ICAR Syllabus 2021: Detailed AO & F&AO Syllabus & Exam pattern

ICAR Syllabus 2021: All the banking aspirants must check the Syllabus and Exam Pattern before starting their preparations for any upcoming examination. The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) has released an official notification for the recruitment of Administrative Officers (AO) and Finance & Accounts Officer (F&AO) posts on 19 July 2021. Candidates who are appearing for the ICAR AO and F&AO exams that will be held on 3rd October 2021 must go through the detailed ICAR AO & F&AO syllabus and exam pattern provided in the article below before starting the preparation.

Click Here to Check the ICAR Recruitment Notification 2021

ICAR Exam Pattern 2021

The ICAR recruitment 2021 will be based on the 3 tiers. Tier 1, Tier 2, and the interview round. So, before jumping on to the syllabus, we are here providing you with the ICAR Exam pattern 2021 of Tier 1 and Tier 2 of each post.

ICAR Exam Pattern AO and F&AO 2021: Tier 1

Tier 1 will consist of 4 sections for which candidates will have 3 hours to complete the paper. There will be a total number of 200 questions in the exam of one mark each. The Exam Pattern of AO and F&AO is the same for the tier 1 examination.

ICAR AO Exam Pattern 2021: Tier 2

There will be 4 papers in the tier 2 exam of ICAR AO 2021 as well. For each paper, students will get 3 hours to complete the exam.

ICAR Finance And Accounts Officer Exam Pattern 2021: Tier 2

There will be 4 papers in tier 2 exam of ICAR Finance and Accounts officer as well. For each paper, students will get 3 hours to complete the exam.

ICAR Syllabus 2021

As mentioned above, the ICAR recruitment 2021 will be conducted in 3 phases. Let us check the ICAR Exam 2021 syllabus for each post of both tiers.

ICAR Syllabus (AO and F&AO) 2021: Tier 1

The Syllabus of ICAR AO and F&AO for Tier 1 is the same. Candidates can check the detailed exam pattern for both the posts for Tier 1 from the below table.

ICAR Syllabus 2021: Tier 2

Like, the tier 1 exam syllabus of 2 papers of ICAR tier 2 exam is similar for both the posts. 

ICAR Syllabus AO and F&AO 2021(Paper I and Paper II)

PAPER – I 150 MARKS General awareness of Development of Economic, Social, Scientific & Cultural Fields, History & Geography of India and World

• Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
•  Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteen century until the present – significant events, personalities, issues.
• The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributions from different parts of the country.
• Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
• The history of the world will include events from 18th century such as the industrial revolution, world wars, redraw of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc. – their forms and effect on the society.
• Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
• Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and development issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
• Effects of globalization on Indian society.
• Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
• Salient features of the world’s physical geography.
• Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclones etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

PAPER-II 150 Marks Constitution Of India, Polity, Governance, Social Justice

• Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
• Separation of powers between various organs disputes redressed mechanisms and institutions.
• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
• Parliament and State legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business. Power & privileges and issues arising out of these.
• Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary – Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/ informal associations and their role in the Polity.
• Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act. 21
• Appointment to various Constitutional post, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
• Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
• Development processes and the development industry – the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
• Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/ Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
• Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
• Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance – applications, models successes, limitations and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
• Role of Civil services in a democracy.
• Role of Indian Council of Agricultural Research in Agricultural Sector, its Importance and various Implications.

ICAR AO Tier 2 Syllabus(Paper III, Paper IV)

Paper III Essay Writing

1. Essay Writing – I (75 Marks) 2. Essay Writing – II (75 Marks) Essay

Paper IV Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

• Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics – in private and public relationships. Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; the role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values
• Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
• Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.
• Emotional intelligence-concepts and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
• Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world.
• Public/ Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical 22 guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
• Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.
• Case studies on the above issues. 

ICAR F&AO Syllabus 2021: Tier 2(Paper III and Paper IV)

Paper III  Essay Writing

Paper IV Commerce And Business Economics

• This paper will cover the topics like Accounting
• Financial Accounting
• Auditing
• Business Organization
• Cost Accounting
• Taxation
• Financial Institutions, etc. commonly taught in the Degree Course of Indian Universities/ Institutes.

Financing/ Accounting

• Accounting as a financial information system
• Impact of behavioural sciences
• Accounting Standards e.g., Accounting for Depreciation, Inventories, Research and Development Costs, Long-term Construction Contracts, Revenue Recognition, Fixed Assets, Contingencies, Foreign Exchange Transactions, Investments and Government Grants, Cash Flow Statement, Earnings per Share.
• Accounting for Share Capital Transactions including Bonus Shares, Right Shares.
• Employees Stock Option and Buy-Back of Securities.
• Preparation and Presentation of Company Final Accounts.
• Amalgamations, Absorption and Reconstruction of Companies. 

Cost Accounting

• Nature and functions of cost accounting. Installation of Cost Accounting System.
• Cost Concepts related to Income Measurement, Profit Planning, Cost Control and Decision Making.
• Methods of Costing: Job Costing, Process Costing, Activity Based Costing.
• Volume-cost-Profit Relationship as a tool of Profit Planning.
• Incremental Analysis/ Differential Costing as a Tool of Pricing Decisions, Product Decisions, Make or Buy Decisions, Shut-Down Decisions etc.
• Techniques of Cost Control and Cost Reduction: Building as a Tool of Planning and Control.
• Standard Costing and Variance Analysis.
• Responsibility Accounting and Divisional Performance Measurement. 

Taxation

• Income Tax: Definitions.
• Basis of Charge; Incomes that do not form part of total income.
• Simple problems of Competition of Income (of individuals only) under various heads, i.e., Salaries, Income from House Property, Profits and Gains from Business or Profession, Capital Gains, Income from other sources, Income of other Persons included in Assessee’s Total Income.
• Set-off and Carry forward of Loss.
• Deductions from Gross Total Income. Salient Features/ Provisions related to VAT and Services Tax.

 Auditing

• Company Audit: Audit related to Divisible Profits, Dividends, Special investigations, Tax audit. Audit of Banking, Insurance, Non-Profit Organization and Charitable Societies/ Trusts/ Organizations.

Foundation of Indian Business

• The spectrum of Business Activities.
• Manufacturing and service sectors.
• India’s experience of liberalization and globalization.
• Technological innovations and skill development.
• ‘Make in India’ Movement.
• Social Multinational Corporations and Indian transnational companies.
• Social responsibility and ethics.
• Emerging opportunities in business; Franchising, Outsourcing, and E-commerce. 

Business Enterprises:

• Sole Proprietorship, One Person Company, Joint Hindu Family Firm, Partnership firm, Joint Stock Company, Cooperative Society.
• Limited Liability Partnership.
• Choice of Form of Organisation.
• Entrepreneurial Process-Idea generation, Feasibility study.
• Basic considerations in setting up a Business Enterprise. 

The process of Management Planning

• Decision-Making; Strategy Formulation.
• Organizing: Basic Considerations; Departmentation-Functional, Project, Matrix and Network; Delegation and Decentralisation of Authority; Dynamics of group behaviour.
• Leadership: Concept and Styles; Trait and Situational Theory of Leadership.
• Motivation: Concept and Importance; Maslow Need Hierarchy Theory; Herzberg Two Factors Theory, McGregor and Ouchi theory.
• Control: Concept and Process.
• Communication: Process and Barriers. Transactional Analysis (TA), Johari Window.
• Management: Resistance to change and strategies to manage change, conflict levels, causes and resolution. Functional and Dysfunctional aspects of the conflict.
• Emerging issues in management. 

Financial Markets and Institution

• Indian Financial System: An Overview Money Markets: Participants, Structure and Instruments.
• Commercial Banks. Reforms in Banking Sector.
• Monetary and Credit Policy of RBI. RBI as a Regulator.
• Capital Market: Primary and Secondary Market.
• Financial Market Instruments and Innovative Debt Instruments; SEBI as a Regulator.
• Financial Services: Mutual Funds, Venture Capital, Credit rating Agencies, Insurance and IRDA. 

FAQs: ICAR Syllabus 2021

Q1. How many phases are there in ICAR AO and F&AO Exam 2021?
Ans. There is a total of 3 phases i.e. Tier-1, Tier-2, and Interview in ICAR AO and F&AO Recruitment 2021.

Q2. How many sections are there in ICAR AO and F&AO exams in Tier- 1?
Ans. There are 4 sections in Tier- 1 i.e. i) General Knowledge, ii) General Intelligence and Reasoning Ability, iii) Arithmetical and Numerical Ability, and iv) Language Comprehension.

Q3. What is the syllabus of the ICAR AO and F&AO exam in Tier- 2? 
Ans. The complete syllabus of the ICAR AO and F&AO exam is given above in the article.