IAS Career Path

Hello sir I am preparing for IAS exam but before giving the exam can you please tell me about the Career Path of an IAS officer???

[Rajkumar Agarwal]

The Indian Administrative Service (abbreviated as IAS) is the premieradministrative civil service of the Government of India.

IAS officers hold key and strategic positions in the Union Government, Statesand public-sector undertakings

IAS or Indian Administrative Service is such a job where one can go to the lofty positions of power and status.

Here I am telling you the career progression of an IAS officer:
Training (1 Year)
Probation (2 Year)
Junior Time Scale
Senior Time Scale
Junior Administrative Grade
Selection Grade
Super Time Scale
Higher Administrative Grade
Apex Scale
Cabinet Secretary Scale

IAS Career Path

Career Progression of an IAS.
The career path of an IAS officer is too interesting. IAS or Indian Administrative Service is such a job where one can go to the lofty positions of power and status. No job is comparable to it. So, even people with both IIT and IIM degrees are fighting hard to get selected to the merit list of the UPSC.

An IAS officer can get the chances of working for people at the subdivision and district levels during the earlier part of his career. Such an officer sees the implementation of the government policies on grass-root levels.
With seniority, the IAS becomes more and more involved in policy framing. He goes from the districts to the capitals. He may go to the national capital, Delhi. Read more to learn more about the career progression of an IAS officer.

Training (1 Year):
The newly recruited IAS trainees are called in LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration) for training. It is situated at the hill station Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. During the FC (Foundation Course) all central group A services officers selected through the Civil Services Examination are trained together for 4 months. After that other services trainees are shifted to their own training institutes, but IAS people continues to be trained in LBSNAA. The training is hard. There are studies and physical exercises too. The training ends with a long all-India educational tour called “Bharat darsan”. During this tour the officer trainees see various parts of the country and also how the Army, Navy and Air force of the country work.

Probation (2 Year):
After training, the IAS officers are sent to their cadre regions on probation for a couple of years. IAS cadres are the regions on which an officer is allocated. There are total 24 cadres like AGMUT, West Bengal, UP, Rajasthan etc.
During the probation period, the officer will be attached to various government departments to learn how the government machinery works. The officer will have to keep a probationer’s dairy to record what he/she has learnt. The probation period ends with an examination.

Junior Time Scale
The newly recruited IAS officer starts at the Junior Time Scale salary i.e. in the scale of 15600 with Grade Pay 5400. So, the starting basic is 21000. There is also DA (Dearness Allowance) above the Basic Pay which is now 107% of the basic. The officer stays in the JTS for 4 years.
After completion of the probation period, the junior officer is posted as a SDO / SDM (Sub-divisional Officer / Magistrate) at the Sub-division level of a district. The SDM is the administrative head of a sub-division containing 7/8 blocks.

Senior Time Scale
After 4 years of service life, the IAS officer is promoted to Senior Time Scale with Grade Pay 6600. The officer gets two extra increments during this scale up gradation. He is given various types of posts like that of the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), CEO, Zilla Parishad or Chief Development Officer at this stage.

Junior Administrative Grade
JAG officers get Rs 7600 as grade pay in the scale of Rs 15,600-Rs 39,100. An IAS is promoted to this scale after 9 years of service. He also gets two additional increments.
After serving 2/3 years as the ADM, the officer is selected as the District Magistrate / Collector of a district. The collector looks after the development and law and order of the district. The post has wide visibility, power and status.

Some of the officers are posted as a Joint Secretary of a ministry of the state. The Joint Secretary is a very important position to hold. If an officer goes to central deputation then he is given director post of a department.
Selection Grade

The officer again gets two extra increments before being promoted to the next higher scale of pay, Selection Grade (Rs. 37,400-67,000 with GP 8700) after 12 years of service. He or She may remain a DM in the district or can become a Special Secretary of a Government department.

Selection Grade
The officer again gets two extra increments before being promoted to the next higher scale of pay, Selection Grade (Rs. 37,400-67,000 with GP 8700) after 12 years of service. He or She may remain a DM in the district or can become a Special Secretary of a Government department.
Super Time Scale

An IAS gets Super Time Scale (Rs. 37,400-67,000 with GP 10000) after 16 years of service. He /She will get the post of an Additional Secretary or Secretary of a department of a State Government. He may also become a divisional commissioner in field posting. In the Central Government, an officer of that seniority can get the post of the Joint Secretary of a ministry of the Government of India.

Higher Administrative Grade
With the selection in Higher Administrative Grade or HAG, an officer is entitled to officer to draw a basic in the scale of Rs.67000 to 79000. An officer should have an experience of 25 years to go to this position.
In states, an IAS of this grade can become a Principle Secretary of a department. If the officer works in the Government of India, then the rank will be of an Additional Secretary.

Apex Scale
An officer with a minimum experience of 30 years can get the Apex scale i.e. the fixed basic salary of Rs. 80,000. The Secretaries of various departments of the Central Government gets this scale. The Chief Secretary of a state also gets this scale.

Cabinet Secretary Scale
The Cabinet Secretary is the highest position of a government employee in India. There is always only one Cabinet Secretary in the Central Government. There is state equivalent of this post. He draws a fixed basic pay of Rs. 90,000.