Indore (Madhya pradesh): The UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2025 was held on Sunday amid tight security and well-coordinated administrative arrangements across 36 centres in the district. Out of 14,692 registered candidates, only about 65 per cent appeared for the much-anticipated exam.
The General Studies (Paper 1) in the morning session proved to be a tough hurdle for many aspirants. While subjects like History and Indian Polity were seen as scoring, questions related to Physics and Mathematics left several candidates puzzled and pressed for time.
Candidates described the General Studies paper as more difficult than in previous years, particularly pointing out that the current affairs section leaned heavily on analytical reasoning rather than straightforward facts. Ancient history and polity were considered relatively easier. A mixed bag of conceptual and factual questions came from topics such as environment and geography.
"Physics questions were unexpectedly difficult. I had to skip some due to time constraints," said Raghvendra Singh, a UPSC aspirant. Another candidate, Himanshu Joshi, echoed the same views, noting that the Mathematics and Physics questions took longer to solve and were tougher than in previous years.
Smooth execution
The first session, held from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, saw 9,761 candidates in attendance (66%). The second session, Paper 2 (CSAT) from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, had 9,571 candidates, while over 5,100 skipped the exam.
To ensure seamless conduct of the exam, the district administration made special provisions to maintain uninterrupted power supply at the exam centers. Fifteen teams from the electricity department were deployed, with backup generators and inverters delivered a day in advance.
Tight security and verification
Security was heightened across all centres. Candidates were subjected to multi-level checks, including face verification, metal detector scanning and strict admit card inspections. The process caused brief delays, but thanks to pleasant weather, waiting candidates were spared the discomfort of the summer heat. Entry gates were sealed 30 minutes before the start of each paper.
CSAT offers some relief
The second paper, CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test), brought a sigh of relief to many. Being a qualifying paper, requiring just 33 per cent marks, candidates found it relatively easy. The reasoning and comprehension questions were described as straightforward, with basic math also on the simpler side.
