Bihar Special GK

Exam Map: Where Bihar GK Is Tested and How to Study It

Bihar GK is not one subject with one exam. It sits inside the General Studies papers of the Bihar Public Service Commission, the matric-level written test of the Central Selection Board of Constable, and the state-level papers of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission. This chapter sets out, as of 7 November 2026, what each body officially tests, how marks are scored (including the new option E), what the official syllabus says about Bihar, and how to convert that into a dated, error-controlled study plan for the eleven subject chapters that follow.

KarmSakha preparation topics covered

• The Bihar-GK audiences: BPSC, CSBC and BPSSC Bihar Police, BSSC
• BPSC 72nd CCE preliminary pattern, option E and the one-third penalty
• Preliminary qualifying percentages and the ten-times shortlist
• Mains papers, optional-subject MCQ paper, interview and the 1,020-mark merit list
• Age limits (as on 1 August 2026) and examination fee
• Official wording of the Bihar lines in the preliminary syllabus
• Mains GS Paper I and II Bihar-specific scope under the 2017 gazette
• CSBC constable written test (Advertisement 01/2025), BSSC preliminary scheme and the BPSSC Sub-Inspector pattern
• Postponements of the 72nd preliminary and how to track a new date
• Chapter weight map, data-question method, dating of Census/Survey/Budget facts, error log

The three audiences and what each tests in Bihar GK

Three recruiting bodies account for most Bihar General Knowledge questions. The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) runs the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) for the state civil services, where Bihar appears inside the General Studies syllabus both at the preliminary and the Mains stage. The Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC) recruits constables and other police personnel; its written test is matric-level and carries a general knowledge and current affairs component in which a state-based question is natural. The Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) recruits for clerical, inter-level and graduate-level posts, and its preliminary paper has a General Studies section whose official syllabus names Bihar, India and its neighbours.

The depth of Bihar knowledge differs sharply between the three. The BPSC CCE expects analysis: why a river system floods, how a policy changed an economy, what a historical movement meant for the state. The constable test mostly rewards clean recall of widely known facts such as districts, rivers, festivals, fairs, national parks and prominent personalities. Treat this book as a layered resource. Read the sections on facts and tables first if your target is the constable or BSSC level; read the explanations, the data sections and the Mains-style reasoning if your target is the BPSC CCE. The same fact serves both, but the BPSC wants the surrounding logic as well.

BPSC 72nd CCE: preliminary pattern, option E and negative marking

The advertisement for the Integrated 72nd Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination was issued by the BPSC on 5 May 2026. The preliminary examination is a single General Studies paper of objective multiple-choice questions carrying 150 marks in 2 hours, in a pattern that has long been 150 one-mark questions (the 72nd advertisement itself states the total marks and duration, not the question count). It is a screening test only: marks obtained are not added to the final merit list. The commission calls for the Mains a number of candidates equal to ten times the total vacancies, and every candidate tied at the last qualifying mark within a category is included, so the actual number can exceed the nominal ten times figure.

The marking scheme differs from many older BPSC papers. Each question now carries five options, A to D being the real answers and E meaning Not Attempted. A separate commission notice of May 2026 introduced option E for its MCQ examinations. The rules, as read from the notice and the advertisement, are these. A correct answer earns one mark. A wrong answer among A to D costs one-third of a mark. Marking E means the candidate chooses to skip the question and costs nothing. Leaving the question with no option marked at all, including E, is treated as an unanswered question and also costs one-third of a mark. Older papers and some third-party summaries give different scoring; use only the commission's notices.

Qualifying marks, Mains papers, interview and the merit list

The advertisement prescribes minimum qualifying percentages in the preliminary: 40 per cent for the General category, 36.5 per cent for Backward Class, 34 per cent for Extremely Backward Class, and 32 per cent for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women and persons with disability. On a 150-mark paper these are 60, 54.75, 51 and 48 marks of net score. They are floors, not targets. The real cut-off is set by the ten-times rule, so in a tough paper the cut-off may sit close to the floor and in an easy one it may sit far above it. Plan for the shortlist, not for the minimum.

The Mains for general posts comprises a General Hindi paper of 100 marks, with 30 per cent needed to qualify and the marks not counted in merit; General Studies Paper I of 300 marks; General Studies Paper II of 300 marks; and an Essay paper of 300 marks, each of these three taking 3 hours. There is also an optional-subject MCQ paper of 100 questions and 100 marks in 2 hours, which is qualifying only for most posts. The merit list is therefore drawn from 900 Mains marks plus 120 interview marks, a total of 1,020. For the Child Development Project Officer, Financial Administrative Officer and Sub-Divisional Protection Officer posts there is no Essay paper; their counted 900 marks are GS Paper I 300, GS Paper II 300 and the 300-mark optional subject. About 2.5 times the vacancies are called for interview on Mains marks, ties at the cut-off included.

Age limits and fee for the 72nd CCE

Age is reckoned on 1 August 2026 for the 72nd CCE. The minimum age is 20, 21 or 22 years depending on the post, so check the post-wise schedule in the advertisement rather than assuming one number. The maximum age is 37 years for unreserved male candidates, 40 years for unreserved women, Backward Class and Extremely Backward Class candidates, and 42 years for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The difference between the highest and lowest of these ceilings is five years, which is a common arithmetic trap in eligibility questions: always apply the category of the candidate, not the highest figure you remember.

The examination fee is Rs 100 per examination. A further biometric fee of Rs 200 applies where the candidate does not give an Aadhaar number. Educational qualification, domicile-related reservation and post-specific requirements vary by post and are in the advertisement; they are not summarised here because the corrigenda of May and September 2026 show that the post list itself has changed. The advertisement of 5 May 2026 listed 1,230 posts, and after corrigenda (including one that reduced the Deputy Superintendent of Police posts from 22 to 20) the BPSC notice of 3 September 2026 gives a total of 1,187. Quote a vacancy total only with the notice date attached.

What the official syllabus says about Bihar

The preliminary General Studies syllabus names Bihar in four places, rendered here in English from the commission's text. History: the history of India and the salient features of the history of Bihar. Geography: the geography of India and the major physical divisions and important rivers of Bihar. Economy: Indian polity and economy, and the major changes in Bihar's economy after independence. National movement: the Indian national movement and the contribution of Bihar to it. The remaining lines cover general science, current events of national and international importance, and general mental ability. Topics such as art, culture, personalities and environment are not named in the preliminary lines, but they can be asked under history, geography and current events, so map each fact to the nearest line and treat the rest as lower priority.

The Mains scope under the 2017 gazette is far more specific. General Studies Paper I covers modern Indian history and culture with special reference to Bihar, and the named items include the Santhal rebellion, the 1857 revolt in Bihar, the Birsa movement, the Champaran Satyagraha, the Quit India movement of 1942, Mauryan and Pala art, and the Patna Kalam school of painting; it also covers current events and statistical analysis. General Studies Paper II covers Indian polity with a Bihar angle, the economy, geography, and science and technology. Named items are signals: when the syllabus names the Santhal rebellion, a descriptive question on its causes and consequences is entirely fair.

Bihar Police constable and Sub-Inspector tests and the BSSC papers