India, the home of more than a billion people of vastly diverse cultures is a challenge to manage. The Indian Civil Services is the administrative framework responsible for efficiently implementing policies concerning the economic, human and natural resources of the country.

This coveted opportunity is extended only to those who succeed in a qualifying examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in centres all over the country, for the various services mentioned below:

• Indian Administrative Service

• India Foreign Service

• Indian Police Service

• Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group - A

• Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group - A

• Indian Customs and Central Excise Service, Group - A

• Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group - A

• Indian Revenue Service, Group - A

• Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group - A (Assistant Manager, non-technical)

• Indian Postal Service, Group - A

• Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group - A

• Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group - A

• Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group - A

• Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group - A

• Posts of Assistant Security Officer, Group - A in Railway Protection Force (RPF)

• Indian Defence Estates Service, Group - A

• Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group - A

• Indian Trade Service (Grade III), Group - A

• Posts of Assistant Commandant in Central Industrial Security Force, Group - A

• Central Secretariat Service (Section Officer's Grade), Group - B

• Railway Board Secretariat Service (Section Officer's Grade), Group - B

• Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service(Assistant Civilian Staff Officer's Grade), Group - B

• Customs Appraisers' Service, Group - B

• Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group - B

• Pondicherry Civil Service, Group - B

 
The notification of the examination is made in December. The Preliminary Examination is followed by the Main Written Examination and a personal Interview. The marks obtained in the Main Examination (Written and Interview) determine the final ranking. The candidates are then allotted to various services on the basis of their ranks and the preferences expressed by them.

• A degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be a Deemed University under the UGC Act, 1956, or an equivalent qualification.

• Candidates who have appeared or intend to appear for the qualifying examination and are awaiting results are also eligible to appear for the Preliminary Examination. All such candidates who qualify to appear for the Civil Services Main Examination must produce proof of having passed the said examination along with their application for the Main Examination.

• The UPSC may in exceptional cases treat a candidate without the requisite qualification as an eligible candidate if he / she has passed an examination conducted by other standard institutions that justifies his / her admission in the opinion of the Commission.

• Candidates with professional and technical qualifications recognised by the Government as equivalent to professional and technical degrees.

• Candidates who have passed the final year of MBBS or any Medical Examination but are yet to complete the internship can also appear for the Main Examination. However they must submit along with their Main Examination application, a certificate from the concerned authority of the University / Institution that they have passed the final professional medical examination. At the Interview stage they must then produce a certificate from a competent authority that they have completed (including internship) all the requirements for the award of the Medical Degree.

 
(1) Nationality

     i. Only Indian nationals are eligible for IAS and IPS.
     ii. For other services a candidate can be either of the following:
   

• a citizen of India,   

• a subject of Nepal,   

• a subject of Bhutan,    

• a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or  

• a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Burma, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vietnam, Zaire or Zambia with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Candidates belonging to either categories of b., c., d. or e. must produce an eligibility certificate issued by the Government of India. Those who belong to either of b., c. or d. categories are not eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

(2) Age Limit

• A candidate must have attained 21 years and not be over 30 years on August 1 of the year of examination.

• The upper age limit for the post of Assistant Commandant - Group A in CISF is 28 years only.

• The upper age limit is relaxed in specific cases as mentioned below:

  • upto a maximum of 5 years if the candidate belongs to SC/ST.

  • upto a maximum of 3 years if the candidate belongs to Other Backward Classes.

  • upto a maximum of 5 years if the candidate had been domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir during the period between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1989.

  • upto a maximum of 3 years in the case of Defence Services personnel disabled during hostilities with foreign countries or in a disturbed area and consequently released.

  • upto a maximum of 5 years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs / SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on August 1 of the year of examination and have been released:

    • on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from August 1 of the year of examination) otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency, or

    • on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service, or     

    • on invalidment.

  • upto a maximum of 5 years in the case of ECOs / SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment (5 years Military Service) as on August 1 of the year of examination and whose assignment has been extended beyond 5 years. Such candidates will have to provide a certificate from the Ministry of Defence stating that they can apply for civil employment and they will be released on a notice of 3 months, upon selection, from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.

  • upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and orthopaedically handicapped candidates.

 
A maximum of 4 attempts is permitted to every candidate and 7 to those belonging to Other Backward Classes. There is no restriction on the number of attempts in the case of SC/ST candidates. 
 

 
There are 2 successive stages in the examination:

• Preliminary Examination for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination
  
• Main Examination (Written and Interview) for the final selection of candidates

 
This examination meant to serve as a screening test is conducted on the following pattern:

General Studies includes the following: General Science, Current Events of national and international importance, History of India and Indian National Movement, India and World Geography, Indian Polity and Economy and General Mental Ability.

Optional Subjects for Preliminary Examination: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & 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 and Zoology.

 
This examination meant to serve as a screening test is conducted on the following pattern:

* Languages specified in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkini, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

** Optional Subjects for the Main Examination: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Anthropology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce & Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, History, Law, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science & International Relations, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology, Literature of one of the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkini, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.