all details about IAS officer

December 27, 2012 by VIVEKANAND

All about IAS (Indian Administrative Service)

IAS (Indian Administrative Service)

This Article Covers
1. Introduction
2. History of IAS
3. IAS Training
4. First appointment of an IAS Officer: Designations
5. IAS Cadre strength
6. IAS Cadre allocation
7. Salary of IAS Officers
8. IAS Appointment conditions
9. IAS Deputation Procedure

The IAS Officers handle affairs of the government. At the central level, this involves the framing and implementation of policy. They
also represent the government in other countries and in International forums. They are even authorised to sign agreements on behalf of
the government. At the district level, it is concerned with district affairs, including development functions. At the divisional level, the
IAS officers look after law and order, general administration and development work. In IAS cadre you can be sub-magistrate, district
magistrate, joint secretary, deputy secretary etc.

History

Prior to Independence, the Indian Civil Service (ICS) was the senior most amongst the Services of the Crown in India. Besides the
ICS, there was also the Indian Police Service. After Independence, it was felt that though the ICS was a legacy of the imperial period,
there was need for the All India Services for maintaining the unity, integrity and stability of the nation. Accordingly, a provision was
made in Article 312 of the Constitution for creation of one or more All India Services common to the Union and State. The Indian
Administrative Service and The Indian Police Service are deemed to be constituted by the Parliament in terms of Article 312 of the
Constitution. After the promulgation of the Constitution, a new All India Service, namely, The Indian Forest Service, was created in
1966. A common unique feature of the All India Services is that the members of these services are recruited by the Centre, but their
services are placed under various State cadres, and they have the liability to serve both under the State and under the Centre. This
aspect of the All India Services strengthens the unitary character of the Indian federation.

Probation Period: Training Programme

Induction Training programme for IAS Probationers- AT A GLANCE

Part Induction Training Programme Duration

15 Weeks

1. Foundational Training: This training is imparted to probationers of the All India Services / the IAS / the IPS/
the IFS (Indian Forest Service) and the various Central Services (Group-A) of the Union. The training aims at
imparting a basic understanding of the constitutional, political, socio-economic and legal framework of the
country; and also fostering greater cooperation among the members of the different public services by building
spirit-de-corps and cultivating an attitude of cooperation and inter-dependence.

26 Weeks

2. IAS Professional Training, Phase-I : The training aims to develop and hone the professional skills in handling
a large range of responsibilities that an officer shoulders within the first ten years of service.
52 Weeks

3. District Training: This is the most significant part of the IAS Probationer’s training. During District Training,
the officer trainees learn about the various facets of administration at the district level. They are required to do
assignments for the Academy, based on field studies in the district. Here the probationer gets first-hand
knowledge of the functioning of various facets of administration at the district level. See the Table-2 given
below.
6 Weeks

4. IAS Professional Training, Phase-II : The IAS Training of Phase-II is designed to consolidate the learning
and assignment of the district experiences gained over one year in the field with the technical constructs taught
earlier.
District Training Attachment of IAS Probationers

No. Attachment Duration

1. Attachment with Tehsil 1 week
2. Attachment with BDO 1 week
3. Attachment with Zilla Parishad 2 Days
4. Attachment with SDO 1 week
5. Attachment with Superintendent of Police 2 Days
6. Attachment with District Judge /CJM and other DLO’s 2 Days
7. Attachment with DRDA and Development Projects 1 week
8. Attachment with Police Station 2 Days
9. Attachment with Municipality 2 Days
10. Independent charge of BDO 4 weeks
11. Independent charge of Tehsildar 4 weeks
12. Settlement Training 1 week
13. Institutional Training at RIPA – Phase I 3 weeks
14. Institutional Training at RIPA – Phase II 4 weeks
15. Debriefing Sessions 3 Days
16. Independent charge Assistant Collector and Magistrate 28 Weeks

Appointment after probation: Designations

On completion of their two-year’s probation IAS Probationers will be appointed as a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) (Also called
Additional District Magistrate or Sub-Collector). As SDM they will look after law and order, general administration, revenue work
and such developmental work as may be assigned to them. In the next three scales i.e. Senior Scale, Junior Administrative Grade and
Selection, Grade they will serve as District Magistrate, Chief Development Officer, Director of a department, Managing Director of a
Public Sector Unit or a Senior officer in the State Secretariat. In other words, they could be a District Magistrate in their fifth year of
service and remain a DM till they are promoted to the Super Time Scale in the 17th year of their service. Following this there are
promotions in scale to the ranks of In Principal Secretary and additional Chief Secretary. The highest post in the State is that of the
Chief Secretary. See the table given below that shows the designations an IAS officer may get in his career.

Position in the Equivalent Position

Government Of India in the state Government
DEPUTY SECRETARY
UNDER SECRETARY
ADDL. DISTRICT MAGISTRATE
(4)
(Entry)
JOINT SECRETARY
DEPUTY SECRETARY DISTRICT MAGISTRATE
(9) DEPUTE COMMISSIONER
(6)
SPECIAL SECRETARY
DIRECTOR
HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS (HODs)
(12)
(9)
JOINT SECRETARY SECRETARY
(20) (16)
PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES
ADDITIONAL SECRETARY
FINANCIAL COMMISSIONERS
(30)
(24)
SECRETARY CHIEF SECRETARY
(34) (30)
NO EQUIVALENT
CABINET SECRETARY (Constitutional Authority – ranked 11th in the Table of
Precedence)

1. Figures in brackets indicate minimum years in the IAS to achieve said designation though not the only criteria.

2. As discernable, it takes a longer time to achieve equivalent positions at the Centre due to lack of vacancies and slower rate of
promotions.

IAS : Cadre Strength

The Department of Personnel and Training is the cadre controlling authority for officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
Authorized Cadre strength of the Indian Administrative Service of all the States as on 1st January, 2009 was 5,671 and the number of
officers in position as on 1st January, 2008 was 4,572. The present system of recruitment of the IAS is possible in any of the three
ways:

1. By open competition;
2. By promotion from a State Civil Service, and
3. By promotion of State officials (other than State Civil Service).

The annual recruitment, which is at present nearly 80-90, is so fixed as to provide for: (a) the maintenance element for meeting death,
retirements and other casualties in the direct recruitment quota; (b) A growth element to meet the anticipated extension of the quota;
(c) An element to reduce the present gap.

Cadre Allocation
After being selected for the IAS, candidates are allocated to “cadres.” There is one cadre in each Indian state, except for three joint
cadres: 1) Assam–Meghalaya, 2) Manipur–Tripura, and 3) Arunachal Pradesh–Goa–Misogamy–Union Territories (AGMUT).

Cadre allocation of All India Service (AIS) officers

Currently the cadre allocation of AIS officers who come as direct recruits is made in two parts. The insiders (that is, those who belong
to a particular State) are allotted on the basis of merit-cum-option, while the outsiders are allotted States according to alphabetical
order, irrespective of their position in the merit list and the choices indicated by them. The procedure is opaque and often there are
charges of manipulation by influential probationers. The allotment of States is communicated after a long time; by then the
probationer does not even have the option of re-appearing or moving over to a different service. This procedure is sought to be
justified on the ground that it distributes talent randomly over all the States. However, it also leaves bright people, high in the merit
list, stuck in a particularly remote area, with a sense of injustice which does not bode well for the all India Character of the AIS.

The “insider-outsider ratio” (ratio of officers who are posted in their home states) is maintained as 1:2. Till 2008 there was no choice
for any state cadre and the candidates, if not placed in the insider vacancy of their home states, were allotted to different states in
alphabetic order of the roster, beginning with the letters A,H,M,T for that particular year. For example if in a particular year the roster
begins from ‘A’, which means the first candidate in the roster will go to the Andhra Pradesh state cadre of IAS, the next one to Bihar,
and subsequently to Chattisgarh, Gujarat and so on in alphabetical order. The next year the roster starts from ‘H’, for either Haryana or
Himachal Pradesh.( if it has started from Haryana in the previous occasion when it all started from ‘H’, then this time it would start
from Himachal Pradesh). This highly intricate system has on one hand ensured that officers from different states are placed all over
India, it has also resulted in wide disparities in the kind of professional exposure for officers, when we compare officers in small and
big & also developed and backward state, since the system ensures that the officers are permanently placed to one state cadre.

Marriage: the only way to change the cadre

The All-India Services follow a cadre system wherein the officers are allotted various states (cadres) during their probationary period,
to which they remain affiliated throughout their career. Getting married to another member of the All-India Services with a ‘better’
cadre is the only way to change one’s state allotment by joining the spouse’s cadre: this is called cadre-based marriage. They represent
15% of the marriages on which information was given. The career of an IAS can indeed vary considerably according to the state cadre
to which one has been assigned, where the officer has to stay most of his or her professional life.

Some of them are posted very far from their home state or in ‘inhospitable’ places, and they are therefore ready to do anything to get a
‘better’ cadre. One young lady officer posted in the North-East explains her marriage plans: ‘My parents wanted me to marry within
the caste, but now a cadre-based marriage is the only option for me. No well-settled man from my community would leave everything
and go with me to the North-East. Life is difficult there, even for me. To be transferred, I have no choice but to marry an officer from
the All-India services. I still have to find somebody with a good posting who would accept to take me out of my cadre, but he might be
neither from my caste nor from my state’.

Conditions of Appointment in IAS

(a) Appointments will be made on probation for a period of two years which may be extended subject to certain conditions. Successful
candidates will be required to undergo prescribed training at such place and in such manner and pass such examinations during the
period of probation as the Central Government may determine.

(b) If in the opinion of Government, the work or conduct of a probationer is unsatisfactory or shows that he is unlikely to become
efficient, Government may discharge him forthwith, or as the case may be, revert him to the permanent post, on which he holds a lien
or would hold a lien had it not been suspended under the rules applicable to him prior to his appointment to the service.

(e) On satisfactory completion of his period of probation Government may confirm the officer in the service or if his work or conduct
has, in the opinion of Government, been unsatisfactory, government may either discharge him from the service or may extend his
period of probation for such further period, subject to certain conditions as Government may think fit.

(d) An officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service will be liable to serve anywhere in India or abroad either under the
Central Government or under a State Government.
Salary of an IAS Officer

IAS salary structure consists of four Pay Scales: Junior Scale, Senior Scales, Super Time Scale, and Above Super Time Scale. Each of
the pay scale further consists of different pay bands.
1. Junior Scale: Pay Band: Rs 15600-39100 plus Grade Pay Rs 5400

2. Senior Scales

(i) Senior Time Scale : Pay Band: Rs 15600-39100 plus Grade Pay Rs 6600
(ii) Junior Administrative Grade: Pay Band: Rs 15600-39100 plus Grade Pay Rs 7600
(iii) Selection Grade: Pay Band: Rs 37400-67000 plus Grade Pay Rs 8700

3. Super Time Scale Pay Band: Rs 37400-67000 plus Grade Pay Rs 10000
4. Above Super Time Scale

 Rs 37400-67000. Plus Grade Pay of Rs 12000.

 The Apex Pay Scale of Rs 80000 (fixed). No Grade Pay.
 Cabinet Secretary Grade of Rs 90000 (fixed). No Grade Pay.

Perks, Benefits and Facilities enjoyed by IAS Officers

 Rent free accommodation or accommodation at very low rent.

 Vehicles
 Free electricity
 Perks of PSU’s: IAS officers looking after the affairs of public sector companies enjoy all the benefits that
regular PSU employees are entitled to in addition to benefits meant for IAS officers only.
 Provident Fund: Officers of the Indian Administrative Service are governed by the All India Service (PF)
Rules, 1955) as amended from time to time.
 Leave: Officers of the Indian Administrative Service are governed by the All India Service (Leave (Rules,
1955) as amended from time to time.
 Medical Attendance: Officers of the Indian Administrative Service are entitled to medical attendance benefits
admissible under the All India Service Medical Attendance Rules, 1954, as amended from time to time.
 Retirement Benefit: Officers of the Indian Administrative Service appointed on the basis of competitive
examination are governed by the All India Service (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958 as amended
from time to time.

The Procedure for Deputation

A list of those officers selected by the state Government, from among those willing to proceed on deputation, is forwarded to the
Union Government and the Department of the personnel of the Union Government, in its turn, scrutinizes this offer list and picks an
officer, on the basis of his record of service, confidential rolls, his aptitude and work experience and circulates a panel of names
among the various Ministries. In their turn, the Ministries pick from the panel an officer for the post under its administrative control.
An officer on the offer list may or may not be picked. Even after being picked by a Ministry, there is a process observed by the
Department of Personnel for securing the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet (ACC). After the approval
ACC is secured and the selection is communicated to the State Government, the State Government issues an order placing the services
of an All India Service officer at the disposal of the Union Government, for appointment to a specific post.

The period of this appointment described as the ‘tenure’ varies from three to five years in the case of middle level and senior officers.
Officers deputed to the Centre are expected to return to the State and serve a cooling off period before they can return to the Central
post.