The Indian Forest Service Examination is conducted by the UPSC for recruitment to the Indian Forest Service in accordance with the provisions of the Rule notified from time to time by the Government of India in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Age limit
A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on the first day of July of the year in which the examination is held.
The upper age limit may be relaxed in respect of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and such other categories of persons, as may from time to time be notified in this behalf by the Government of India, to the extent and subject to the conditions notified in respect of each category.

Minimum Educational Qualification
A candidate must hold a Bachelor's Degree with at least one of the subjects, namely, Animal Husbandry & Ve~erinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology, or a Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture, Forestry, or in Engineering of a University incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as Universities under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.

NOTE : Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the Commission's examination but have not been informed of the result as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible provisionally for admission to the Commission's examination.

Examination Fee
Fee: Rs 100/- (No fee for SC/ST candidates).

Date of Exam
The examination is held once a year usually in the month of July.

Number of Attempts
Four attempts are permitted (No limit for SC/ST and seven attempts for OBC).

General Note about Examination Scheme
The Competitive Examination for the Indian Forest Service. comprises of Written Examination (Conventional-Essay type) and Interview.
(a) Written Examination consists of (i) Two compulsory subjects viz-General English and General Knowledge; maximum marks-300 each (ii) A selection from the optional subjects. The provision is that candidates must take any two of those subjects; maximum marks-200 each. ( b) Interview for the personality test of each candidate as may be called by the Commission; maximum marks-300 each.

1. General English
Marks - 300 marks

2. General Knowledge
Marks - 300 marks

3. Optional Subjects 1
Marks - 200 marks

4. Optional Subjects 2
Marks - 200 marks

Optional Subjects and Syllabus
(1) AGRICULTURE : Ecology, Cropping Pattern, Forestry, Weeds, Soil, Water, Marketing, Agricultural Extension, Cell, Plant Breeding, Physiology, Growth and Development, Climatic Requirements, Diseases and Pests, Pesticides, Food Production and Consumption Trends in India.

(2) AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING : Soil and Water Conservation, Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing, Irrigation and Drainage, Agricultural Structures, Farm Power and Machinery , Agro-energy, Agricultural Process Engineering, Instrumentation and Computer Applications in Agricultural Engineering.

(3) ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND VETERINARY SCIENCE : Animal Nutrition, Animal Physiology, Livestock Production and Management, Genetics and Animal Breeding, Population Genetics Applied to Animal Breeding, Breeding Systems, Health and Hygiene, Animal Diseases, VeterinarY Public Health, Milk and Milk Products Technology, Meat Hygiene and Technology, Extension.

(4) BOTANY : Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Cryptogans, Phanerogams, Plant Utility and Exploitation, Morphogenesis, Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Plant Breeding, Biotechnology and Biostatistics, Physiology and Biochemistry, Ecology and Plant Geography.

(5) CHEMISTRY : Atomic Structure, Chemical Bonding, Solid State, Gaseous State, Thermodynamics and Statistical Thermodynamics, Phase Equilibria and Solutions, Electrochemistry, Chemical Kinetics, Photochemistry, Surface Phenomena and Catalysis, Bio-lnorganic Chemistry, Coordination Chemistry, General Chemistry of 'f' Block Elements, Non-Aqueous Solvents, Delocalised Covalent Bonding, and Mechanism of Reaction, Polymeric Systems, Synthetic Uses of Reagents, Photochemistry, Principles of Spectroscopy and Applications in Structure Elucidation.

(6) CHEMICAL ENGINEERING : Fluid and Particle Dynamics, Mass Transfer, Heat Transfer, Novel Separation Processes, Process Equipment Design, Process Dynamics and Control, Material and Energy Balances, Chemical Engineering Thermo- dynamics, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Chemical Technology, Environmental Engineering and Safety.

(7) CIVIL ENGINEERING : Engineering Mechanics, Strength ofMaterials, Structural Analysis, Structural Steel Design, Design of Concrete and Masonry Structures, Fluid Mechanics, Dimensional Analysis and Similitude, Laminar Flow, Boondary Layer, Open Channel Flow, Hydraulic Mechines and Hydropower, Geo Technical Engineering, Construction Technology, Construction Equipment, Planning and Management, Survey and Transportation EngineeriI:tg, Hydrology, Water Resources and Engineering, Environmental Engineering.

(8) FORESTRY : Silviculture, Agroforestry, Social Forestry , Joint Forest Management and Tribiology, Forest Soils, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management, Environmental Conservation and Biodiversity, Tree Improvement and Seed Technology, Forest Management and Management Systems, Forest Working Plan, Forest Mensuration and Remote Sensing, Surveying and Forest Engineering, Forest Ecology and Ethnobotany, Forest Resources and Utilization, Forest Protection and Wildlife Biology, Forest Economcis and Legislation.

(9) GEOLOGY : General Geology, Geomorphology and Remote Sensing, Structutral Geology, Paleontology, Stratigraphy and Geology of India, Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Mineralogy, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Sedimentology, Economic Geology, Mining Geology, Geochemistry and Environmental Geology.

(10) MATHEMATICS : Linear Algebra, Calculus, Analytic Geometry, Ordinary Differential Equations, Dynamics, Statics and Hydrostatics, Vector Analysis, Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Linear Programming, Partial Differential Equations, Numerical Analysis and Computer Programming, Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.

(11) MECHALLICAL ENGINEERING : Theory of Machines, Mechanics of Solids, Engineering Materials, Manufacturing Science, Manufacturing Management, E1ements of Computation, Thermodynamics, IC Engines, Fuels and Combustion, Heat Transfer, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Turbo Machines and Power Plants.

(12) PHYSICS : Classical Mechanics, Special Relativity, Waves and Geometrical Optics, Physical Optics, Electricity and Magnetostatics, Electromagnetic Theory and Black Body Radiation, Thermal and Statistical Physics, Quantum Mechanics I, Quantum Mechanics II and Atomic Physics, Molecular Physics, Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics and Solid State Physics, Electronics.

(13) STATISTICS : Probability, Statistical Inference, Linear Inference and Multivariate Analysis, Sampling Theory and Design of Experiments, Industrial Statistics, Optimization Techniques, Quantitative Economics and Official Statistics, Demography and Psychometry.

(14) ZOOLOGY : Non-Chordata and Chordata, Ecology, Ethology, Economic Zoology, Biostatistics, Instrumental Methods, Cell Biology, Genetics, Evolution, Systematics, Biochemistry, Physiology, Developmental Biology.

Standard of Papers
The standard of papers in General English and General Knowledge will be such as may be expected ofa Science/Engineering Graduate of an Indian University .
The standard of papers in the other subjects will approximately be that of the
Bachelor's Degree (Pass) ofan Indian University.
There will be no Practical Examination in any of the subjects.

GENERAL ENGLISH : Candidates will be required to write an essay in English. Other questions will be designed to test their understanding of English and workmanlike use ofwords. Passage will usually be set for summary or precis.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE : General Knowledge including knowledge of Current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspects as may be expected of an educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific subject. The paper will also include questions on History of India and Geography of a nature which candidates should be able to answer without special study.

Other Information Regarding Plan of Examination

NOTE : No candidate is allowed to take both (a) Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering, (b) Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, (c) Mathematics and Statistics, ( d) Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, ( e) Of the Engineering , subjects viz.- Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering-not more than one subject.

Interivews Test/ Personality Test
The candidate will be interviewed by a Board of competent and unbiased observers who will have before them a record of his career. The object of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for the service.

How to Apply
The notification is published in Employment News generally in the month of January/February. The Application Form along with Information Brochure must be obtained from the designated Head Post Offices/Post Offices throughout the country as listed in the notification published in Employment News/Leading Newspapers against cash payment of Rs 20. Candidates must use the form supplied with the Information Brochure only and they should in no case use photocopy/ reproduction/unauthorisedly printed copy of the Form.

Last Date
The last date for submission of completed applications is usually in the month of February/March. (Information compiled from Vidyapatha.com)