IAS: Indian Administrative Services
IAS stands for Indian Administrative Services, it is one of the toughest competitive exams in India. Once you clear this exam you will be eligible to become an IAS officer. The former name of this post as Imperial Civil Service (ICS)
The IAS exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruiting the most talented and hardworking IAS officer for the country of India. This exam is conducted every year by the central recruiting agency (UPSC), it was founded in the year 1858.
IAS is a permanent directorate of India and it constitutes a part of the executive branch. IAS comes under the three AIS (All India Services) category which works under both Union government and state governments.
Role of an IAS officer:
The responsibility and functions of an IAS officer are to serve the Central government as well the State government by implementing and administering all the policies made by the Indian government. They play a major role in giving feedback to current affairs and policies.
An IAS officer is in charge of checking the status of the progress and impact of the policies implemented and reporting to the Central and State government. For this, he is required to even conduct meetings with the State ministers and officers discussing the issues pending and faced.
We will discuss a few more responsibilities below:
- An IAS officer is in charge of handling the district administration.
- He should cover the topics related to all the current and other affairs of the government.
- One main responsibility of an IAS officer is to maintain Law and Order in his area of work.
- He can also collect all the government revenues as a collector.
- IAS officers must distribute funds to respective states and check on them regularly if the funds are being used perfectly or not.
- He should follow up with the implemented policies.
- He also takes a big part in giving inputs to the government regarding the policies, if they will help the citizens, and its advantages and disadvantages.
Facilities of an IAS officer:
The Central Pay Commission has set a certain limit to the salary of an IAS officer which will be depending on the rank he gets an interview he passes. Apart from getting the income, an IAS officer gets many other benefits which are discussed as follows:
- IAS officers will be given free accommodation and subsidy facilities.
- He will be given security and other staff help according to the need.
- IAS officers are granted free internet connection, mobile phone connection, free water bill, and television services.
- He doesn’t have to worry about the house help like cooks, drivers, gardeners, as all of this is free for him.
- One car with one driver will be given to an IAS officer for conducting his daily services, petrol charges will be free of cost.
- IAS officers come under the category who can claim pension after they decide to retire.
- If the officer is required to stay in any hotel or lodging, the charges will be paid by the government.
- Transport facilities will be given to all the State and District level officers.
How to become an IAS officer?
To become an IAS officer, the candidate must qualify for the Civil Services Examination which is conducted by UPSC every year. There will be openings for almost 25 service posts which includes IPS, IFS, IAS, etc. the protocol for conducting exams starts with releasing the notification asking the aspirants to fill and submit their applications around the allotted time and date. Then comes the preliminary exams followed by Mains and interviews.
To put it in simple terms, the three phases in which the exam will be conducted are:
A preliminary examination that has multiple-choice questions, and is quite easy compared to the Mains and interview. This phase gives the aspirant chance to score and save some marks which will be added up in the finals.
Next comes the Mains examinations, this phase is the written part that covers most of the syllabus and expects the aspirant to answer on point. Through this, the literacy skills and written skills are also checked.
Once you clear the above two phases, then comes the interview phase which will be held with a few panel members. It is also called a personality test.
Eligibility Criteria:
The first and foremost requirement is the aspirant must be a citizen of India. Any aspirant who finished his graduation from any subject can apply for the post of IAS officer and other posts. The age limit of the candidate must be at least 21 years of age and a maximum of 32 years. The bare minimum requirement is a graduation degree from a known university.
Preparation:
Candidates who aspire to become an IAS officer must undergo thorough coaching from the top institute, studying on their own will give them very little chance to clear the UPSC exam. As mentioned above the IAS exam is one of the toughest exams hence it requires dedication and hard work by the candidate.
Now, with the advancement of every sector, participants can even opt for online classes for IAS coaching. There is no need to attend physical classes as the same course will be taught by the professors online. This is very beneficial for those candidates who are professionals and working in different fields.
You will be given subjects to choose, depending on the subject you chose study modules and training material will be given. You must give your 100% commitment towards this course as the more you study and work hard, the easier it will get to crack the exam.
Apart from studying for the particular course, the candidate must also focus on his English and literacy skills. This is because, if you put your knowledge in better words it will give the examiner a good taste of understanding.
Thus, becoming an IAS officer is a complete package knowledge-wise as well as personality-wise. Hence the power and responsibilities go hand in hand for an IAS officer.