How to Write Civil Service Exam in Malayalam?

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One of the most often asked questions by UPSC applicants from Kerala is whether it is possible to write the UPSC Civil Service examination in Malayalam. Are you a candidate preparing for the UPSC exam? Do you have any questions regarding taking the UPSC CSE exam in Malayalam? Well, this article will help you clear all your doubts regarding it. The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is an annual national competitive examination in India run by the Union Public Service Commission for higher Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service.

As per the news updates, on average, 900,000 to 1,000,000 candidates apply each year, and the number of candidates sitting in the preliminary examination is approximately 550,000. Yet, one of the most common concerns addressed by applicants who come to take the prelims is if it is possible to write the UPSC exam in Malayalam. We could only assure such persons that they would be able to write the UPSC Exam in Malayalam. But not in all stages of selection process. Confused? Anyway, read the below section to clarify the UPSC Exam pattern and whether you could write the civil service exam in Malayalam. See How to Write Civil Service Exam in Malayalam.

UPSC PREVIOUS QUESTIONS

UPSC Civil Service Examination: Overview

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a national competitive examination held annually in India by the Union Public Service Commission for higher Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service. The UPSC Civil Exam selection process consists two objective-type tests (Prelims) and a Mains exam comprising of nine conventional (essay) papers, followed by a personality test (interview). Applicants who qualify for these levels are eligible for UPSC Civil Posts in India.

Name of the Examination	Civil Services Exam (UPSC CSE Exam \| UPSC Civils)
Exam Level	All India / National Level
Conducting Body	Union Public Service Commission
Exam mode	Offline / Pen and paper mode
Number of vacancies in Civil Services 2022	Various
Age Limit	Between 21 – 32 years.
Number of attempts	general applicants can only take the UPSC Exam six times, while other categories can take it nine times.
Official Website	https://www.upsc.gov.in/

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UPSC Civil Exam Selection Process

The UPSC Civil Exam selection procedure consists of 3 stages as follows

Preliminary examination,
Main examination,
Interview (Personality Test).

Can I Write UPSC Civil Service Examination in Malayalam?

Well, applicants who are preparing for the UPSC Civil Service Examination will be eligible to take the test in Malayalam. The UPSC CSE, as indicated above, consists of a preliminary examination, a mains examination, and a personal interview. Candidates who qualify for these levels are eligible for UPSC Civil Posts in India.

The UPSC Civil Exam Prelims are the initial stage of the selection process. Unfortunately, you are unable to write the preliminary exam in Malayalam. It will be offered in two languages: Hindi and English. However, the UPSC CSE Mains, the second step of the selection process, is available in Malayalam for candidates. Aspirants can write the UPSC CSE Mains in Malayalam language. There are 9 papers in the UPSC CSE Mains, among that one is English language and aspirants can write all the other 8 papers in Malayalam. Applicants can write either the optional papers or all of the papers in Malayalam.

What are the UPSC CSE Mains Papers offered in Malayalam?

Are you from Kerala? Do you want to take the Civil Service Exam in your native language? The civil service test has the benefit of enabling aspirants to write the exam in the Malayalam language. The advantage of the civil service exam is that candidates can take it in Malayalam. Except for the English paper, all subjects at UPSC CSE Mains can be written in Malayalam or the other language of your choice. Check the table below to see which papers are available in Malayalam.

Sl. No.	IAS Exam Paper	Papers	Nature of the Paper		Duration of the Exam	Marks
1	Paper – A	Compulsory Indian Language		QUALIFYING NATURE	3 Hours	300 Marks
2	Paper – B	English		QUALIFYING NATURE	3 Hours	300 Marks
3	Paper – I	ESSAY		MERIT RANKING NATURE	3 Hours	250 Marks
4	Paper – II	General Studies I			3 Hours	250 Marks
5	Paper – III	General Studies II			3 Hours	250 Marks
6	Paper – IV	General Studies III			3 Hours	250 Marks
7	Paper – V	General Studies IV			3 Hours	250 Marks
8	Paper – VI	Optional Paper I			3 Hours	250 Marks
9	Paper – VII	Optional Paper II			3 Hours	250 Marks
	TOTAL					1750 Marks

Interview

	Test					Marks
	Interview or Personality Test					275 Marks
	GRAND TOTAL					2025 Marks

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. Odiya	Odiya
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. Maithili	Devanagari
22. Santhali	Devanagari or Olchiki

Candidates from Kerala or other region who prefer Malayalam can select “Malayalam” as compulsory Indian Language.

Can I attend UPSC Interview in Malayalam?

The committee has permitted you to attend interview in your mother tongue. The interview panel will be communicating in English only. But there will be a highly qualified translator in between you and the interview panel. He will translate your responses to the committee. Yet, some of the candidates argue that selecting a regional language is the cause of inferior grades. Remember there are no issues to chose your regional language as the medium of the interview.

Aside from determining your communication ability, the interview is also valuable in determining your personality and body language skills. Nevertheless, the translator is limited to expressing what you indicate. So, it is best to go to the interview by yourself. As English is common nowadays, it is better to prepare yourself to communicate in English. It facilitates the panel’s comprehension of what you’re saying precisely.

How Many Times Can You Take the UPSC Exam?

As you are aware, there is a limit for writing UPSC Civil Service Examination. As stated in the commission’s rule, general applicants can only take the UPSC Exam six times, while other categories can take it nine times.

UPSC Civil Exam Eligibility Criteria

Nationality

Candidates for the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, and Indian Foreign Service must be Indian citizens.
Other services need the candidate to be one of the following:
An Indian citizen.
A Nepalese citizen or a subject of Bhutan.
A Tibetan refugee who moved to India permanently before January 1, 1962.
A person of Indian descent who has moved to India permanently from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia, or Vietnam.

Educational qualification

All candidates must have at least one of the following educational qualification

A degree from a central, state, or prestigious university
A degree obtained through correspondence or distance education
An open university diploma
A qualification recognized by the Indian government as equivalent to one of the above

The following applicants are also eligible but must present proof of eligibility from an appropriate authority at their institute/university at the time of the main examination, otherwise, they will be denied entry.

Applicants who have taken and passed an examination that would qualify them educationally for one of the criteria listed above.
Students who have passed the MBBS final exam

Age Limit

On the first of August of the examination year, the candidate must be 21 years old and not older than 32 years old (for the General category candidate). Caste reservations have different age limits.

The upper age limit for Other Backward Castes (OBC) is 35 years.
The maximum for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) is 37 years.
The maximum for Military Services Personnel disabled in operations during wartime is 40 years.
For ex-servicemen, including commissioned officers and ECOs/SSCOs, who have served in the military for at least five years as of 1 August of the year and have been released
The maximum is 32 years for ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service.
The age limit for PWD candidates is 37.
The limit is 32 years for Jammu and Kashmir domiciles from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1989.
The standard age limits apply to the Economically Weaker Segment (EWS).