INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

In the Government of India (i.e.. in the ministries) you will deal with the formulation of policies and supervise their implementation. In each Ministry you will supervise the allotment and utilization of funds by the field officers in your Ministry.

You will also be asked to furnish information to the Parliament in response to queries relating to your Ministry. You will have to work late into the night and under much pressure when Parliament is in session. Sometimes, your work will entail visits to the States. Depending on your rank, you might even be the government nominee on the Board of Directors of some Public Sector Corporation. You will also at times be nominated to independently represent India at International forums or accompany the Minister for such meetings. From the rank of Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, you can sign international agreements on behalf of the Government of India.

However, more than half your career life will be spent in the State you are allocated, where you will look after law and order, general administration, revenue work and developmental functions. During the course of your two year probation you will be attached to various training schools, to the Secretariat and field offices and to a district collector's office. Here you will do the work of a sub magistrate. On completion of your two year's probation you will be appointed as a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM). As S.D.M. you will look after law and order, general administration, revenue work and such developmental work as may be assigned to you. In the next three scales i.e.. Senior Scale, Junior Administrative Grade and Selection Grade you will serve as District Magistrate, Chief Development Officer, Director of a department, Managing Director of a Public Sector Unit or a Senior officer in the State Secretariat. In other words, you could be a District Magistrate in your fifth year of service and remain a D.M. till you are promoted to the Super Time Scale in the 17th year of your service.

What your rank in the State Secretariat wi ll be varies widely from State to State,. For example, in Jammu and Kashmir, young I.A.S. officers in the Junior Administrative Grade become Secretaries. In most States, however, I.A.S. Officers become Secretaries to the State Government when they reach the Selection Grade. In all States, supertime scale officers are Secretaries or Divisional Commissioners. Following this there are promotions in scale to the ranks of Principal Secretary and additional Chief Secretary. The highest post in the State is that of the Chief Secretary.

INDIAN FOREIGN SERVICES

After the training at Mussoorie, the I.F.S. probationers are attached to the Ministry of External Affairs and have to become conversant in a major foreign language. During the second year they are appointed as Third Secretaries in and Indian Embassy/High Commission where that language is spoken. They spend another two years in the same Embassy as Second Secretaries. After two postings abroad, the I.F.S. Officers are posted in India in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) (Eg. Passport office or Indian Council for Cultural Relations or elsewhere in the Government of India). In the MEA, you will look after India's political, economic and commercial work. In the Senior Scale and the Junior Administrative Grade the I.F.S. Officers are appointed as First Secretaries. In the Selection Grade I.F.S. Officers serve as Counsellors. In very small countries the Indian Ambassador would be in that grade.

In the supertime scale, many I.F.S. Officers become Ambassadors of medium sized countries while others are appointed as Ministers in the large embassies like Washington and Moscow. In the Additional Secretaries Grade, I.F.S. Officers are made ambassadors in relatively big embassies of Deputy High Commissioner in London. The biggest Indian Embassies / High Commissions like Moscow, Washington and London are headed by Ambassadors of the rank of Secretary. At this level, some Ambassadors are non I.F.S. Officers like politicians, retired or serving I.A.S. Officers or retired Defence Chief. There are four to five Secretary level officers in the MEA - the senior most being the Foreign Secretary.
The content of an I.F.S. Officer's work has improved immensely. The is considerable economic work to be done to promote trade and commerce. The career development in the service is extremely professional.

INDIAN POLICE SERVICES

During the probation period you will undergo a year's on the job training in the office of a Superintendent of Police of a district in the State you have been allocated .On completing your two year probation, you will be confirmed as a three star Assistant Superintendent of Police (A.S.P.). You will then in all probability be posted as the Police Officer of a sub-division (SDPO) for two years till you are promoted to the Senior Scale.

As the SDPO, Superintendent of Police, Senior Superintendent of Police of a District and as Deputy Inspector General of a Range (group of districts), you will be exclusively responsible for the prevention and detection of crime. However, the law and order duties will be shared with your I.A.S. counterpart.

In cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, the law and order duties are the exclusive responsibility of the police force. In these cities the ASP, SP, and the DIG are called Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACPO), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and Commissioner of Police (CP). On being promoted to the Senior Scale you could serve as ASP of a larger district for the first two years or SP of a small district. You are likely to spend about thirteen years covering the Senior Scale, Junior Administrative Grade and Selection Grade as SP / SSP of a district, SP (Crime), SP (CID), S.P. (Home Guards), the head of some police battalion, S.P. (Traffic) and so on. Outside the districts, the most satisfying jobs are in the intelligence agencies of the Government of India specially in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). There are many other Central agencies to which the IPS Officers may be sent on deputation at every stage of their career, except in the Junior Scale. Some of these are the Cabinet Secretariat, the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force. Unlike I.A.S. Officers who cannot permanently serve the central government, some IPS dominated central agencies absorb the IPS Officers till they retire. The senior posts in the IPS are those of the Deputy Inspector General, Inspector General, Additional D.G. and Director General. These days many states have more than one IG and DG. However, there is only one Director General of Police (DG), who heads the police force of the State.

INDIAN REVENUE SERVICES

In the Indian Revenue Service you earn money for the exchequer and therefore, as Usha Gupta, Additional Commissioner Income Tax points out you have to keep departmental expenses to the minimum! The job according to her is