CAREER IN CIVIL SERVICES
INTRODUCTION
A country as vast and thickly populated as India needs a
well organised government machinery for proper governance. There are two facets
to the administration of a country. One is security for which the country has its
defence services and the other is the non-military part, which is taken care of
by the Civil Services. In
India, the Civil Service is defined as "appointive positions by the
Government in connection with the affairs of the Union and includes a civilian in
a Defence Service, except positions in the Indian
Armed Forces." The Civil Services of India can be classified into two
types - the All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B).
Union Public Service Commission conducts this competitive
examination for appointment to the Indian Civil Service. Some of the services
to which appointment is to be made are as follows.
1.
All India
Services :
·
Indian Administrative Service
·
Indian Police Service
·
Indian Foreign Service
2.
Central Service
Group A/B :
·
Indian Post &
Telecommunication Accounts & Finance Service Group A
·
Indian Audit & Accounts
Service Group A
·
Indian Customs & Central
Excise Service Group A
·
Indian Defense Accounts Service
Group A
·
Indian Revenue Service Group A
·
Indian Civil Accounts Service
Group A
·
Indian Postal Service Group A
·
Indian Railway Traffic Service
Group A
·
Indian Railway Accounts Service
Group A
·
Indian Railway Personnel
Service Group A
·
Indian Railway Protection Force
Assistant Security Officer Group A
·
Indian Defense Estate Service
Group A
·
Indian Information Service
(Junior Grade)Group A
·
Indian Trade Service Group A
·
Central Industrial Security
Force-Assistant Commandant Group A
·
Central Bureau of
Investigation-Deputy Superintendent of Police Group A
·
Central Secretariat Service
Group B (Selection Officer Grade)
·
Railway Board Secretariat
Service Group B (Section Officer Grade)
·
Armed Forced Headquarters Civil
Service Group B (Assistant Civilian Staff Officer Grade)
·
Customs Appraisers Service
Group B
·
Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar
Islands, Lakshdweep Daman & Diu and Dadar & Nagar Haveli Civil Service
Group B
·
Pondicherry Civil Services Group B.
·
The Indian Forest
Service
·
The Defence Secretariat
Service
·
The Union Territories
Police Service
·
The Union Territories
Administrative Service
The term civil
service can refer to either:
a) A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the
basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations, or b) the
body of employees in any government agency other than the military.
The recruits are university graduates (or
above) selected through a rigorous system of examinations, called the Civil Services Examination (CSE) and its technical counterpart
known as the Engineering Services Examination (ESE) both conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The entry into the State Civil
Services is through a competitive examination conducted by every state public
service commission. Senior positions in civil service are listed and named in
the Order of Precedence of India.
Today
the Indian Civil Services have become much more complex & broader. The
importance of the Civil Services in a country like India is great. Since it is
such a vast country with varied features in different parts, India needs an
efficient system of administration & management. This is where the civil
servants come of help. In spite of the many career options available today,
many young people still opt for the Indian Civil Services because it retains an
aura of prestige & a civil servant in India even today earns a lot of
respect in the country.
NATURE OF WORK
In the parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility
for running the administration rests with the elected representatives of the
people which are the ministers. But the handful of ministers cannot be expected
to deal personally with the manifold problems of modern administration. Thus
the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the civil servants to carry out
this policy. The executive decisions are implemented by the
Indian civil servants.
Department
wise nature of work is explained below:
Indian Administrative Service: The IAS
officers are responsible for the management of the various administrative
departments & their respective functions. This includes framing of policies
& acting as advisors to the ministers as well as executing appointed duties
as the officers in charge of the administration of smaller administrative
units. The District Magistrate for instance, is in charge of a district &
has to look after the law & order situation as well as the administration
& the over all development of the area.
Indian
Police Service: The Indian Police Service is directly responsible for
maintaining law & order in the state of India. It has the responsibility to
look after the safety of the citizens of the country. The Indian Police Service
has various branches & associated departments like the Border Security
Force, the Department of Home Guards, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the
department of Traffic Control, the Criminal Investigation Department, the
Central Reserve Police Force, the Crime Branch, etc. An IPS officer often
shares his duty with the IAS officer of the same district.
Indian
Forest Service: An officer of the Indian Forest Service takes care of
the vast forest resources of the country helping to conserve it & protect
it from illegal poacher, loggers, grazers & their likes.
Indian
Foreign Service: The Indian Foreign Service is associated with the
countries External & Foreign Affairs Ministry. The officials are
responsible for the framing of foreign policies as well as maintaining &
regulating the Indian embassies in various countries of the world.
Indian
Railway Service: The Indian Railway Service is in charge of the huge
network of railways in India which itself is divided into the Indian Railway
Traffic Services, the Indian Railway Personnel Services, the Indian Railway
Accounts Services & the Railway Police Service. The Railway Police Service
is responsible for maintaining the security of the whole system &
especially the passengers. The Indian Railway Traffic Service deals with the
scheduling of trains & the passengers & the freight carried by these
trains. The Indian Railway Personnel Service is the branch which deals with the
recruitment of the officers & other administrative workers & the Indian
Railway Accounts Services is in charge of looking after the accounts of this
vast system. These are the non technical branches of the Indian Railways. For
the recruitment of technical staff (like the engineers) there is a different
entrance test altogether.
Indian
Postal Service: The Staff of the Indian postal Service look after the
workings of the country's postal network which includes the telegraph service.
Officers start out as Senior Superintendent of Post Offices initially. The
postings can be in any part of the country & also in the central Ministry.
Indian
Customs & Central Excise Service: As the very name suggests, this
deals with the custom & excise departments. The former deals with the
levying of taxes on things brought into the country whereas the department of
excise duties deals with the taxation of goods which are produced in the
country.
Audit
& Accounts Service: This service maintains the accounts of all the
states of India. It has various specialised branches such as the Indian Defence
Accounts Service which deals with the expenditure of the Indian Defence
Services. There is also an Indian civil Accounts Service which falls under the
direct administration of the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
Indian
Information Service: The Indian Information Service deals with the
transmissions of government media apparatuses like Doordarshan &
Prasarbharati. It falls under the purview of the Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting.
Indian
Revenue Service: The officers of the Indian Revenue Service aid in the
assessment & fixing of the rates of income tax & are also responsible
for collecting the same. There are branches within it dealing with tax crimes
such as evasion of income tax & also those which build up statistics.
CONDITIONS OF WORK
Most
Civil Servants work in an office environment but this obviously depends upon
which department an individual is employed in. For example, some Civil Servants
will work at airports or at ferry terminals. The large majority of civil
servants manage to work to a nine to five timetable but some roles will demand
longer hours. Flexible working hours are also available subject to departmental
needs.
Weekends
are usually kept free and part-time work is often available for those who
desire it. Opportunities to travel overseas are common in some departments and
individuals will be expected to attend regular training courses. The job can be
stressful at times, particularly when deadlines are looming.
HOURS OF WORK
·
Office
hours – 10.a.m. to 6.00.p.m.
·
Crises
hours – no fixed time.
EARNINGS
In the
Civil Service the pay structure is good. There is job security. From the 1st day
of joining service, Civil Servants are entitled to subsidized accommodation,
telephone and transport facilities. The social status enjoyed by a civil Servant
is unparalleled.
The
Government of India has fixed salary grades for Civil Servants. Approximately
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
(The
above scales only provide an idea of the pay scales. Different branches of the
service have different scales of pay.)
QUALIFICATIONS AND
TRAINING
Nationality: For Indian Administrative Service and the Indian
Police Service a candidate must be a citizen of India. For other services the
candidate must be either (1) a citizen of India or (2) a subject of Nepal or
(3) A subject of Bhutan or (4) a Tibetan Refugee, who came over to India before
1st January
1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India or (5) a person of
Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African
Countries of Kenya, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malwai, Zaire,
Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently setting in India.
Candidates belonging to categories 2,3 & 4 shall be person in whose favour
a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Govt. of India.
Age: A candidate must have attended the age of 21 years
and must not have attended the age of 30 years as on 1st August
of the year of the Examination. The upper age limit is relaxable for SC &
ST candidates by 5 years and by 3 years for OBC candidates. The age limit is
also relaxable for certain other categories also i.e. displaced persons,
certain categories of Commissioned Officers of the armed force.
Educational
Qualification: A
degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or
State Legislature.
METHODS OF ENTERING THE
JOB
The
Indian Civil Service Examinations are conducted by & under the supervision
of the Union Public Service Commission which was established in 1950
under the Constitution of India's Article 315. This annually held examination
is highly competitive as thousands of aspirants appear for it every year. The
actual examination is divided into two stages:
The
Preliminary Examination
The
Main Examination
The whole process of selection takes a full calendar
year starting with the preliminary examination and going on to the main written
examination concluding with a personal interview.
The Preliminary Examination
is a qualifying examination which is objective in nature. It consists of two
papers: one which tests the general knowledge of the aspirant & the other
which is a test on a subject of the examinee's choice. The optional subjects
include Law, Sociology, Philosophy, Economics, Agriculture, Mechanical Engineering,
Botany, Medical Science, Political Science, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary
Science, Chemistry, Physics, Public Administration, Zoology, Electrical
Engineering, Geology, Indian History, Commerce, Geography, Statistics, etc.
The Main Examination
in its turn is further divided into written & oral parts. The written part
of the test consists of nine papers. These include a paper on English, a paper
on any one Indian Language, a general knowledge paper, an essay & papers on
any two optional subjects chosen by the candidate appearing for the exam. The
optional subjects are the same as those in the preliminary examination.
Once
a civil service aspirant clears these stages he or she then has to appear for
the interview.
During the interview the candidate will face questions on topics of general
awareness. However, the main objective of the interview is to gauge the
personality of the candidate & adjudge whether he or she is suitable for
the responsibility that the job entails. In board terms this is really an
assessment of not only his intellectual qualities but also social traits and
his interest in current affairs. Some of the qualities to be judged are mental
alertness, critical power of assimilation, clear and logical exposition,
balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social
cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.
Lastly,
there is a Medical
Test. This is especially important for the candidates of the
Indian Police Service.
There
is a somewhat different system of examination for the aspirants of the Indian
Forest Service especially as far as the choice of subjects is concerned.
The
selected candidates are assigned to various services based on their over all
ranks in the entrance examinations. All appointed probationary officers undergo
compulsory training.
Number
of Attempts: Every
eligible candidate appearing at the Civil Service examinations shall be
permitted 4 (four) attempts only. This restriction will not apply in case of SC
& ST candidate. For OBC candidates the number of permissible attempts is
limited to 7 (seven). Also it is wiser to be
mentally ready for several attempts as cracking the Civil Services Exams is a
tough nut to crack the first time around; and if you do qualify you may want to
attempt again to improve your ranking and therefore your service allotment.
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
REQUIRED
The
skills required to become a successful Civil Servant include:
§ Smart thinking
§ A
responsible attitude
§ Good analytical skills.
§ Good
organizational skills
§ Excellent
communication skills
§ The
ability to motivate other members of the team
§ The
ability to manage both resources and a tight budget
§ The
ability to keep certain information confidential at all times
§ The
ability to work both as part of a team and on an individual basis
§ A
hunger for improving knowledge and reading around different subjects
§ The
ability to read complex information and summaries it in an easy-to-understand
manner
ADVANCEMENT /PROMOTIONS
After
their probationary period & the period of training, all officers are in
charge of the most junior posts. With time & experience one is promoted to
higher positions. This is because the Indian Civil Service operates in a
hierarchical fashion where experience is the key to advancement.
Responsibilities vary with the seniority of the civil
servant. Junior officers begin with probation and move up in the hierarchy.
TYPICAL PLACES OF EMPLOYMENT/SELF EMPLOYMENT
SOURCES OF FURTHER
INFORMATION:
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