IAS officer the designated name of the post inspires awe amongst any young Indian aspirant willing to start his/her career with a boom. The prestige associated with this three letter profession is unimaginable. One who is aspiring to be an IAS officer is well aware of the position he is dreaming of, but to fulfill such dreams and handle the responsibilities, one will have to shoulder after reaching the coveted post, is easier said than done.
Educational Qualification
To be eligible for becoming an IAS officer, the candidate must possess a degree from an Indian University or an equivalent qualification. Those in the final year of a degree course can also appear in the Preliminary Examination.
Age
The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years on 1st August of the year of examination and must not have attained 30 years of age on that date.
The upper age limit will be relaxed by 3 years for OBC candidates and 5 years for SC/ST candidates.
The upper age limit is also relaxed in favor of certain categories of civil servants working under the Government of India and Defence Services Personnel.
Other Eligibility Conditions:
These services involve decision-making at the upper end of the Government hierarchy and taking into account the sensitivity of the job, the aspirants have to be eligible under certain specific conditions as given ahead.
For the IAS and the IPS, the candidate must be a citizen of India.
For the other services, a candidate must be either:
To be an IAS officer one has to follow the below-given steps:-
Step 1
As a first step, the aspirant has to procure the UPSC's Civil Services exam “Application Form” along with “Information Brochure” from any of the “Head Post Offices or Post Offices” spread throughout the country and sent the filled Application form to:
The Secretary
Union Public Service Commission
Dholpur House,
New Delhi - 110011.
Step 2
In the month of May or June, the aspirants have to take the Indian Civil Services “Preliminary examinations” renamed as Civil Services Aptitude Test i.e CSAT Consisting of two papers. The papers are on:
| Paper | Marks | Time |
| 1. General Knowledge | 200 | 2 Hr. |
| 2. Comprehension and logical reasoning | 200 | 2 Hr. |
Note: CSAT is just a qualifying exam for the Final exam and scores obtained in this exam are not added to prepare the final result.
Step 3
Those candidates who are declared qualified in the “Civil Services Aptitude Test" are supposed to take the final exam (normally held in the month of October) having the following papers:
| 1 Essay type Indian Language Qualifying Paper | (300 marks) |
| 1 English Qualifying Paper | (300 marks) |
| 1 General Essay type paper | (200 marks) |
| 2 General Studies papers | (300 marks each) |
| 4 Optional subjects papers | (300 marks each) |
Step 4
Once you are through, the final stage is the interview. The aspirants are grilled in the interview to test their personality and mental ability. Then the final list of the successful candidates is prepared and the candidates who have secured very good rank out of 400-450(approx.) selected candidates are admitted to the National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie (now renamed as Lal Bahadur Sastri National Academy of Administration, LBSNAA) to impart training to IAS probationers. After completion of their training in various fields of administrative importance, they are posted as per requirements of the Central and State Governments.
Being All India Services the new IAS incumbent's services are allowed to various state cadre under Cadre System. The Cadre system is alloted on a basis of lottery and the topper of each state may get a chance to get their home state if he had applied for one.
Hierarchy in the Indian Administrative Services at the Central level.
| Designation | Time in Service |
|---|---|
| Under Secretary | 4 years |
| Deputy Secretary | 9 Years |
| Director | 12 Years |
| Joint Secretary | 20 Years |
| Additional Secretary | 30 Years |
| Secretary | 34 Years |
Cabinet Secretary (TOP MOST POST)- This is the apex of the administrative setup in India.
Hierarchy of the Indian Administrative Services at the State level.
| Designation | Time in the Service |
|---|---|
| Deputy Secretary/ Additional District Magistrate | Entry Level of the Services |
| Joint Secretary/District Magistrate/Deputy Commissioner | 6 Years |
| Special Secretary | 9 Years |
| Secretary | 16 years |
| Principal Secretary/ Financial Commissioners | 24 years |
| Chief Secretary (TOP MOST POST) | 30 Year |
The IAS or the Indian Administrative Services officers are supposed to handle affairs of the government at the various level in its capacity. At the central level, this involves the framing and implementation of the policy of the apex government. At the district level, this involves the affairs of the district concerned, including development functions. At the divisional level, the IAS officers look after law and order, general administration and development work of the division they are handling. Members of the Indian Administrative Service hold various administrative posts like District Collector, Heads of Departments, and Heads of Public Enterprises at the state level etc. They can also be posted on deputation to the Central Government to various posts.
Remunerations
The Government of India has fixed salary grades for Civil Servants. However, these keep on changing with new pay commission. Presently the range of salaries drawn at various levels is as follows:
| Junior Officers | Rs. 8000-275-13500 |
| Senior Officers | Rs. 10650-325-15200 |
| Junior Administrative Grade | Rs. 12,750-375-16,500 |
| Selection Grade | Rs. 15,100-400-18,300 |
| Additional Secretary | Rs. 22400-525-24500 |
| Secretary/Cabinet Secretary | Rs. 26,000/30,000 |
Note:- The above figures only provide an idea of the pay scales. Different branches of the service have different scales of pay. Even personnel of same branches may have different pay according to their area of posting and responsibility they are holding at a particular time.
In addition to the salary civil servants receive various types of allowances such as Dearness Allowance, City Compensatory Allowance, Leave Travel Allowance, Medical and Subsidized Housing.