Public Administration Books for IAS Reference Books For Preliminary Examination Pub AD 1. Indian Administration - Ramesh K.

Arora & Rajni Goyal. 2. Indian Administration - S.R. Maheswari. 3. Administrative Theory - Avasti & Avasti 4. Public Administration - Avasti & Maheswari. 5. Administrative Thinkers - R. Prasad and Prasad. 6. Administrative Thinkers - S.R. Maheswari. 7. Public Administration - Sadan and Sharma 8. Local Government - S.R. Maheswari. 9. New Horizons of Public Administration - Mohit Bhattacharya. 10. Public Administration Theory and concepts - Rumki Basu 11. Public Administration (Manual) (TATA MC Graw Hill) - Laxmikanth. 12. Indian Constitution - D.D. Basup (or) Pandey. 13. Public Administration and Public Affairs - Nicholas Henry. 14. Modern Public Administration - Nigro and Nigro. General Reference Books for Public Administration To put the subject in its proper context the historical development (evolution o f public administration discipline) of the subject should be studied with great emphasis. Public administration in theory and practice - M.P. Sharma and B.L Sadan Public administration - Mohit Bhattacharya Modern public administration - Nigro and Nigro Theories and principles of administration : Administrative thinkers - Pras ad & Prasad * Principles of management - Terry and Frankline * Administrative Behaviors: Managing organizational behavior - Paul Hersey & Kenneth Blanchard * Personal Administration - Public personal administration - O. Glennstal * Financial administration: Financial administration of India - M.J.K. Thava ray * Comparative administration : public administration a comparative perspecti ve - Ferrel Heady or Comparative public administration - Ramesh * Control over administration : Public administration - Avasthi & Maheswari * Central administration in India: Central administration - A. Avasthi * Civil Services in India : Indian administration - S.R. Maheswari, State * District and local administration: State administration - J.D. Shukla * District administration -- S. S. Khera * Local Government in India - S.R. Maheshwari * Laxmikant's guide (for clearing conepts) * IGNOU Study Materials * IJPA articles on relevant topics * Current News Papers * * * *

Public Administration Syllabus for Main Examination 1. Introduction : Meaning, scope and significance. Evolution and status of the d iscipline. Comparative Public Administration and Development Administration. Pub lic and Private Administration: State versus market debate. New Pubic Administra tion. New Public Management perspective.

2. Basic concepts and principles : Organisation, hierarchy, Unity of command, Sp an of control, Authority and Responsibility, Co-ordination, Centralization and D ecentralization, Delegation, Supervision, Line and Staff. 3. Theories of Administration : Scientific Management (Taylor and the Scientific Managment Movement), Classical Theory (Fayol, Urwick, Gulick and others) Bureau cratic Theory (Weber and his critics). Ideas of Mary Parker Follett and C.I. Bar nard; Human Relations School (Elton Mayo and others). Behavioral Approach, Syste ms approach. 4. Administrative Behaviour : Decision making with special reference to H. Simon , communication and control, leadership theories. Theories of motivation (Maslow and Herzberg) 5. Accountability and Control : The concepts of Accountability and control : Leg islative, executive and judicial control. Citizen and Administration: Role of ci vil society, people's participation and Right to Information. 6. Administrative Systems : Comparative administrative features of USA, Great Br itain, France and Japan. 7. Personnel Administration : Role of Civil Service in developing societies; pos ition classification, Recuritment, Training, Promotion, Pay and Service conditio ns. Relations with the Political Executive; Administrative Ethics. 8. Financial Administration : Budget: Concepts and forms. Formulation and execut ion of budget, deficit financing and public debt, Accounts and Audit. 9. Union Government and Administration in India. British legacy : Constitutional context of Indian Administration; The President, Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers; Central Secretariat; Cabinet Secretariat, Prime Minister's Office , Planning Commission; Finance Commission; Election Commission; Comptroller and Auditor-General of India. Public enterprises: Patterns, role performance and imp act of liberalization. 10. Civil Services in India : Recruitment to All India and Central Services. Uni on Public Service Commission; Training of Civil Servants. Generalists and Specia lists. Minister-Civil Servant relationship. 11. State and District Administration : Governor, Chief Minister, Secretariat, C hief Secretary, Directorates, District Collector: changing role. 12. Local Government : Panchayati Raj and Urban local Government: Main features, structures, finances and problem areas. 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendement s.

Given the time constraint, a well-thought out strategy makes the difference betw een success and failure. Intensive and focused approach built on analysis needs to be scrupulously adhered to. Some ingredients of a 'smart strategy' are: Building a general overview Perusal of question papers of previous years Identification of 'thrust areas' for concentrated pursuit Examination-bias Adequate writing practice for time management and evolving right content Continuous review of performance and appropriate corrections At least two weeks before the examination, writing exercises should be sto pped and the entire attention should be on revision. Every candidate appearing for the mains examination should be conversant with th e fundamentals of the structure, process, behaviour and environment of the admin * * * * * * *

istrative system. It's equally important that the student should be conversant w ith the contemporary and the current developments of socio-political and economi c nature that have a close bearing on the functioning of the administration. For example, changing governors; direct grants to panchayats; economic reforms with a human face; globalisation and administration; second generation reforms and t he social infrastructure; right to information and participative development. Amassing information is a big 'don't'. Candidates should be able to identify 'co re areas' which cannot be avoided in the context of the mains examination and co nsolidate. Most importantly, study and writing practice should reinforce each ot her. Writing practice holds the key to success. It ensures legibility, time mana gement and adherence to word limit. Effective introduction, logical build up and balanced conclusion send the right signals to the evaluator. Every question nee ds to be studied carefully to understand the exact requirements. For instance, s ome years ago, in the mains examination, the office of the Prime Minister was gi ven and some took it for Prime Minister's Office. Several times, the questions a re general in nature and not direct. For example, criminalisation of politics an d politicisation of crime; public sector enterprises are neither public nor ente rprises; recruitment of recruiters needs to be streamlined and planning in India needs to be depoliticised. For short questions, answers should be direct and precise. In a long essay, intr oduction should be appealing and effective. Elaboration of the theme should be p roperly prioritised. Sequencing should be done in such a manner that one paragra ph logically follows from another. Depending upon the paper I or II, apt illustr ations add value. While answering a question on welfare administration, the conc ept of welfare needs to be supplemented with the initiatives undertaken by the g overnment highlighting the different types of programmes, the coverage and the r esource profile. Unlike general studies, public administration requires interpre tative skills, ability to correlate theory and practice; and synchronise convent ional with the current. For example, presidential activism in India; budget as a n instrument of socio-economic transformation; citizen-administration interface and e-governance; regulation and development; development and delivery models. Paper I Administrative theory : Section - A Theories of Administration: Scientific Management, Human Relations' School, Bure aucratic Theory and Systems Approach - These are all essential theories and stud ents need to focus on critical aspects, which is not there in General Studies (G S). Students need to be exhaustive with their preparation, which should be based on 3Cs - comprehensive, clarity and critical approach. Structure of Public Organisations: In GS, a general approach to public sector is required whereas in Public Administration, the approach to this is actually amp lification of government policy. Few years ago, a question in the main stage in the Public Administration paper was, `Welfare obligation of public sector has be en abandoned in the era of liberalisation''.This question will never come in GS. The nature of this question is provocative and you need to respond with a positi ve attitude. Your reply could begin with:''Public sector still fulfil nation's g oal of welfare....'' Or, there might be a question which says, ''Since 1967, pos ition of governor has been politicised''. Administrative Behaviour: This topic is a real challenge and students need to be thorough with a concept like motivation. They need to be thorough with atleast three thinkers which include Maslow, Herzberg and Macgregor. They need to make a comparative account of all three of them. The year preceding, a quotation from Macgregor's original book of quotation was given. Accountability and Control: We are in a parliamentary system and students need t o be clear about Parliament and its functions. They should read books on governa

nce by Arun Shourie and Bimal Jalan. They also must be conversant on how Parliam ent functions in all aspects. Section B Administrative Reforms: This is a dynamic area as the emphasis is on technology. Students need to be thorough with legislations like Right to Information, rende ring administration through people-centric institutions like panchayats and naga r palikas. Concepts like social auditing and participatory governance need to be studied in detail. Comparative Public Administration: You need to read thinkers like Riggs. Earlier , public administration was centred around Western concepts whereas the focus is now on third world countries like India. Students are expected to be familiar w ith issues like governance, rural development, privatisation and human rights in Brazil, China and South Africa. Development Administration: Students need to approach this topic with an open mi nd and with some amount of reading. They need to follow international trends on how technology is impacting administration across third world and elsewhere. Thi s is relevant for India as there is a political dimension to the whole concept a s it deals in issues like federalism and decentralisation. It has a dimension of administration where you deal with various aspects like poverty alleviation, em powerment, retraining and administration machinery. Public Policy: It's a challenging topic and students need to be aware about Dror who spoke maximum on issues related to public policy. Students need to be aware of how the country is developing particularly on issues related to disinvestmen ts. Students need to be aware of anti-poverty programmes and how employment-gene ration schemes have evolved all these years. Financial Administration: This topic is routed in Indian practices. You have iss ues like Parliament and Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and how d o they function but students have to be absolutely clear on these issues.There i s premium on latest knowledge like the PM's and finance minister's recent speech es as well. Paper II Indian Administration : Section - A Evolution of Indian Administration: Areas which are crucial include criminalisat ion of politics and politicisation of crime, President's rule, Federal system in context of coalition government, fiscal and monetary policy. Constitutional framework: President, Parliament and judiciary: These are importa nt but students should not follow the conventional mode while preparing for main paper. Questions are generally twisted and they need to muster facts while givi ng right interpretation. Like in GS, the questions will deal with discretionary power of Governor (Article 116) whereas for public Administration, they might as k, ''Governor is an agent of centre''. Similarly in GS, the question might be ba sed on Panchayati Raj System based on 73rd amendment. In Public Administration, they might ask, ''Panchayats are not development delivery vehicle, they are an i ndependent tier of governance in true Gandhian spirit''. Students need to read n ational dailies to prepare for these kind of topics. Union Government and Administration: The focus is on Prime Minister's Office (PM O) and Cabinet Secretariat. The PMO has acquired enormous importance during the last three to four decade. Students should focus on how the relationship between PMO and Cabinet Secretariat has evolved under these c i rc u m s t a n ce s. Ne wspapers and journals should be good source of information on this issue. State Government and Administration: Students need to be thorough with the Sarka

ria Commission's report on Centre-State relations and National Commission to Rev iew the Working of Constitution report which was submitted in 2002 District Administration and Local Government: The changing role of collector vis -a-vis technology, District Rural Development Authority, District Development Au thority, structure of panchayats and nagar palikas. There should focus on on iss ues like Right to Information, Cyber Governance. Section B Public Services: There should be focus on UPSC, State Public Service Commissions and how ''recruiters should be properly recruited''. The constitutional aspect and functions of these institutions need to be studied. Control of Public Expenditure: Sections like Parliament and CAG have already bee n dealt in paper I. They need to further focus on Public Interest Litigation, ju dicial activism which includes extra ordinary intervention by Supreme Court and High Courts in order to restore dwindling public faith in system because of decl ining public morality at highest level. Administrative Reforms: Queries on Right to Information, social audit, panchayat i raj, Voluntary R e t i re m e n t Schemes are part of the administrative refor ms. Machinery for Planning: Student need to focus on Planning Commission and how the role has changed during all these years. They need to find out that whether Pla nning Commission should be merged with Finance Commission in the context of libe ralisation. Students can gather information from national newspapers, periodical and journals. Administration of Law and Order: The role of central and state agencies in the m aintenance of law and order and articles published on these issues should be giv en top priority Welfare Administration: This is an evolving area and there is no specific readin g material available on this issue. Students need to go through annual report of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Writing: Application is the key while writing this paper. Avoid jargon and abbre viation, be precise. Premium is on accuracy, insightfulness and application.

Public Administration Prelims This subject has become very popular as a prelims optional. The main reasons are : Availability of good coaching and study material Guidance is easy since many seniors opt for it Subject matter is easy to understand Syllabus is quite manageable However, a very good score is required as the competition is tough. The main sou rce for the prelims is the TMH guide by Laxmikanth(But don t rely

completely on it as this proved undependable from 2006 on wards). It is, of cour se, a very good compilation from various sources in exam orientation. The prepar ation should be such that any question based on the material in this book should be an swered. The study should be thorough including the various questions given in th e book. Since the questions can be factual and can be asked from anywhere, there i s need for wide study. But the first effort should be to study TMH thoroughly an d the main standard books to gain basic clarity. After that, some time can be spent every d ay in scanning various material for the additional study matter. Here, you shoul d not spend too much time and also should not read from end to end, but only scan for areas that you have not done before or some new facts. Books: Awasthi and Maheshwari- Public Administration Prasad and Prasad - Thinkers Ramesh Arora - Indian Administration Mohit Bhattacharya - New Horizons in Public Administration. Maheshwari - Indian Administration IGNOU books. Practise lots of tests from anywhere you get. Identify the weak areas and focus accordingly. Note: Make a note of the mistakes that you make in the tests and try to rectif y them If you do not understand the question, look at the Hindi translation and see if you can gain clarity on whats being asked. Prepare mnemonics sheets to remember various facts. Read them again and again, especially before the exam date. Main Examination: The advantage and disadvantage of this optional is the huge availability of mate rial. Aspirants waste most of their time searching for the books and material. The sec ret for success in this optional is writing practice. Unless well practiced, it is n ot possible to score good marks. So writing skills matter a lot in securing good marks. But with practice it is always possible to improve. Note: The questions might seem indirect and vague, but with good basic clarity any question can be attempted. In recent times, the long questions are being asked directly. The examiner only expects you to write a simple logical answer with clarity. Do not try to remember too many quotations as it is difficult to reproduce. The introduction and conclusions should be written well Do not read all the books from end-to-end. Prepare topic wise in a comprehensive manner. The main priority should be given to gain the basic clarity. Practise the previous years papers. Use examples, contemporary relevance, case studies, flow diagrams etc. Read case studies from The Hindu, Frontline, Kurukshetra, Yojana and EPW. While answering Indian Administration questions, answer with respect to Constitution, Preamble, etc and how the issue is in conformity with basic structure. Introduction chapter is to be studied well as it deals with the basic evolution of the

subject and the trends. The questions might seem difficult. But with good understanding it can be very scoring. The concepts can be used elsewhere also. T he material is available on most topics. The Theories chapter should be done well. This is a very scoring and with wellde fined syllabus preparation can also be comprehensive. The material availability is good. 86 The Structure chapter is easy and can be covered quickly. But questions may not be asked every year. The material availability is good. The Behaviour chapter is very scoring. The questions are also asked regularly. T he material is also good. The chapter on Accountability is scoring. This area is important in the contempo rary trend. So questions are asked regularly. There is also scope for lot of innovati on. The material is deficient for some areas. There is also a need to prepare from curre nt affairs. The Administrative Law is very short chapter with limited scope. The questions m ay not be asked regularly. But it should be attempted if given in exam. It is scori ng and the material is also available. The administrative reforms chapter is short and easy. It can be scoring with innovations. The material is also standard. Be open to any information that appe ars in the newspapers. The CPA chapter is scoring. It can be attempted in the exam. But questions may n ot come every year. The material availability is problem in some aspects. The DA chapter is relevant to Indian context. So prepare well for this area. The questions are asked almost every year. The material availability is a problem fo r some areas. Lot of innovation and contemporary relevance can be included. The Public policy chapter is not asked every year. The material availability is also a problem. The personnel chapter is very scoring and should be attempted. The questions are also asked every year. The material is good. So, do well in this chapter. Check out for latest information in newspapers. The Financial chapter is scoring in some areas. There is problem of material in some topics. In Indian administration, the scoring areas are: evolution, framework, union, st ate govt., reforms, law and order, welfare. Though a lot of books can be mentioned for this optional but I will mention the standard ones which should suffice. PAPER-I BOOKS 87 1. New Horizons of public administration by Mohit Bhattacharya 2. Administrative thinkers by prasad and prasad (theories part) 3. Public Administration by Sharma and Sadana (read administrative law, personnel administration, financial administration, development administration, comparitive administration and other paper-I topics)

4. IGNOU material (read public policy) 5. Public Administration by Avasthi and Maheshwari (read administrative law and administrative reforms) PAPER-II BOOKS 1. Indian Administration by Rajini Goyal and Arora (covers most of the topics of paper II) 2. Public Administration by Avasthi and Maheshwari (read public sector) 3. Indian Administration by Avasthi and Avasthi (read administrative reforms, administration of law and order) 4. Introduction to the constitution of India by D.D.Basu and last but not least 5. Articles from IIPA Journals (aspirants can get Mr.Minocha s collection of articles from IIPA Journals which is sufficient) Some topics like welfare administration, administration of law and order should be collected while reading newspapers, India yearbook etc. Other Books for your interest/reference: Ramesh Arora - Indian Public Administration Comparative Public Administartion Sachdeva - Social welfare administration Public Policy - Sapru Rumki Basu - Public Administration Maheshwari - Indian Administration NCERT books IJPA special edition in1998 on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Social Theory & Development Administration Mohit CPA Ramesh Arora Sociology REFERENCE BOOKS FOR PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION: 1. IGNOU Material 2. Sociology - Sachideva & Vidhya Bushan. 3. Sociology - T.B. Bottomore. 4. Sociology Themes & Perspectives - Moralambose & R.M. Heald. 5. Unique Guide. 6. Dhilion Guide. 88 7.