IAS Exam

Roles and Responsibilities

The role of IAS officers is very venerable, demands a great deal of responsibility and reverence. It is also important that an officer is physically and mentally fit and healthy to handle the work pressure without giving in. The following are the roles and responsibilities that an IAS officer is deputed:

• Handling affairs of government that involve framing and implementation of policy in consultation with the concerned Minister

• Implementing policies through supervision and also traveling to the places where the approved policies will be implemented

• Implementing policies comprises disbursement of funds through personal supervision

• Answerable to the Parliament and State Legislatures for any violation of rules while on duty

• Functions and responsibilities differ at different levels of career.

• Initially, IAS officers join the state administration at the sub-divisional level, resuming their services as sub-divisional magistrates, and look after law and order, general administration and development work in the area assigned to them

• The post of the District Officer also known as District Magistrate, District Collector or Deputy Commissioner is the highly respected and responsible post the IAS officers enjoy

• At the district level, an IAS officer deals with district affairs, including implementation of developmental programs

• The officers may also be appointed in the State Secretariat or they may serve as Heads of Departments or in Public Sector Undertakings

• They may serve in different positions from the State to the Centre and vice versa. This happens through deputation.

• At the Centre, IAS officers serve at the highest position as the Cabinet Secretaries, Secretaries/Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries, Directors, Deputy Secretaries and Under Secretaries. They are appointed to these posts based on seniority.

• At the Centre, the IAS officers play a key role in formulation and implementation of policies related to a particular area; for instance, finance, commerce, etc.

• During formulation of a policy and decision making, IAS officers serving at different levels i.e. joint secretary, deputy secretary give their valuable inputs

• The policy takes its final shape through a final decision the minister concerned or the cabinet, depending on the seriousness of the situation

IAS Officer Salary 

With the roles and responsibilities of an IAS officer, aspirants might have understood that Civil Services is opted not for attractive salary or perks though the pay scale of an IAS officer is lucrative. Aspirants have to consider that IAS is neither a profession nor a career to earn more perks, indeed, they should think about they're a part of nation-building for the future. 

The salary structure of a Civil Servant increased drastically with the 6th Pay Commission and this was further increased in the 7th Pay Commission in 2016. Despite a whopping increase with the successive Central Pay Commission (CPC), many still debate that the salary offered to an IAS officer doesn't match to the perks offered by the private companies. However, aspirants give the least preference to the benefits and perks because of the powers and responsibilities of an IAS officer. 

Here, we display the current salary of an IAS Officer depending upon the post. The source of the below data is the 7th Pay Commission. 

IAS Admit Card 2022

The UPSC is responsible for releasing the admit card. Aspirants who submitted their online applications successfully can download the admit card from the Commission's official website. The admit card will be released separately for preliminary and main examination. The admit card will be available on the website until the exam date. The admit card download process is similar to the preliminary and main examination. Check the steps to access IAS E-admission certificate. 

• Aspirants need to visit the official website to download the IAS admit card. 
• Visit the E-Admit Cards tab. 
• Click on the ''E-Admit Cards for Various Examinations of UPSC''
• Select the relevant link and enter login credentials. 
• Download the IAS admit card from the official website of UPSC. 

Note: Aspirants should know what are the details mentioned on IAS admit card. Hence, we advise candidates to read our UPSC admit card page.

IAS Result 2022

The UPSC is responsible for releasing the Civil Services Prelims and Mains exam result. Aspirants who have qualified in the Preliminary exam are only eligible to appear for the Main exam. Candidates whose numbers were present in the list should fill up the Detailed Application Form-I (DAF) for the Main Examination. Every year, the Commission will conduct the Main exam in the month of September. Candidates who score above the cut-off set by the Commission have to appear for the Personality Test/Interview round, which will be held in February/March. The final merit results will be released in April on the UPSC's official website after the interview round. Candidates can access the UPSC Civil Services Result for Prelims and Mains here.

How To Become An IAS Officer 

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is one amongst the All India Services, which include Indian Foreign Services (IFS) and Indian Police Services (IPS). There are three ways to become an IAS officer: Through Civil Services Examination (CSE) conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), promotion of State Civil Service officers to IAS and selection of non-State Civil Service officers. 

The best way to become an IAS officer is through clearing the CSE conducted by the UPSC because it will take you to the highest positions, such as Cabinet Secretary. The Civil Services is a common examination conducted every year to shortlist the candidates for various services, such as IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, IAAS, etc. To pass with flying colours in Civil Services, aspirants should know about the important stages to become an IAS officer. 

Stage 1: Civil Services Preliminary 

The preliminary examination is the first stage in the selection process of Civil Services Examination (CSE). This is considered as the screening round. The Civil Services preliminary is an objective-type exam consisting of two papers and carries a total of 400 marks. The Paper-I consists of general studies subjects, such as history, geography, polity, science, environment, etc. Paper-II is a Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), which consists of comprehension, interpersonal skills, decision making, basic numeracy, etc. The preliminary is a screening test meant only to shortlist the candidates for the main examination. 

Stage 2: Civil Services Main Examination 

Candidates who qualify in the preliminary examination and obtain minimum cut-off score are only eligible to appear for the main examination. The number of candidates eligible to appear for the main examination will be around twelve to thirteen times the total the approximate number of vacancies. 

The main examination is conducted to assess the overall intellectual traits of a candidate. It consists of nine papers that include two qualifying papers. However, the merit is counted only for an essay, general studies and optional papers. Candidates who obtain a minimum qualifying mark in the written examination fixed by the UPSC will be called for the interview/Personality Test. The total number of candidates called for the interview will be twice the number of vacancies. 

Stage 3: Personality Test 

The personality test will be conducted in Delhi at the Commission's headquarters. The interview is conducted for 275 marks. There will be no minimum qualifying marks for personality test. Marks obtained by the aspirants in the main examination and interview will be considered for the final ranking. Candidates will be allotted the services such as IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, etc. based on their ranks and preferences. 

Aspirants should note that apart from the selection through Civil Services Examination, UPSC also promotes the state government officers to the rank of an IAS officer.

Common Mistakes To Avoid In Civil Services Main Exam

The Civil Services Main Exam is the second stage of the selection process after Preliminary. The UPSC will shortlist around 12,000 candidates for the Main exam and 2,500 candidates for the Personality Test, i.e., Interview. Aspirants should never go wrong with the Main exam after the success in Preliminary. Unfortunately, a few candidates commit mistakes unknowingly in the conventional exam. Hence, Careerindia has decided to list the common mistakes to avoid in the Civil Services Main Exam.

• Aspirants should not write any irrelevant matters in the answer booklet.
• They should remember that matters irrelevant to answers also not considered.
• One should not disclose his/her own identity in any part of the answer booklet.
• Candidates should avoid writing partly in ink and pencil.
• An appeal to examiner should be avoided because it will impact all the parts of the paper.
• Candidates’ handwriting should be in a readable way.

Aspirants are advised to avoid these points while preparing for the Civil Services Main Exam. They are also advised to explore the perfect way to cancel the attempted answers and correct way to fill a QSCAB first page in the Civil Services Main Exam.