In this article let’s take a look at why NCERTS are important for UPSC & whether NCERTS are enough or not for UPSC preparation.
So if you are new to UPSC preparation and you do not know why every UPSC aspirant starts their preparation with NCERT then you should read this article because at the end of this article
you will also be convinced to start your preparation from NCERT like others but you exactly know why you are doing it instead of following the herd mentality.
So without further ado let’s get started.
Why NCERTS is important for UPSC?
If you are in a hurry or don’t want to read this entire article then here is the brief answer,
NCERT books are important for UPSC because they are trusted source of information, they are simple, easy to understand books which help you get a strong foundation of the subject which you are preparing, many questions of these books are directly asked in prelims exam, these books are also very affordable in price.
Now let’s take a look at the factors and reasons of why you should read NCERT for UPSC preparation in detail.
Trusted source of information
One of the main reasons why you should consider reading NCERT books for UPSC preparation is that it it is very trusted source of information because
it is published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) which is an autonomous organization set up in 1961 by the Government of India.
The sole objective of this government organization is to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on policies and programmes for qualitative improvement in school education.
RS Sharma, Satish Chandra, Bipin Chandra and Arjun Dev are some renowned author who incorporated to design the NCERT books, which means top and
highly educated government officials design and prepare a text books of NCERT after doing thorough research and Discussion.
Actually these Textbooks published by NCERT are prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are taught from classes I to XII, with exceptions for a few subjects.
Around 19 school boards from 14 states have adopted or adapted the books, there are some states like Telangana Andhra Pradesh Karnataka, etc which have their own State board of education instead of CBSE.
Simple & easy to understand for aspirants
Another interesting thing about NCERT books is that it is very simple and easy to understand for UPSC aspirants because primary these books are used in Central board of secondary education and
these books are taught from class 1 to class 12 students in the school who are not very intelligent and experienced And
proficient in English language because of that reason these books are designed and develop in a very simple and easy to understand language.
Because of simple and easy to understand language it helps many UPSC aspirants grasp ideas properly and it reduces the learning curve involved when UPSC aspirants learn new subjects and
because of it aspirants will gain confidence when they start understanding concepts and subjects that they can prepare & cover the remaining Syllabus easily because they already learnt important concepts of the subjects faster.
Great resource to lay strong foundation of subjects
Another important benefit of NCERT is that it can help you have a strong foundation of subject.
Just like how pillars and strong foundation of Granites & stones are important if you want to build a strong, steady building or apartment similarly having good foundation of right knowledge and crystal clear in
concepts is equally important if you want to clear UPSC exam and NCERT books are great resource to get strong foundation of subject which can help you clear the exam. It guarantees that aspirants are no longer a beginner once you go through them thoroughly.
At the same time there are frequent updates takes place in these books, old NCERT books are written in a factual and direct manner.
The books are bulky, but the direct presentation helps readers to memorise concepts and facts faster. New NCERT books are written in a subjective manner, trying to evoke thoughts from the reader.
You can choose any one of NCERT whether old or new depending upon your comfort and convenience during the preparation.
Because of having strong foundation of the subject through these books for the majority of UPSC aspirants it becomes a piece of cake to cover the remaining syllabus.
Many questions Directly asked in exam
Another interesting thing about these books is that many questions in the UPSC prelims exam are directly asked from these NCERT books.
For example in 2016, UPSC CSE prelims exam, 5 questions have been directly asked from NCERT books and one of these questions are mentioned below,
With reference to the economic history of medieval India, the term ‘Araghatta’ refers to
- Bonded labour
- Land grants made to military officers
- Waterwheel used in the irrigation of land
- Wasteland converted to cultivated land
The correct answer for this MCQ question is option 3, Water wheel used in the irrigation of land,
Lets try another MCQ question taken from NCERT in prelims.
The demand for the Tebhaga Peasant Movement in Bengal was for (2013)
- The uprooting of Zamindari system and the end of serfdom
- Writing off all peasant debts
- The grant of ownership of land to peasants as they were the actual cultivators of the land
- The reduction of the share of the landlords from one-half of the crop to one-third
The correct answer is D.
Apart from prelims, so many questions from these books have been asked in the mains exam as well.
but the point I am trying to convey is that there are many instances in many prelims exams of UPSC where many questions of NCERT books
have been directly asked in the exam so with this we can understand that NCERT books are getting considered when the question paper for Prelims
exam is prepared by the UPSC officers board and we all know that prelims exam is the first stage of UPSC exam and
if you don’t score good marks and pass the exam, you can’t move forward and write mains exam and become IAS or become a Civil Servant.
So this is another big reason to choose NCERTS.
Affordable price of books & easily available
Another reason you should choose these books is because they are not only affordable in prices but also very easily available.
On average the NCERT book will cost you on 150 rupees depending upon the subject and class of the book, you can click here to purchase 40 books of NCERT for UPSC for around 3000 rupees on Amazon and you can also purchase all the important NCERT books on other E-commerce websites like Flipkart in affordable price.
And if you don’t like to go with online then you can also purchase the NCERT books in your nearest book store which is also quite affordable.
And you can also download the online version and PDF of NCERT books if you don’t either want to purchase the physical copy or you don’t have the budget to do it.
Affordability and availability of these books is also something very awesome that makes it important for UPSC aspirants.
Because of all these reasons I highly recommend you to choose NCERTS as the first preference whenever you start preparing for UPSC exam.
Now that you know NCERT books are very important for UPSC preparation and other most frequently asked question by UPSC aspirants is, is it enough to read NCERT for UPSC preparation let’s take a look at the answer for it.
Is NCERT enough for UPSC preparation?
My answer to this question is both yes & no.
Let me tell you why, first of all as you have learnt in this article that NCERTS books are very easy to read and simple to understand and it can help you to establish a strong foundation of the subject and
you can complete reading NCERT books within a couple of months because it does not require much learning curve as they are simple to read and fast to grasp ideas and concepts.
Because of this reason NCERT books in most cases is quite enough if you want to prepare for UPSC because it can help you establish a good foundation and
when it comes to other subjects like geography, economics politics, history, etc you will have to study other books apart from NCERT for example books like
Indian history after Gandhi, Indian polity by Laxmikant, Indian economy by Ramesh Singh, introduction to constitution of India by DD Basu, India’s struggle for independence by Bipin Chandra,
geography of India by Majid Husain, IGNOU material on disaster management, etc are some important books you need to read during UPSC preparation apart from NCERT.
So overall NCERT books are enough if you want to get strong foundation, basic idea and concept of the subject but if you want to get deeper and learn other subjects like Indian polity,
history and geography then you will have to purchase other important books which I mentioned earlier based on the subject and the concept you want to read.
I think you have understood the answer to the question.
With that said let’s conclude the blog.
Conclusion
These are all the things you need to know regarding why NCERTS are important to read for UPSC aspirants during the preparation.
Do comment down what do you think about the NCERTS books in the comment section below.
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