INFORMATION PRIMER FOR INDIAN CIVIL SERVICES

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The various civil services of India

The classification of services in our country is governed by the Civil Services Rules of 1930, as changed from time to time. Presently, it is classified into the following services:

  • All-India Services

  • Central Services, Class I (Group A)

  • Central Services, Class II (Group B)

  • Central Services, Class III (Group C)

  • Central Services, Class IV (Group D)

  • Central Secretariat Services, Class I, II, III, IV (Group A, B, C and D)

  • Specialist Services

  • State Services, Class I, II, III, IV

The civil Services in India are also classified into gazetted class and non-gazetted class. Usually Class I (Group A) and Class II (Group B) are included in the gazetted class. The names of the members of gazetted class are published in the Government Gazette for appointment, transfer, promotion and retirement. The gazetted members are called Officers, and they enjoy certain privileges which are denied to the non-gazetted class. In common parlance, only the gazetted classes are included in the prestigious category of Civil Services.

There are three All India Services:

  • Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

  • Indian Police Service (IPS)

  • Indian Forest Service (IFS, to be distinguished from Indian Foreign Service, also called IFS)

As of year 2000, there are 34 Group A Central Services and 25 Group B Central Services. The Group A Central Services are:

  1. Archaeology Service

  2. Botanical Survey of India

  3. Central Engineering Service

  4. Central Electrical Engineering Service

  5. Central Health Service

  6. Central Information Service

  7. Central Legal Service

  8. Central Revenue Chemical Service

  9. Central Secretariat Service

  10. Central Water Engineering Service

  11. General Central Service

  12. Geological Survey of India

  13. Indian Audit and Accounts Service

  14. Indian Defence Accounts Service

  15. Indian Economic Service

  16. Indian Foreign Service

  17. Indian Foreign Service- Branch B

  18. Indian Inspection Service

  19. Indian Meteorological Service

  20. Indian Postal Service

  21. Indian Posts and Telegraphs Traffic Service

  22. Indian Revenue Service (Customs, Excise and Income Tax)

  23. Indian Salt Service

  24. Indian Statistical Service

  25. Indian Supply Service

  26. Mines Department

  27. Mercantile Marine Training Ship Service

  28. Overseas Communication Service

  29. Railway Inspectorate Service

  30. Railway Personnel Service

  31. Survey of India

  32. Telegraph Engineering Service

  33. Telegraph Traffic Service

  34. Zoological Survey of India

Recruitment to Indian Forest Service (IFS) and many technical/specialised Central Services, like Indian Economic Service, Zoological Survey of India, etc, are done through special and separate exams, and NOT through the Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam.

 In 2004, recruitment is open to the following Central Civil Services:

  1. Indian Administrative Service

  2. Indian Foreign Service

  3. Indian Police Service

  4. Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group A

  5. Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group A

  6. Indian Customs and Central Excise Service, Group A

  7. Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group A

  8. Indian Revenue Service, Group A

  9. Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group A (Assistant Works Manager, Non-technical)

  10. Indian Postal Service, Group A

  11. Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group A

  12. Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group A

  13. Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group A

  14. Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group A

  15. Indian Defence Estates Service, Group A

  16. Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group A

  17. Indian Trade Service, Group A (Grade III)

  18. Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group B (Section Officer's Grade).

Comparing from the two lists you can see that some new services has been added. For example, some new Railway Services have been added.

Apart from these services recruitment to which is done at the national level, there are the various state civil services; in fact, most of the states have their own civil services.


At a more philosophical level, any profession that is dedicated to the service of the public and the society, should be called a civil service. By general acceptance only the public sector services are included in this category- the work of a barber, no matter how important to the society, is not civil service. In civil service there is no monetary remuneration for services acquired, unlike in the case of the barber. For example, to catch the thief you are not required to pay the police. Yet the police does it for you without charge- that is civil service. You pay the police indirectly through all the direct and indirect taxes and levies. Again by general acceptance, only the higher echelons of the professions is called civil service. Thus, a havildar is not a civil servant, but a DSP is, although both of them are involved in catching the thief.

 

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