WHEN UPAMANYU CHATTERJEE wrote his debut novel, An English August, a semi-autobiographical tale of an IAS officer's travails in a small, godforsaken town, few disagreed with the starkly realistic yet humorous portrayal of an English-educated officer coming to terms with the Indian realities. Chatterjee's protagonist is the typical urban Indian civil servant who dreams of changing lives (for the better) by virtue of his being an IAS officer. That's the aura of power and glory that the All India Services exude.
The Indian Civil Services is one of the legacies of the British that has endured with time, albeit gradually Indianising itself. This intricate order of hierarchical accountability and controls was established after the 1857 uprising, when the reins of power went out of the hands of East India Company to the Crown. The role of the Civil Services has undergone major reforms since independence, operating as it does now, within the parameters of a democratic welfare state with more emphasis on development work and maintenance of law and order.
The All India Services, comprising the IAS, Indian Forest Service plus the Indian Foreign Service, which is a central service and the IPS, are the cream of the services. Powerful, glamorous and the most coveted of the lot these services attract some of the best brains in the country. It is this non-political entity - the bureaucracy that gives permanency to policy-making and its implementation and also serves as an advisory body to the ministers. This highly centralised and hierarchical body is in charge of almost all aspects of administration in the country.
The All India Services follow a cadre system wherein the officers are allotted various states (cadres) during their probationary period, to which they remain affiliated throughout their career.
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS): Constituted formally in the year 1947, the IAS has extended the role of its precursor, the Indian Civil Service (ICS). Handling essentially administrative affairs, IAS officers man the key posts in the districts as well as at the central or state secretariats. At the central level, this involves policy framing and implementation.
At the district level, it mostly sees to development works besides administrative affairs and the divisional level it looks after law and order, general administration and development work.
While work at the secretariat involves a lot of paperwork, preparation of reports and answers asked in the Parliament, discussions etc., a field job is a different story altogether. Field assignments are those where one is required to implement the government policies. It involves greater interaction with people, touring, supervising and co- ordinating the work of governmental and non-governmental agencies and receiving ministers, senior officers etc.
Superintendents of Police (SPs), District Magistrates (DMs), etc. are Field Officers in the central government while Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP), Block Development Officers (BDOs), Assistant Engineers etc. are the state government employees working in the field posts. In the IAS cadre, the post of DM or DC - District Collector, also called Deputy Commissioner in some states ,is one of the important field assignments covering a vast area of work. As a DM, one is in charge of law and order, attending and convening of meetings and conferences, receiving VIPs, inspections supervising relief operations, organising government campaigns and any other miscellaneous work that may come up. Supervising the allotment and proper utilisation of funds by field staff is another important job.
The Indian Foreign Service (IFS): The IFS is responsible for the administration and activities of Indian missions abroad, and for the framing and implementation of the government's foreign policy. It deals with the country's external affairs, including trade diplomacy and cultural relations. IFS officers are attached to the Ministry of External Affairs and may be posted either in India or abroad. The two-year probation period involves training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration (Mussoorie), followed by a stint in Delhi. Probationers have to specialise in a certain section of the ministry, like the Commonwealth, USA, Far East etc. This includes learning the language or languages of the region.
The initial posting is as Third Secretary in an Indian High Commission abroad, usually for two years, usually followed by a posting in the country. Travel is an integral part of the job and a country allowance is provided according to the country one happens to be posted in.
The Indian Police Service (IPS): This service has the difficult and unenviable task of maintaining public safety and security. A job that not only demands mental alertness and physical fitness but puts all of one's abilities to the harshest of tests while dealing with the ever increasing crime graph. The role of the IPS has changed over the years. Now, it is not solely concerned with the maintenance of law and order in the traditional sense. Its ambit now includes listening to public grievances regarding neglect or delay of police action, formulating strategies for various programmes associated with public welfare, and taking preventive steps to ensure that elements disrupting social peace are dealt with swiftly and ruthlessly.
To fulfil these functions, the service has been divided into many functional departments: Crime Branch, Criminal Investigation Department or CID, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Traffic Bureau. A number of central policing agencies are also headed by the IPS including the Intelligence Bureau, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Cabinet Secretariat Security, Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Entry: Entry into the three All India Services (as well as the Central Services) is through the combined competitive examination held for the civil services. The examination is divided into two sections (i) the Preliminary examination and the (ii) the Main. The Preliminary examination is the first step for selection to the services. On the third Saturday of December usually, the UPSC publishes a supplement in the Employment News on the Civil Service exams. The supplement also contains an application form for the Prelims. The examination is conducted in 40 centres all over the country on the second Sunday of June.
The Prelims is a written test comprising two objective, multiple- choice type papers. Paper 1 is an optional subject of 300 marks and paper 2 is of general studies of 150 marks. There are 23 optional subjects to choose from in the first paper. General Studies covers six topics - Indian History, Constitution of India, Geography, Economics, Science and Current Affairs.
The Mains, also a written test, are held around November/December each year. The exam carries 2,000 marks, to be followed by an interview (for the successful candidates) of 300 marks. The written exam consists of seven papers and two language papers - one in English and the other in an optional Indian Language. Marks gained in these papers are not computed in the total score, but passing in both is compulsory for qualification. The other papers are: one compulsory Essay paper, two papers in General Studies and two papers each of the two optional subjects one opts for. All the papers are of subjective type.
The Interview or Personality Test: This is the final stage in the selection process, the battle royale that can swing the outcome either way. The interview score plays a decisive role in the selection process and also in the service, which is finally allotted to you. Roughly 750-800 candidates make it past the final selection out of the hundreds of thousands who apply.
Padma Ramesh
cclub@nettlinx.com
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