The Indian Administrative Service (IAST: Bh?rat?ya Pra??sanika Sev?), often abbreviated to I.A.S., or simply IAS, is the administrative arm of the All India Services. The service is considered to be the premier civil service of India.
The IAS, the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFS/IFoS) comprise the three arms of the All India Services. Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states. IAS officers may also be deployed to various public sector undertakings.
As with other countries that follow the westminster system of government, the IAS is part of the permanent bureaucracy of the nation, 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.
Upon confirmation of service, an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate. Completion of this probation is followed by an administrative command role in a district as district magistrate and collector, which lasts a number of years although it may be as long as sixteen years in some states. After this tenure as a district magistrate, the officer may be promoted to head a whole state division, as divisional commissioner.
On attaining the Apex Scale, IAS officers may go on to 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, they may be employed in intergovernmental organisations such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the United Nations (UN), or its agencies. IAS officers are also involved in the conduct of elections in India, as mandated by the Election Commission of India.
Video Indian Administrative Service
History
During the occupation of India by the East India Company, the civil services were divided 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 consisted of British civil servants occupying the senior posts in the government. The uncovenanted civil service was solely introduced to facilitate the entry of Indians into the lower rung of the administration. The special service consisted of specialised departments, such as the Indian Forest Service, Indian Police and Indian Political Service, whose ranks were drawn from either the covenanted civil services or the British Indian Army. The Indian Police ranked many British Indian Army officers among its members, although after 1893, an annual exam was used to select its officers. In 1858, the HEICCS was replaced by the Indian Civil Service (ICS), which became the highest civil service in British-ruled India between 1858 and 1947. The last British appointments to the ICS were made in 1942.
With the passing of the Government of India Act, 1919, the Imperial Services -- under the oversight of the Secretary of State for India -- were split into two arms, the All India Services and the Central Services. The Imperial Civil Service was one of the ten All India Services.
In 1946, at the Premier's Conference, the then-Central Cabinet decided to form the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), based on the Imperial Civil Service (ICS); and the Indian Police Service (IPS), based on the Imperial Police (IP).
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 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.
When India was partitioned following the departure of the British in 1947, the Imperial Civil Service was divided between the new dominions of India and Pakistan. The Indian remnant of the ICS was named the Indian Administrative Service, while the Pakistan remnant was named the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS). The modern Indian Administrative Service was created under the Article 312(2) in part XIV of the Constitution of India, and the All India Services Act, 1951.
Maps Indian Administrative Service
Recruitment
There are three modes of recruitment into the Indian Administrative Service.
IAS officers are recruited from the Civil Services Examination, which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Officers selected from the Civil Services Examination are called direct recruits. Some IAS officers are also promoted from the state civil services, and, in rare cases, selected from non-state civil service. The ratio between the direct recruits and the promotees is fixed at 2:1. All IAS officers, regardless of the mode of entry, are appointed by the President of India.
Only about 180 candidates out of over 1 million applicants, who apply through the Civil Services Examination (CSE), are successful, a success rate of less than 0.01 percent. As a result, the members of the service are often referred to as "heaven-born".
Unlike candidates appointed to other civil services, a successful IAS candidate is rendered ineligible to reappear in the Civil Services Examination. From 1951 to 1979, an IAS candidate was required to submit two additional papers, on top of three optional papers instead of two as with other civil services, to be eligible for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Foreign Service (IFS). The two additional papers were post graduate level submissions, compared to the graduate level for the optional papers, and it was this distinction that resulted in a higher status for the IAS and IFS. The two post graduate level submissions were later removed, but this did not change the perceived higher status of the IAS and IFS. After the selection process, the successful candidates undergo training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.
State cadres
Cadre allocation policy
The central government announced a new cadre allocation policy for the All India Services in August 2017, touting it as a policy to ensure national integration of the bureaucracy and to ensure an All-India character of the services. Under the new policy, the existing 26 cadres were to be divided into five zones by the Department of Personnel and Training of the Government of India.
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 his second cadre preference for every preferred zone subsequently. The process continues till a preference for all the cadres is indicated by the candidate. The preference for the zones/cadres remains in the same order and no change is permitted.
Officers remain in their allocated cadre or are deputed to the Government of India.
Previous cadre allocation policies
Until 2008, there was no formal system that permitted the selecting 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. 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.
The system of permanent state cadres resulted in wide disparities of professional exposure for officers when comparing those from developed versus less developed states. Changes of state cadre was 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.
Since 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). 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. The remainder are posted as outsiders according to the state allocation 'roster' order in states other than their home states, 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 courts in matters of revenue and crime (revenue courts and criminal courts of executive magistrates), to maintain law and order, to implement Union and state government policies at the grass-root 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.
- To handle the administration and daily proceedings of the government, including formulation and implementation of policy in consultation with the minister-in-charge of the concerned ministry or department.
- 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 higher level in Government of India as joint secretary, additional secretary, special secretary/secretary equivalent, secretary and Cabinet Secretary, and in state governments as principal secretary, additional chief secretary/special chief secretary and chief secretary.
Career progression
At the beginning of their career, IAS officers receive district training with their home cadres followed by their first posting. In state administration, their initial role is as a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and they are placed in charge of a district sub-division. As SDMs, they are entrusted with maintaining law and order, as well as general administration and development work, of the sub-division. With the completion of their training, IAS officers are assigned to various strategic posts in the state and Union governments, and also in local-self governments (municipal corporations/zilla parishads), and public sector undertakings.
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 being assigned to the Central Secretariat after nine years of service in their home cadre. However, it was observed that experience of central functions was severely lacking among these deputations, resulting in this change in their training.
Completion of this probation is followed by an administrative command role in a district as district magistrate and collector, which lasts a number of years although it may be as long as sixteen years in some states. After this tenure as a district magistrate, the officer may be promoted to head a whole state division, as divisional commissioner.
On attaining the apex scale, IAS officers may go on to 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, they may be employed in intergovernmental organisations such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the United Nations (UN), or its agencies. IAS officers are also involved in the conduct of elections in India, as mandated by the Election Commission of India.
Upon retirement, high ranking IAS officers have been known to occupy constitutional posts such as the Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG), and Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). They have also become members of administrative tribunals, such as National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), as well as chiefs of regulators including the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). If a serving IAS officer is appointed to constitutional posts such as Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Chief Election Commissioner of India and Chairman of UPSC or as head of statutory authorities, such as National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women, and Central Information Commission, he or she is deemed to have retired from service.
IAS officers can also be deputed to private organizations for a fixed tenure under Rule 6(2)(ii) of The Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954.
Assessment of suitability for promotion and posting
The performance of IAS officers is assessed through a performance appraisal report (PAR). The reports are reviewed to judge the suitability of an officer prior to a posting and/or promotion in the Union or state governments. The report is compiled annually and is initiated by the officers themselves, designated as the reporting officer, who lists out their achievements, completion of assigned activities and targets for the year. The report is then modified and commented by the reviewing officer, usually the superior of the reporting officer. Reports submitted for IAS officers are forwarded by the reviewing officer to the accepting authority, who conducts a final review of the report.
Major concerns and reforms
Shortage of officers
It was reported in 2017 that there is a shortage of about 1500 IAS officers in the country, Despite this, the government has stated that yearly recruitment of IAS officers will not increase to avoid impacting the career progression of existing officers and the overall structure of the service.
Lateral entry
Media personnel, some retired IAS officers and a few academicians have argued in favour of lateral entry into IAS, so as to inject fresh blood into the service. They argue that it would help refresh the bureaucracy, offer competitiveness and bring in alternate perspectives.
However, a counter-argument has been put forward that a lateral entry process could be manipulated due to corruption and cronyism. It is further argued that lateral entry would not lead to improvements in managerial performance or accountability, and while it may create synergy between the government and big businesses, it could also compromise the integrity of government. It has also been argued that it could weaken the bureaucracy instead. The Union government has, on many occasions, ruled out lateral entry into the IAS.
Political influence
The IAS is hamstrung by political interference, outdated personnel procedures, and a mixed record on policy implementation, and it is in need of urgent reform. The Indian government should reshape recruitment and promotion processes, improve performance-based assessment of individual officers, and adopt safeguards that promote accountability while protecting bureaucrats from political meddling.
A number of think tanks and media outlets have argued that the IAS is hamstrung by political influence within the service. It has been reported that many local political leaders have been seen to have interfered with IAS officers. Politicians have also exerted pressure on IAS officers by repeatedly transferring them, suspending them, beating them, and in some extreme cases, killing them.
TSR Subramanian vs Union of India
While hearing T.S.R. Subramanian vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court ruled that IAS officers were not required to act on oral instructions given by politicians as they 'undermined credibility'.
Corruption
In 2015, it was reported by Government of India that as many as 100 IAS officers had come under scrutiny by the Central Bureau of Investigation's alleged corruption. In 2017, Government records showed that 379 IAS officers had deliberately failed to submit details of their immovable assets (IPR).
Since 2007, a number of Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretary have been arrested in graft cases and laundering. IAS officers have been found amassing disproportionate assets and wealth varying from INR200 crore (equivalent to INR242 crore or US$37 million in 2017), to INR350 crore (equivalent to INR559 crore or US$86 million in 2017). However, in 2016, it was reported that the Government would provide the means to prosecute corrupt IAS officers, with the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (DoPT) agreeing to receive requests from private citizens seeking punitive measures against IAS officers even without supporting documentation.
In 2017, a former Union Coal Secretary and two other IAS officers were sentenced to two years in prison, for their involvement in the coal allocation scam, by a CBI special court in Delhi.
In 2017, it was reported by the Department of Personnel and Training, part of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, that, since 2014, one IAS officer was prematurely retired from service, ten IAS officers had been deemed to have resigned, five had their pensions cut, and a further eight IAS officers suffered a cut in remuneration.
In 2018, the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha that disciplinary proceedings were underway against 36 IAS officers.
Fake cases
A number of false cases have been registered against IAS officers as a tactic to prevent them from taking action against the reporting individuals.
Missing IAS officers
In June 2015, The Telegraph reported that a total of twelve IAS officers had gone missing, and had not reported to either the Union or the state government for their allocated cadre. It was believed that they were working in foreign countries for companies such as Microsoft for more lucrative pay. It was later reported by The Asian Age that the services of three of the twelve officers were likely to be terminated due to "prolonged absence from service".
Notable IAS Officers
- Padma Vibhushan Naresh Chandra; a retired 1956 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, who served as the Cabinet Secretary of India, Defence Secretary of India, Home Secretary of India, Water Resources Secretary of India and Indian Ambassador to the United States. He was awarded India's second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, for civil service, in 2007.
- Padma Vibhushan Narinder Nath Vohra (N. N. Vohra); a retired 1959 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre and the current and 12th Governor of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, he is the first civilian Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 18 years after Jagmohan. Vohra has also served as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, Home Secretary of India, Defence Secretary of India and Defence Production Secretary of India. He was awarded India's second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, for civil service, in 2007.
- T. N. Seshan; a retired 1955 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, notable for enacting significant reforms to electoral oversight in India. He was the 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India (1990-96), who reformed elections by ending electoral malpractice throughout the country, and strengthened the image of the Election Commission of India. He previously served as the 18th Cabinet Secretary of India in 1989, and later as a member of the Planning Commission. He was presented the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service in 1996.
- Padma Bhushan Vinod Rai; a retired 1972 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, who served as the 11th Comptroller and Auditor General of India. He is widely considered a symbol of the anti-corruption movement in India. He also served as the Financial Services Secretary of India. Rai was awarded India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, civil service, in 2016.
- Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao; a retired 1972 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. He served as the 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. A former Finance Secretary of India, he also served as a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, and as a senior economist in the World Bank. Dr Subbarao's selection as RBI Governor in 2008 was coincidental with the outbreak of the Global Financial Crisis. His leadership is generally credited with safeguarding the Indian economy through the financial crisis.
- Dr. Yogendra Narain; a retired 1965 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is a former Secretary-General of Rajya Sabha, who also served as the Defence Secretary of India, Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh as well as Surface Transport Secretary of India. He was awarded the Dean Paul H. Appleby Award, for distinguished civil service, in 2017.
See also
- Special Duty Allowance (SDA)
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books
Papers
Further reading
External links
- Civil list of Indian Administrative Service officers as maintained by Department of Personnel and Training of Government of India.
- ER Sheet of IAS Officers by Department of Personnel and Training of Government of India.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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