Articles
IAS is NOT an All India Service
Dt: 20/8/25
IAS is NOT an All India Service
Dr T.H.Chowdary*
The much vaunted IAS is not an all India service! Those recruited by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) through the all India competitive examination are allotted to states. They are to be served within the state to which they are allocated. The government of the Union of India, commonly referred to as Government of India with it s seat in New Delhi gets its officers on deputation from the States ! The Indian Police Service (IPS) officers also are state cadre. The IAS and IPS officers cannot be transferred to other states. The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers who are also selected through an examination by the UPSC are transferable to anywhere in the world !
2. Each state in India has its own Public Service Commission which recruits the State’s officers.
3. Government of India has its own all-India transferable officers, also recruited through competitive examinations conducted by the UPSC. They are for example : Indian Postal Services, India Revenue Service, Indian Telecom Service, Indian Railway Service and soon. These are transferable all over India, unlike IAS and IPS !
4. What should be the languages in which examinations should be conducted by the UPSC? For the all India services it should obviously be the national language Hindi and English and not any regional language.
5. For the prestigious IAS and IPS too, English and Hindi, preferably English only may be used. If all the regional languages are allowed to be used, the answer papers can be evaluated and marked by examiners knowing specific languages. There will be then different standards for marking . For example, if the answer papers are in Urdu, only Urdu -knowing people only can value them. Urdu is identified with Muslims; Urdu-knowing people only will value the answer sheets. The outcome can be disastrous. There is already love-jihad, there can be Urdu-jihad to penetrate the higher echelons of government . It seems to be incipient already.
6. In view of the religious and language difference and conflicts based upon them it is best that all competitive exams are conducted by the UPSC only Hindi and English . (360 words)
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