Some standard books for Public Administration areAwasthi and Maheshwari- Public Administration

Prasad and Prasad Thinkers

Ramesh Arora Indian Administration
Mohit Bhattacharya New Horizons in Public Administration.
Maheshwari Indian Administration
IGNOU books.
Fadia and Fadia
Sharma and Sadana
Paper-I
Introduction:
This Chapter is very important. Read topics from class notes, Fadia and
Fadia, and Mohit Bhattacharya. Also refer to IGNOU notes for this topic.
The information from this topic can be used in answering questions of
other units as well. This is a very scoring area.
2. Administrative Thought:
You must know the theories of various scholars very well. Try to go in
as much detail as you can but do not go into unnecessary details.
Writing some details (but not all details) gives a unique touch to your
answers. Read from Prasad and Prasad. This is also a very scoring area.
3. Administrative Behaviour:
For this chapter, read from Sharma and Sadana. It is a very good
source of information. I also found the printed material of my coaching

class helpful. You may want to make your own notes though this
depends from person to person.
4. Organisations:
This is a relatively small chapter which can be studied from any
standard book or from the printed material of any coaching class.
5. Accountability and Control:
Questions from this chapter are being asked lately as it is relevant in
the current context. Apart from your class notes, you can go through
Sharma and Sadana, printed material and Yojana and Kurukshetra
articles. There is a lot of scope of innovation in this topic in the sense
that you will often be able to correlate it to news items/editorials in the
news papers and you will also find many case studies. If questions
come from this area there is ample scope for you to give some unique
points that may not be found in most of the answer scripts.
6. Administrative Law:
For this Chapter, you can refer to Sharma and Sadana and newspapers.
It is a very scoring area. Information may also be pooled in from
Awasthi and Maheshwari and GS Polity notes. Just like for the previous
Unit, if questions come from this area there is ample scope for you to
give some unique points that may not be found in most of the answer
scripts.
7. Comparative Public Administration:

For this topic, it is good to refer to class notes OR Ramesh Arora (no
need to do both). Since the book is short, one can read the entire book
and underline relevant portions. If you are able to get a grip over the
content in this book or your class notes, you will be able to answer any
question for CPA.
8. Development Dynamics:
This is a very important Chapter even though questions may not be
asked every year but material from this chapter can be used in other
topics too. Also, since many books were written in early 2000 or late
90s, you will have to make use of your knowledge from GS,
newspapers and Yojana/Frontline/IJPA articles for this topic. You can rely
on your class notes for this topic. The book by Mohit Bhattacharya
titled- Social Theory & Development Administration is helpful.
9. Personnel Administration:
For this chapter, I read from two books- Sharma and Sadana and Fadia
and Fadia. I also referred to the printed material. This is an important
chapter since questions are being asked in the past 2-3 years from this
area. Practice writing answers and correlate this chapter with the Civil
Services Chapter of Paper-II. Study both these Chapters together
comprehensively. Make sure to quote ARC recommendations and
reports of other relevant committees as and when appropriate.
10. Public Policy:

For this chapter, IGNOU notes are a very good source apart from class
notes. Questions are not asked regularly but students must focus on
Policy Implementation and Policy Evaluation. Also keep an eye out in
news papers and magazines for latest information in this topic.
11. Techniques of Administrative Improvement:
This is a small chapter and may be studied from printed material and
Internet. There is a lot of scope of giving unique points in this chapter.
12. Financial Administration:
This is a very important chapter and students must study it thoroughly.
I referred class notes, printed material and Sharma and Sadana for this
unit. Study this chapter along with Financial Management of Paper-II
comprehensively as a single unit.

Go_tam July 2012

Paper- II
While answering Indian Administration questions, answer with
respect to Constitution, Preamble, etc and how the issue is in
conformity with basic structure.
1. Evolution of Indian Administration:
This is a scoring area although there is little scope of uniqueness in
this topic. It is given very well in Rajini Goyal and Arora.

2. Philosophical and Constitutional framework of

government:
Rajini Goyal and Arora, class notes and D.D. Basu. Remember to
always correlate answer in this topic with Constitution and current
Parliamentary enactments.
3. Public Sector Undertakings:
This is a topic that is best covered from IJPA articles and also from
Laxmikant.
4. Union Government and Administration:
Refer to your class notes, GS Polity notes, Rajini Goyal and Arora
and newspapers. There is a lot of scope to innovate in this topic by
quoting current practices of our Parliamentary system and
comparing them with practices in other nations especially USA and
UK.
5. Plans and Priorities:
I could not find any good source for this Chapter so I relied on class
notes and IJPA articles.
6. State Government and Administration:
Same sources and approach as Chapter-4.

7. District Administration since Independence:

Refer to Rajini Goyal and Arora, IJPA articles and the book by Avasthi
and Avasthi.
8. Civil Services:
Same sources and approach as Chapter-9 of Paper-I.
9. Financial Management:
Same sources and approach as Chapter-12 of Paper-I.
10. Administrative Reforms since Independence:
For this chapter read the reports of various committees. If you are
not able to read entire reports then read their summaries. Lay
emphasis on understanding the overall picture of administrative
reforms in our nation since Independence. Also, you must use
information from this topic extensively in answers to other topics
questions as well.
11. Rural Development:
12. Urban Local Government:
For the above two Chapters, apart from class notes, I read Rajini
Goyal and Arora. I also used a lot of information from newspapers

and Yojana articles. In answers for these units, first always correlate
with Constitutional articles, then give basic points and then cite
case studies.
13. Law and Order Administration:
For this Unit, apart from class notes, I read Avasthi and Avasthi. I
also used information from newspapers and Frontline articles. There
is a lot of room of innovation in this Chapter and students can give
many unique points in their answers.
14. Significant issues in Indian Administration:
Questions from this chapter are increasingly being asked recently.
Unfortunately, I could not find any comprehensive source for this
topic. I thus relied heavily on newspapers, Frontline/Yojana/IJPA
articles and my GS Current Affairs notes. Answers in this chapter, if
written well can fetch a lot of marks and there is a lot of scope of
giving unique points by going into details of the setup of relevant
institutions in India. For example, in Disaster Management, you can
discuss the entire machinery at Central, State and District levels
and details of relevant Acts.