About Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA):
Special Class Railway Apprentice is a competitive Exam, managed/ conducted by UPSC, on the behalf of Ministry of Indian Railways (Railway Board) for the appointment of personnel in the Indian Railways Mechanical Department. Successful candidates in SCRA exam will undergo a four year Apprenticeship Training program, before they will be appointed as probationers in the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers.
- Syllabus of General Ability Test for UPSC SCRA Exam
(I) English
The questions will be designed to test the candidates’ understanding and command of the language.
(II) General Knowledge
The questions will be designed to test a candidate’s general awareness of the environment around him/her and its application to society. The standard of answers to questions should be as expected of students of standard 12 or equivalent.
Man and his environment: Evolution of life, plants and animals, heredity and environment-Genetics, cells, chromosomes, genes.
Knowledge of the human body, nutrition, balanced diet, substitute foods, public health and sanitation including control of epidemics and common diseases. Environmental pollution and its control. Food adulteration, proper storage and preservation of food grains and finished products, population explosion, population control. Production of food and raw materials. Breeding of animals and plants, artificial insemination, manures and fertilizers, crop protection measures, high yielding varieties and green revolution, main cereal and cash crops of India.
Solar system and the earth. Seasons, Climate, Weather, Soil – its formation, erosion. Forests and their uses. Natural calamities cyclones, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. Mountains and rivers and their role in irrigation in India. Distribution of natural resources and industries in India. Exploration of underground minerals including Oil. Conservation of natural resources with particular reference to the flora and fauna of India.
History, Politics and Society in India: Vedic, Mahavir, Budhdha, Mauryan, Sunga, Andhra, Kushan. Gupta ages (Mauryan Pillars, Stupa Caves, Sanchi, Mathura and Gandharva Schools, Temple architecture, Ajanta and Ellora). The rise of new social forces with the coming of Islam and establishment of broader contacts. Transition from feudalism to capitalism. Opening of European contacts. Establishment of British rule in India. Rise of nationalism and national struggle for freedom culminating in Independence.
Constitution of India and its characteristic features: Democracy, Secularism, Socialism, equality of opportunity and Parliamentary form of Government. Major political ideologies – Democracy, Socialism, Communism and Gandhian idea of non-violence. Indian political parties, pressure groups, public opinion and the Press, electoral system.
India’s foreign policy and non-alignment, Arms race, balance of power. World organisation – political, social, economic and cultural. Important events (including sports and cultural activities) in India and abroad during the past two years.
Broad features of Indian social system: The caste system, hierarchy, recent changes and trends. Minority social institution – marriage, family, religion and acculturation. Division of labour, co-operation, conflict and competition, Social control – reward and punishment, art, law, customs, propaganda, public opinion, agencies of social control – family, religion, State educational institutions; factors of social change – economic, technological, demographic, cultural; the concept of revolution.
Social disorganisation in India: Casteism, communalism, corruption in public life, youth unrest, beggary, drugs, delinquency and crime, poverty and unemployment. Social planning and welfare in India, community development and labour welfare; welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes.
Money: Taxation, price, demographic trends, national income, economic growth. Private and Public Sectors; economic and non-economic factors in planning, balanced versus imbalanced growth, agricultural versus industrial development; inflation and price stabilization, problem of resource mobilisation. India’s Five Year Plans.
(III) Psychological Test
The questions will be designed to assess the basic intelligence and mechanical aptitude of the candidate.