Planning your Career in Indian Civil Service

Shailja Kaushik 11 years ago

The Civil Services consist of departments which drive the administrative and governance system of India. It is one of the most coveted government departments in the country. Close to 1, 50,000 students appear for CS examination every year.

Classification

It consists of two main sections:

All India Services includes Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS)
Central Services includes Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Railway Service (IRS), Indian Postal Service (IPS), Customs and Central Excise etc.

The Indian Civil Services are organized into two main sections. These are the All India Services and the Central Services.

Eligibility

Candidates must:

Be Indian nationals
Have age between 21 and 28 years
Have at least a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a recognized university

Selection Process consists of 3 stages:

Preliminary examination takes place in the month of June. It is an objective-type written test with two papers. Only about 10,000 candidates are shortlisted based on prelims exams
- Paper 1 is of General Studies with 150 questions of 1 mark each, to be completed in 2 hours. This includes six topics – Geography, Indian History, Science, Economics, Current Affairs and Constitution of India.
- Paper 2 is ‘Optional’ as per the candidate’s choice of subject, with 120 questions carrying a total of 300 points, to be completed in 2 hours.
Main examination is conducted around November/December and consists of two language papers, two general studies paper of 300 marks each and four papers on two optional subjects of 300 marks each. Language paper does not carry any marks, but are mandatory to clear. Only 5% candidates make it to the next stage.
Personality Test involves final round and is held in April/May each year. There is a panel of experts who judge candidate’s personality, ability and aptitude. This stage is of 250 points.

A total of about 800-900 students are finally appointed as probationary officers into the civil services.

Civil Service Training

All the appointed officers undergo the CS training course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. This starts in the last week of August and includes: