus, predictable questions

Sources

1. Mrunal sir ke handouts

2. Budget, eco survey ka agri waala part

3. Reports :India @75 and Action plan reports of NITI ayog

4. Toppers notes of Kaptan sir and also few others

X factors

1. DATA

2. REPORTS

3. MAPS, if applicable (cropping related questions)

4. Quoting agri Scientists in answers such as Ashok Gulati sir and others.

3. Environment

Here, the syllabus keywords are limited and questions also are confined to the syllabus. Although the commission sets some bouncer questions (Gothenburg protocol) to which we must duck.

Sources

1. Prelims waala source (Shankar /pmf), mains ka syllabus is limited, focus on that

2. Last 2 years ka contemporary affairs

X factors

1. Diagrams :carbon cycle etc

2. Reports : UN, AR6, COP etc

4. SCI TECH

The syllabus has keywords, such as nanotechnology etc. We should have one page worth content ready which includes static and dynamic part. The questions are mostly asked on new tech. Bouncers should be expected every year (blue led😁)

Sources

1. Yearly 364 magazine of last 2 years, because it is an evolving topic.

2. Mehak Jain mam and Arpit sir ke notes for reference

X factors

1. Diagrams

2. Govt schemes, sourced directly from https://dst.gov.in/. This is a great resource to use

3..Latest research, case studies etc. These all are to be extracted through your notes and resources and dst.

5. Disaster Management

Straightforward syllabus and simple questions. Scoring part, predictable part.

Sources

1. I used toppers notes of Mehak Jain mam aur Arpit sir ke notes here

2.DM act : original text

3. National disaster management guidelines by NDMA

Use the website https://ndma.gov.in/ and their resources section. My notes have these content incorporated

X factors

1. Diagrams

2 India thematic maps : comes naturally

3.best practices as can be found on ndma website, current affairs

6. Internal security

Most scoring part. Well defined syllabus and easy nature of questions

Sources

1. Relied on toppers notes of Mehak jain mam and Arpit sir.

2. Current affairs of last 2 years

X factors

1. India thematic maps (eg red corridor)

2. Data (% of cross border terrorism)

In short, gs3 requires substantial effort but remains the most diverse and interesting paper to study.