Indian Administrative Service

Service overview
Motto: "Excellence in action"
Founded	1858; 166 years ago (1858) IAS 26 January 1950; 74 years ago (1950-01-26)
Country	India
Staff college	Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand
Cadre controlling authority	Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Minister responsible	Prime Minister of India and Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Legal personality	Governmental; Civil Service
Cadre strength	4,926 members (3,511 officers directly recruited by the Union Public Service Commission and 1,415 officers promoted from state civil services)[1][2]
Selection	Civil Services Examination
Association	IAS (Central) Association
Head of the Civil services
Cabinet Secretary of India	Rajiv Gauba, IAS

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The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India.^[3] The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service. Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states. IAS officers are also deployed to various government establishments such as constitutional bodies, staff and line agencies, auxiliary bodies, public sector undertakings, regulatory bodies, statutory bodies and autonomous bodies.

As with other countries following the parliamentary system of government, the IAS is a part of the permanent bureaucracy of the nation;^[4] and is an inseparable part of the executive of the Government of India. As such, the bureaucracy remains politically neutral and guarantees administrative continuity to the ruling party or coalition.^[4]

Upon confirmation of service, an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate. Completion of this probation is followed by an executive administrative role in a district as a district magistrate and collector which lasts several years. After this tenure, an officer may be promoted to head a whole state administrative division as a divisional commissioner.

On attaining the higher scales of the pay matrix, IAS officers may lead government departments or ministries. In these roles, IAS officers represent the country at international level in bilateral and multilateral negotiations. If serving on a deputation, they may be employed in International organization such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or the United Nations, or its agencies. IAS officers are also involved in conducting elections in India as mandated by the Election Commission of India.

History

During the East India Company period, the civil services were classified into three – covenanted, uncovenanted and special civil services. The covenanted civil service, or the Honourable East India Company's Civil Service (HEICCS), as it was called, largely comprised civil servants occupying the senior posts in the government.^[5][6][7] The uncovenanted civil service was introduced solely to facilitate the entry of Indians onto the lower rung of the administration.^[6][7][8] The special service comprised specialised departments, such as the Indian Forest Service, the Imperial Police and the Indian Political Department, whose ranks were drawn from either the covenanted civil service or the Indian Army. The Imperial Police included many Indian Army officers among its members, although after 1893 an annual exam was used to select its officers.^[8][7] In 1858 the HEICCS was replaced by the Indian Civil Service (ICS),^[6][7] which became the highest civil service in India between 1858 and 1947. The last appointments to the ICS were made in 1942.^[7][8]

With the passing of the Government of India Act 1919 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Indian civil services—under the general oversight of the Secretary of State for India—were split into two arms, the All India Services and the Central Services.^[9] The Indian Civil Service was one of the ten All India Services.

In 1946 at the Premier's Conference, the Central Cabinet decided to form the Indian Administrative Service, based on the Indian Civil Service;^[10][11] and the Indian Police Service, based on the Imperial Police.^[10]

There is no alternative to this administrative system... The Union will go, you will not have a united India if you do not have good All-India Service which has the independence to speak out its mind, which has sense of security that you will standby [sic] your work... If you do not adopt this course, then do not follow the present Constitution. Substitute something else... these people are the instrument. Remove them and I see nothing but a picture of chaos all over the country.

— Vallabhbhai Patel in the Constituent Assembly of India discussing the role of All India Services., ^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

When India was partitioned following the departure of the British in 1947, the Indian Civil Service was divided between the new dominions of India and Pakistan. The Indian remnant of the ICS was named the Indian Administrative Service,^[17] while the Pakistani remnant was named the Pakistan Administrative Service. The modern Indian Administrative Service was created under Article 312(2) in part XIV of the Constitution of India,^[18][19] and the All India Services Act, 1951.^[20]

Indian Frontier Administrative Service

A special cadre was created in 1954 to administer NEFA (present day Arunachal Pradesh) and for later Some North Eastern Region. It was first mooted by then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. The services were placed under Ministry of External Affairs.^[21]

In 1968, IFAS was merged with IAS and has hence lost its relevance.^[21]

Recruitment

There are three modes of recruitment into the Indian Administrative Service. IAS officers may enter the IAS by passing the Civil Services Examination, which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).^[3] Officers recruited this way are called direct recruits. Some IAS officers are also recruited from the state civil services,^[3] and, in rare cases, selected from non-state civil service.^[3] The ratio between direct recruits and promotees is fixed at 2:1. All IAS officers, regardless of the mode of entry, are appointed by the President of India.^[18]

Only about 180 candidates out of over 1 million applicants, who apply through CSE, are successful, a success rate of less than 0.02 per cent.^{[10][22][23][24]}

Unlike candidates appointed to other civil services, a successful IAS candidate is rendered ineligible to retake CSE.^[25] From 1951 to 1978, an IAS/IFS candidate was required to submit two additional papers along with three optional papers (instead of just the three optional papers like for other civil services) to be eligible for the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service. The two additional papers were postgraduate level submissions, compared to the graduate level of the optional papers, and it was this distinction that resulted in a higher status for the IAS and IFS. The two postgraduate level submissions were later removed, but this has not changed the perceived higher status of the IAS and IFS.^[26][27] After the selection process, the successful candidates undergo training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.^[11]

State cadres

Cadre allocation policy

The central government announced a new cadre allocation policy for the All India Services in August 2017, claiming it as being a policy to ensure national integration of the bureaucracy and to ensure an All India character of the services.^[28][29][30] The existing twenty six cadres were to be divided into five zones by the Department of Personnel and Training.^{[31][32][33][34]} Under the new policy, a candidate first selects their zones of preference, in descending order, then indicates a cadre preference from each preferred zone. The candidate indicates their second cadre preference for every preferred zone subsequently. The preference for the zones and cadres remains in the same order and no change is permitted.^[28][29][30]

Officers remain in their allocated cadre or are deputed to the Government of India.^[3][35]

Previous cadre allocation policies

Until 2008, there was no formal system that permitted the selection of a state cadre preferred by the candidate. If the candidate was not placed in a vacancy in their home state, they would be allocated to other states, which were selected from a roster in alphabetic order, starting from 'a', 'h', 'm' or 't', depending on the year. For example, if in a particular year the roster begins from 'a', then the first candidate on the roster will go to the Andhra Pradesh state cadre, the next one to Bihar, and then to Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and so on in alphabetical order.^[36] The next year the roster starts from 'h', for either Haryana or Himachal Pradesh (the two states alternate roster years). This system, practised since the mid-1980s, ensured that officers from different states were placed all over India.^{[citation needed]}

The system of permanent state cadres resulted in wide disparities of professional exposure for officers when comparing those from developed versus less developed states.^[36][37] Changes in state cadres were only permitted on grounds of marriage to an All India Services officer of another state cadre or under other exceptional circumstances. The officers were allowed to go to their home state cadre on deputation for a limited period after which they would be required to return to their allocated cadre.^[36][37]

From 2008, IAS officers were assigned to state cadres at the beginning of their service. There was one cadre for each Indian state, except for two joint cadres: Assam–Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh–Goa–Mizoram–Union Territories (AGMUT).^[37] The "insider-outsider ratio" (ratio of officers who were posted to their home states to those from other states) was maintained at 1:2, with one-third of the direct recruits being 'insiders' from the same state.^[38] The rest were posted as outsiders according to the state allocation roster in states other than their home states,^[38] as indicated by their preference.

Responsibilities of an IAS officer

The typical functions performed by an IAS officer are:

• To collect revenue and function as court officials in matters of revenue (for the revenue courts), to maintain law and order, to implement union and state government policies at the grass-roots level when posted to field positions i.e. as Sub-divisional magistrate, Additional District Magistrate, District magistrate and Divisional commissioner, and to act as an agent of the government in the field, i.e. to act as an intermediary between the public and the government.^{[5][39][40][41]}
• To handle the administration and daily proceedings of the government, including the formulation and implementation of policy in consultation with the minister-in-charge of a specific ministry or department.^{[5][39][40][41]}
• To contribute to policy formulation, and to make a final decision in certain matters, with the agreement of the minister concerned or the council of ministers (depending upon the weight of the matter), when posted at the higher level in the Government of India as a joint secretary, additional secretary, special secretary or secretary equivalent, secretary and Cabinet Secretary, and in state governments as secretary, principal secretary, additional chief secretary or special chief secretary and chief secretary.^{[5][39][40][41]}

Career progression

At the beginning of their career, IAS officers receive district training with their home cadres followed by their first posting. Their initial role is as an assistant collector cum sub-divisional magistrate and they are placed in charge of a district sub-division. As assistant collector cum sub divisional magistrate, they are entrusted with maintaining law and order, as well as general administration and development work, of the sub-district.^[41][42]

Completion of probation is followed by an executive role in a district as a district collector cum district magistrate, which lasts several years. After this tenure as a district magistrate or district collector or deputy commissioner, IAS officers can be posted to various positions in the state government. These positions include secretary or principal secretary in different departments, director of a department, divisional commissioner, or chairman of a government corporation. The specific positions depend on the officer's seniority, experience, and performance. The highest positions that an IAS officer can attain include chief secretary of a state or cabinet secretary of the country.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015 it was announced that a new designation of assistant secretary at the Central Secretariat had been created to enable new IAS officers to be posted to Delhi for a three-month assignment as part of their training regime. IAS officers were previously only permitted to go on a deputation once assigned to the Central Secretariat after nine years of service in their home cadre. It was observed that the experience of central functions was severely lacking among these deputations, resulting in this change in their training.^[43][44][45] As part of the new system, IAS assistant secretaries are supposed to work on projects—a new policy in their respective areas—and present it to their respective ministries; of all projects, 36 are selected to be presented before all secretaries of the Government of India; consequently, 16 are selected to be before the Cabinet Secretary and a final eight are selected for presentation before the Prime Minister.^[46]

As an IAS officer progresses in their career, they become eligible for important positions in the central government. These positions include joint secretary, additional secretary, and secretary in different ministries and departments. In these roles, IAS officers are involved in making policies, implementing them, and making important decisions at the national level. They can also be appointed as advisors to the central government or serve in autonomous bodies, commissions, and international organizations. These opportunities allow IAS officers to contribute to the development and governance of the country on a larger scale.^[47][48]

On attaining the apex scale, IAS officers may lead government departments or ministries. In these roles, IAS officers represent the country at the international level in bilateral and multilateral negotiations. If serving on a deputation,^[35] they may be employed in International organization such as the World Bank,^[35][49][50] the International Monetary Fund,^[35][51][52] the Asian Development Bank,^[35][53][54] the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,^[55][56][57] and the United Nations or its agencies.^[35][58][59] IAS officers are also involved in the conduct of elections in India as mandated by the Election Commission of India.^[60]