Telangana: Group-I prelims turns out to be a tough, lengthy test

Hyderabad: The first ever Group-I preliminary test conducted in the State turned out to be tough and lengthy for several aspirants. In fact, the candidates described the question paper to be on the lines of the Civil Services Examination held by the Union Public Service Commission for recruiting IAS, IPS, IFS officers etc. The Telangana […]

Hyderabad: The first ever Group-I preliminary test conducted in the State turned out to be tough and lengthy for several aspirants.

In fact, the candidates described the question paper to be on the lines of the Civil Services Examination held by the Union Public Service Commission for recruiting IAS, IPS, IFS officers etc. The Telangana State Public Service Commission conducted the preliminary test for 503 Group-I posts on Sunday.

Candidates found the majority of the questions in the paper to be indirect, analytical and statement based. The question paper covered the subjects of international relations, geography, disaster management, environment, sciences and S&T, social and economic development, polity, economic and social development, current affairs, Indian history, governance, Telangana policies, Telangana history, Telangana geography, and mental ability and logical reasoning.

There were 24 questions relating to Telangana and these included the ones such as was who was the architectural designer of OU College of Arts and Social Sciences building, in which places did Sarvai Papanna built his forts and so on . There were questions on Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara, Ramappa Temple, Rythu Bandhu, and Telangana films and directors as well.

A question on happy hypoxia, a term that was widely used in the Covid-19 pandemic, was also asked. According to coaching experts, out of 150 questions, 45 per cent were from three areas-sciences, and science & technology, current Affairs and mental ability and local reasoning.

“The question paper pattern is on the lines of the Civil Services examination of the UPSC and it was tough too. Majority questions are indirect and analytical. Only candidates with in depth knowledge will be able to answer. This is how the question paper standard should be,” said G Satyanarayana, a Group-I aspirant, who appeared for the preliminary test.

Not just the Group-I job aspirants, coaching experts too found the question paper tough.

“The paper was tough, lengthy and unconventional. It was on par with the UPSC Civil Services examination. Many students could not complete the paper as the questions were lengthy. Given the toughness, the cut off mark could be between 75 and 85 marks,” said Deepika Reddy, Director, Shikara Academy.

Brain Tree Director Gopalakrishna Director said being the first question paper for Group-I prelims after the formation of Telangana, it was undoubtedly a trendsetter.

“It is a well designed paper where only candidates with inherent merit and sustained preparation will qualify for the main exam. It is well balanced and has minimised the predictability factor,” he added.