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 Defence 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 1^stday 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 1^stJanuary 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 1^stAugust 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

· Ministry of Defence

· Ministry of Finance

· Ministry of External Affairs

· Ministry of Home Affairs

· Ministry of Agriculture

· Ministry of Tribal Affairs

· Ministry of Panchayati Raj

· Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

· Ministry of Science and Technology

· Ministry of Earth Sciences