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CGPSC State Service Examination

Evidence status: 🟢 official. Every number below is from the State Service Examination 2025 advertisement (Advt 06/2025/Exam dated 26-11-2025, 41 pages, with Parishisht-1 exam scheme in Hindi and English) plus its corrigendum dated 12-12-2025, both fetched from psc.cg.gov.in on 2026-09-28.

CGPSC's State Service Examination recruits Chhattisgarh's administrative and allied officers (Deputy Collector, Deputy SP, finance, commercial tax, employment, agriculture and other services). The 2025 cycle advertises 239 posts (advertisement as amended by the corrigenda; see the notification for the post-wise table).

At a glance
Conducted by Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission
Stages Preliminary (objective, screening) → Main (descriptive) → interview
2025 cycle (per notice) Published 26-11-2025; prelims held 22-02-2026 (10:00 am–12:00 noon and 3:00–5:00 pm); mains notified for 16, 17, 18 and 19 May 2026; online applications were 01-12-2025 (12:00 noon) to 30-12-2025 (11:59 pm)
Qualification Bachelor's degree from a recognised university (or equivalent); candidates appearing in the qualifying exam could sit the prelims but had to produce proof of passing with the mains application
Age 21–30 years as on 01-01-2025; Chhattisgarh domicile candidates maximum 35 years; Deputy SP post 21–28 years; category relaxations apply within an overall cap of 45 years (see notice)
Fee ₹300 for Chhattisgarh-domicile SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer) and PwD candidates, ₹400 for all other categories and out-of-state candidates, plus portal fee + GST; the exam fee is refunded to Chhattisgarh-domicile candidates who appear

Official sources

Exam pattern

Preliminary (objective, screening only): two compulsory papers of 2 hours each, multiple-choice with four options. Its marks are not counted in the final merit; it only shortlists candidates for the Main exam.

Paper Questions Marks Time
Paper 1: General Studies (2 marks each) 100 200 2 hours
Paper 2: Aptitude Test (2 marks each) 100 200 2 hours
  • Negative marking: one-third (1/3) of the marks for every wrong answer, in both papers.
  • Minimum qualifying marks in each paper: 33% for unreserved, 23% for reserved categories.
  • Paper 2 (Aptitude) is qualifying only; the mains shortlist is on the Paper 1 General Studies merit alone.

Main (written, conventional descriptive): all seven papers compulsory, 3 hours and 200 marks each. Answers (except the language paper) in Hindi or English only, not mixed within a paper.

Paper Time Marks
Paper I: Language 3 hours 200
Paper II: Essay (four essays, two from each of two sections — national/international issues and Chhattisgarh issues, about 750 words each) 3 hours 200
Paper III: General Studies I 3 hours 200
Paper IV: General Studies II 3 hours 200
Paper V: General Studies III 3 hours 200
Paper VI: General Studies IV 3 hours 200
Paper VII: General Studies V 3 hours 200
Written total 1400
  • Each GS paper (III–VII) has five sections: 22 × 2-mark (30 words), 13 × 4-mark (60 words), 8 × 8-mark (100 words), one 10-mark choice question, and two 15-mark choice questions — 200 marks.
  • Interview/personality test: 100 marks. Grand total (written + interview): 1500 marks.
  • Absence in any mains paper or the interview means disqualification.

Syllabus

  • Prelims GS: general studies with a Chhattisgarh component (state history, geography, economy, culture); Prelims Aptitude: qualifying reasoning/numeracy test. The notification's Parishisht-2 has the exact unit-wise syllabus.
  • Mains: language, essay (one section fully on Chhattisgarh issues), and five GS papers covering history, polity, geography, economy, science, environment and current affairs with a strong Chhattisgarh share — including state welfare schemes. Parishisht-3 has the exact syllabus.
  • State-specific Chhattisgarh content (history, geography, minerals, agriculture, tribal culture, government schemes) decides much of this exam.

How to prepare (free, in order)

  1. Prepare the shared UPSC GS modules once. They cover most of prelims GS and mains GS papers.
  2. Add Chhattisgarh's own history, geography, economy, minerals, tribal culture and government schemes from official state sources — this is the highest-weight state-specific block (a full essay section plus much of the GS papers).
  3. Practise Hindi/English essay and answer writing weekly to the word limits (30/60/100/125/175 words per section); the −1/3 prelims penalty rewards accuracy.
  4. Solve the commission's own previous papers from its website: each commission has its own style.

Free resources