how-to-read-the-yojana-magazine

About Yojana

Yojana is a monthly journal devoted to socio-economic issues. The magazine gives different shades of opinion and views on any issue and thereby presents a balanced picture. You can read the magazine online and subscribe to it as well. 

Salient features of Yojana:

  • High authenticity: Yojna is published by the Government of India, hence it is an authentic and verified source of information. 
  • Politically neutral: Yojna articles are diplomatically correct and present a balanced viewpoint  on issues. 
  • Experienced writers: The Yojna articles are written by highly experienced scholars, bureaucrats, ministers etc. They give you an insight about the language you should be writing in the Mains examination. The articles do constructive criticism and provide a way forward for the various issues and problems.

Why to read the Yojana magazine

  • Covers dynamic issues: For the changing UPSC syllabus and pattern of question papers, Yojana magazine provides the dynamic source for contemporary issues. Nowadays UPSC questions cannot be tackled simply based on reading static material. The questions are more and more current affairs based. Hence, the aspirants need to track issues in news related to the socio-economic issues which are covered well by Yojana.
  • Useful for GS Mains, Essay and language paper: Yojna’s reports and articles contain a lot of articles about the keywords used in UPSC examinations. For example - Rural economy, Urban infrastructure, Self help groups, Climate change, Disaster management etc. All these socio economic issues are important for GS Mains as well  as Essay writing.
    • Yojana magazine can also be useful for the Indian Language paper as the magazine is published in 13 languages viz. English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia.
  • In our Yojana segment, we give you the gist of the Yojana articles relevant for UPSC Civil Services Examination.

How to read the articles?

  • When to start: Suppose if UPSC 2020 Mains will be conducted in September next year, so read Yojana July 2019 onwards.
  • Basics needed: First go through the basic NCERTs before reading Yojana.
  • Understand theme: Yojana is always published as a theme specific approach for each month of the year. For example, June, 2020 Yojna magazine’s theme is ‘’Technology as an enabler” which deals with topics like, Industry 4.0, Covid 19 leading to digital transformation etc.
    • First go through the theme of Yojna. Read the note from the Chief Editor’s desk for understanding the theme.It will also be useful for writing Essay paper as the note coherently interlinks issues, government initiatives and criticism to a central theme.
  • Select articles: Then  select 4 to 5 articles from the magazine which you find important to read. 
  • Align with the UPSC syllabus: Firstly look out for the basic definitions, facts about the issue, related concerns followed by Redressal Mechanism. Identify the keywords and segregate the under UPSC Mains syllabus. Read the headings, and highlighted points specially. 
    • You can also frame GS Mains questions on the article you are reading for better grasp. For this you first need to study the previous year Mains questions papers.
  • For note making purposes, you can jot down keywords, facts from the articles. However you don't need to make elaborate notes.
  • Avoid: Any individual accomplishment or a local area development can be avoided.

For example, let us take a look at the July Edition of Yojana Magazine. Following is the index of articles.

 

The Theme of July Yojna is ‘Self Reliant India’. Hence the issue will help you in preparing for Indian Economy which is part of the GS-III syllabus.

Step 1: Understand the theme. Read the Editor’s note to grasp the theme. You can observe various cross linkages of various socio economic issues with the theme- self reliant India.

  • Select 4-5 articles to read which contain keywords mentioned in the UPSC Mains syllabus.
  • Identify keywords: Take a look at the following article clipping. Note the bold and highlighted points. You can also frame a few Mains questions using those keywords.


  • Note highlighted government initiatives


  • Avoid the following types of articles: