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IAS: DREAM CAREER OF MILLIONS OF ASPIRANTS IN THE COUNTRY

Becoming an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer is one of the most sought after and respected professions in the country today. The life of an IAS officer is filled with challenges. However, an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people is not to be scoffed at. In this article, we have written about the IAS officer life during training and service, roles, responsibilities and career path

What is IAS Exam?

  • Indian Administrative Service (IAS) was formerly known as the Imperial Civil Service (ICS) is the Civil Service Examination.
  • This is one of the toughest competitive exams in India.
  • It is one of the prestigious service among the 24 services such as IPS, IFS(Foreign), IFS(Forest), IRS etc.
  • The Civil Service Examination (CSE) is conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for selecting the candidates.
  • It is one of the three All India Services, its cadre can be employed by both the union Government, the state Government and Public Sector undertakings

How to become IAS officer?

UPSC CSE consists of three stages:
  • Preliminary Examination
  • Mains Examination
  • Interview

Preliminary Examinnatio: The stage one is the preliminary examination which is an objective type paper. The preliminary examination is conducted in the month May/June and it is first step in the selection process. Those candidates qualify the prelims can appear for the mains examination.

PAPER

EXAM

SYLLABUS

MARKS

TIME

Priliminary- paper 1

May/June

General Studies, Current Affairs, History, Geography, Politics, etc

200

2 Hours

Priliminary- paper 2

May/June

Comprehension Analytical Ability

200

2 Hours

Mains Examination: UPSC CSE mains examination is conducted in the month of September. These examinations are subjective paper & candidates can choose two subjects for which they are interested to appear. These subjects range from languages to mathematics to political science.

PAPER

EXAM

MARKS

TIME

PAPER A

Indian language from languages in Eighth Schedule to the constitution. Note: Not compulsory for candidates of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim.

300

3 Hours

PAPER B

English

300

3 Hours

PAPER 1

Essay

250

3 Hours

PAPER 2-5

General Studies: Indian Heritage, Geography, Politics, International Relations, Technology, Economy, Environment, Ethics, Aptitude etc.

250*4

3 Hours Each

PAPER 6-7

Optional Subject

250*2

3 Hours Each

Interview: After the mains examination, those aspirants who qualify are invited for the interview round. Many aspirants have noted that interview round is one of the toughest step to clear. While first two states require a person to be quick while interview or personality round judges the person on all aspects.

After the three examination, the Mark’s obtained in UPSC CSE main examination and personality

Test are then added to create the merit list. The final result usually comes in May End.

  • If you desire to become an IAS, it is important to find a slot in the very top of this merit list.
  • Usually about top 45 aspirants get an opportunity to join as IAS. This city off depends on the actual number of vacancies notified that year by the UPSC when the notification is released.

What is Salary of IAS officer?

  • The basic pay of entry level IAS officer is Rs.56100/-. It is important to note that all the candidates selected for IAS begin at the Sub-divisional Magistrate level/ Undersecretary/ Assistant Secretary. They often remain on this designation from 1 to 4 years.
  • The salary continues to increase with the post. The highest post is Cabinet Secretary of India which earns a salary of Rs 2,50,000 per month.

WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN IAS OFFICER ACCORDING TO THEIR POST

  • The responsibilities and associated powers of an IAS officer change at different points in their career. The general ones are given below:
  • At Sub-Divisional Level: IAS officers are posted at sub-divisional level on the post of sub-divisional magistrate at the beginning of their career. Here, they have to maintain law & order as well as look after general administrative and developmental work in the area allotted under their jurisdiction.
  • At District Level: IAS officers are deployed on District Magistrate’s post or as a District Collector or Deputy Commissioner.
  • The responsibilities and associated powers of IAS officer at district level remain same. They have to look after administrative affairs of the district and implement and supervise developmental work in the area allotted under their jurisdiction.
  • At State Level: IAS officers are promoted to state level administration after being promoted from post of District magistrate. Here, they can be post as a bureaucrat in state secretariat or head of departments. This is the time when they use their field level experience in the Policy Formation and advise the elected executives for the Policy Decisions.
  • In Public Sector Undertakings: Many IAS officers are also posted at high level administrative positions in government owned Public Sector Undertakings as well. New trend shows that most of the Big PSUs are headed by the IAS Officers.
  • At Central Level: Posting with central government lies at top of the hierarchy as far as IAS offices postings are concerned. At central level, the officer can serve as Cabinet Secretary, Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary, Director, Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary under different departments or ministries of central government.The main responsibility of an IAS officer at central level is to formulate and overview the implementation of governmental policies in different ministries like finance, defence or commerce.

So we can see that the influence area of the IAS Officer is very broad and his decisions at any level can influence the course of the Society. He is the concern person in case of any emergency or natural disaster. So IAS is the most sought after job in India. We have various examples where IIM passouts had left their job and join the IAS

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