GOVERNMENT SERVICES IN INDIA I.A.S Exam

The Indian Civil Services are organized into two main sections.
      (i) All India Services and
      (ii) The Central Services.

All India Services
Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
Indian Police Service (IPS)
Indian Forest Service (IFtS)

Central Services -Groups A & B

Group A

Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
Indian Railway Service
Indian Postal Service
Accounts and Auditing Services (including The Indian Audit and Accounts Service, The Indian Civil Accounts Service, The Indian Defence Accounts Service, The Indian Revenue Service.)
Indian Customs and Central Excise
Indian Ordinance Factories Service
Indian Defence Estates Service
Indian Revenue Service
Indian Information Service
Central Trade Services
Central Industrial Security Force

Group B

Central Secretariat Services (Section Officer Grade)
Railway Board Secretariat Services (Section Officer Grade)
Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (Assistant Civilian Staff Officer Grade)
Customs Appraisers' Services
The Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Services
The Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Services
Pondicherry Civil Services
State Civil Services
 

The categories of services to which candidates are selected through the SCS examination are as under:
(a) State Civil Services, Class-I (SCS)
(b) State Police Service, Class-I (SPS).
(c) Block Development Officer.
(d) Tehsildar / Talukadar/Asstt. Collector.
(e) Excise and Taxation Officer.
(f) Distt. Employment Officer.
(g) Distt. Treasury Officer.
(h) Distt Welfare Officer.
(i) Asstt Registrar Cooperative Societies.
(j) Distt. Food and Supplies Controller/Officer.
(k) Any other Class-I/Class-II service notified as per rules by the concerned State

Eligibility

Educational Qualifications: Graduates in any discipline from a recognised university. Candidates having professional and technical qualifications recognised by the government are also eligible. Those who have appeared in the final year but do not have the result can also apply but they would have to produce proof of passing the exam with their application for the Main Exam.
For the Forest Service, a candidate must have a Bachelor's degree in any of the science subjects.

Age: Candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 28 years on the 1st August of the year in which examination is being held. The upper age limit may be relaxed in respect of the SC/ST and other backward classes.

Personal Attributes: The aspiring candidates are expected to have keen interest in the General Studies and are supposed to have a good amount of interest in current affairs. Regular and detailed reading of a good national newspaper, a standard competition magazine and a basic book on general knowledge is the essential pre-requisite. Another important point is efficient time planning.

Application Procedure

Notification along with application forms for the civil service exam will appear in all the daily newspapers and the Rozgar Samachar/ Employment News by the end of December each year. Advertisements regarding the Indian Forest Service Examination appear in the month of January / February. The examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), New Delhi in different centers spread all over the country. For the State level services, however, the examination is conducted by the State Public Service Commissions (SPSC), in each state.
Applications should be made in the prescribed format (the form is available from all leading post offices) and sent to: Under Secretary (CSP), Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110 011. The application form along with the acknowledgement card is to be submitted by the end of January.
A registration number is given as a token of receipt of the application. If a candidate does not receive an acknowledgement within 45 days, he is advised to contact the UPSC. Further communications to the UPSC should contain name of examination, registration no., name and postal address as given in the application.
 

Examination

All India Combined Competitive Examination for the Civil Services conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) comprises of two successive stages:
(i) Preliminary Examination : It is of objective type, which is a qualifying examination.
(ii) Main Examination: It consists of written examination and interview.

The Preliminary Examination is held in May/June and the Main Examination in October/November. One must begin preparations of the main exam along with preliminary exam. This is because there is little time for the Main exam if one waits for the results of the Preliminaries.
A candidate is permitted 4 attempts at the examination. If a person appears in the Preliminary Exam or even appears in one paper, it is counted as an attempt.

Selection to the Indian Forest Service , on the other hand, is on the basis of a written test held in the month of August every year. The test comprises: two compulsory papers (General English and General Knowledge) ; and additional papers in any two subjects chosen from the following options: agriculture / botany / chemistry / physics / geology / zoology / mathematics / agricultural engineering / chemical engineering / civil engineering / mechanical engineering , excepting combinations of agriculture and agricultural engineering , chemistry and chemical engineering.

Examination Papers
 

Preliminary Examination
The preliminary examination consists of two papers:
Paper I -- General Studies 150 marks
Paper II -- An Optional subject 300 marks
Subjects for Paper II (one subject to be selected): Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, Indian History, Law, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology.
Both the papers will be of objective type questions (multiple choice). The question papers are set in Hindi as well as in English. The course content for the optional subjects will be of the degree level. Each paper is of two hours duration. Blind candidates are allowed an extra time of 20 minutes for each paper.

Main Examination
It Consists of the following papers:
Paper I - One Indian language (selected by the candidate) 300 marks
Paper II - English 300 marks
Paper III - Essay 200 marks
Paper IV&V - General Studies 300 marks each
Paper VI-IX - Any two subjects (optional papers to be selected by the candidate) with two papers each 300 marks for each
Each paper is of 3 hours duration.
Optional Papers: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, Indian History, Law, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology.
The following combinations not allowed are:
Political Science & International Relations and Public Administration
Commerce and Management
Anthropology and Sociology
Maths and Statistics
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Management and Public Administration
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science
Any two branches of engineering.

The final stage of selection is the interview which is conducted in April/May every year. Candidate will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object is to assess the personal suitability and judge the mental caliber of the candidate. The candidate must exhibit an intelligent interest in events happening around him so that he appears to be a complete personality.
There is also a medical test, especially rigid for IPS. Out of the final candidates selected top rankers are appointed as IAS officers.

Once appointed, all probationary officers of the All India and Central Services undergo compulsory foundation training.