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IFS Exam
Indian Forest Service Exam
What is IFS Exam?
The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the recruitment officers at the All India level by the Government of India for the scientific management of its forests.
Importance
IFS is one of the three All India Services. The exam is conducted for recruitment to forestry services of India. The other two All India Services being Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS).
Indian Forest Service is one of the Civil Services of India and belongs to the apex All India Services group. IFS services are placed under various State cadres and joint cadres though they have the mandate to serve both under the State and Central Governments.
The main mandate of IFS service is the implementation of the National Forest Policy which aims to ensure environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance.
An IFS officer is largely independent of district administration and exercises administrative, judicial and financial powers in their own domain. All top positions in the state forest department are held by IFS officers.
Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2020
In order to become an Indian Forest Service officer, candidates need to appear for the examination conducted by UPSC. The IFS selection procedure consists of three stages – preliminary, main examination and personality test.
Aspirants have to note that they need to appear for the Civil Services (Preliminary) examination and qualify the same for the second phase of the examination, i.e., IFS (Main Examination). Candidates who qualify in the Civil Services (Preliminary) and meet the eligibility criteria of IFS will be shortlisted for the IFS Main Examination.
The desiring candidates can apply for the Indian Forest Service examination through a common online application form of Civil Services Examination (CSE). The applicant has to submit the application form through online mode only. The important details regarding IFS 2019 are given below.
The UPSC has released the tentative dates of Indian Forest Service Prelims & Main 2020 examination. The UPSC IFS Preliminary Exam 2020 will take place on May 31, 2020, Whereas the IFS Main exam will be held on start from December 01, 2020.
The online registration process will start from February 12, 2020, and it will end on March 03, 2020. The applicant has to submit the application form through online mode only, but there is no offline mode. Click here to know the important dates of the IFS 2020 Exam.
| Indian Forest Service 2020 | |
| IFS 2020 Notification | February 12, 2020 |
| Organising body | Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) |
| Exam mode | Offline |
| Number of attempts | 6 |
| Number of vacancies | 90 (approximately) |
| Starting date to apply online | February 12, 2020 |
| Last date to apply online | March 03, 2020 |
| IFS Admit card | May 2020 |
| Preliminary exam | May 31, 2020 |
| Preliminary result | August 2020 |
| IFS Main Examination | December 1, 2020 (10 days) |
| IFS Main result | January 2021 |
| IFS Interview | January 2021 |
| IFS final result | February 2021 |
IFS Notification 2020
The UPSC has released the Indian Forest Service (IFS) Examination 2020 notification on February 12, 2020. The IFS (preliminary) notification was released through the Civil Service (Preliminary) Examination 2020. Candidates who are aiming for the Indian Forest Service (IFS) can apply online between February 12 and March 03, 2020. The IFS 2020 notification was released for approximately 90 vacancies. However, the number of vacancies is liable to alteration.
Download UPSC IFS notification (2020)
IFS Number of Vacancies 2020
The total number of vacancies announced in the official notification is approximately 90. However, candidates belonging to SC, ST, OBC, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and PWD categories will be provided with the reservation according to the Government. According to the official notification released by the UPSC, a few vacancies are reserved. Check the details below.
| Total number of vacancies | 90 (approximately) |
| Reserved vacancies | 3 |
| Low Vision category: 1 | |
| Partially Deaf category: 1 | |
| Locomotor disability (sub‐category: Leprosy cured and Acid attack): 1 |
Aspirants have to note that the final number of vacancies indicated are liable to further alteration.
IFS Application Form 2020
Candidates who are aspiring for the Indian Forest Service (IFS) should apply only through the Civil Services (Preliminary). There is no separate IFS application form. However, there are a few important points aspirants should know before IFS registration.
- Candidates should satisfy the educational prerequisites set by the Commission to get eligibility for IFS.
- Aspirants should register for the Civil Services (Preliminary) examination and qualify in the screening test for going to the second stage of IFS (Main) examination.
- The qualified candidates in the Preliminary will be eligible to fill a Detailed Application Form available on official site.
- The IFS Main Examination will be held from November 22, 2020. However, the Civil Services (Main) exam will be conducted from September 18, 2020, onwards.
Interested candidates are advised to visit our IFS online application form 2020 page for detailed information. One can also check the exam fee, exam dates and other important details here.
Eligibility Criteria
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Physical Criteria
Aspirants must be physically fit according to the physical standards for admission to Indian Forest Service Examination. Candidates are advised to visit the IFS official notification to check the detailed rules and regulations.
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Nationality:
A candidate must be
- A citizen of India, or
- The subject of Nepal, or
- The subject of Bhutan, or
- Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
- A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries like Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia, and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India
- Candidate belonging to categories b, c, d, and e should produce a certificate of eligibility, which has been issued by the Government of India.
Centers in India
- The Examination will be held at the most of states Centres in India like Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat etc.
- Applicants should note that there will be a ceiling on the number of candidates allotted to each of the Centres, except Chennai, Dispur,
Kolkata and Nagpur - Allotment of Centres will be on the "first-apply-first allot" basis, and once the capacity of a particular Centre is attained, the same will be frozen
- The Main Examination will be held on the following Centres like Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Dispur (Guwahati), Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Nagpur, Port Blair and Shimla
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Educational Qualification:
- Candidate should hold a Bachelor’s degree with at least one of the subjects namely, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology or a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture or Forestry or Engineering of a recognised university or equivalent.
- Candidates appearing for their degree examination (with prescribed subjects) can also apply. If they qualify on the result of the written part of the examination, they have to submit the proof of passing the required examination along with their detailed application form to be filled in at that stage.
Age Limit :
Age of a candidate should be minimum 21 years and maximum of 32 years on 1st August, 2020 of the year of examination, i.e. he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1988 and not later than 1st August, 1999. While the upper age limit will be relaxable in the following cases:
- For Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe (SC /ST): Up to 5 years
- Other Backward Classes (OBC): Up to 3 years
- State of Jammu & Kashmir (Domiciled during the period from the 1st January 1980 to 31st December 1989: Up to 5 years.
- Defence Services personnel: Up to 5 years
- Ex-servicemen including Commissioned officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least 5 years Military Service as on and have been released: Up to 5 years
- ECOs/ SSCOs: Up to a maximum of five years.
(Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three month's notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment)
- Blind, deaf-mute and Orthopaedically handicapped persons: Up to 10 years.
Cumulative Age relaxation:
- SC, ST and the OBC who are also covered under other clauses mentioned above will be eligible to grant cumulative age-relaxation under both the categories
Number of attempts:
The maximum number of attempts restricted for candidates are as follows:
- General Candidates: 6 attempts
- Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Candidates: No restriction
- Other Backward Classes: 9 attempts
- Physically handicapped- 9 attempts for general and OBC, while unlimited for SC/ST
Appearing for one or more papers of an examination will be counted as an attempt at the examination even if the candidate failed to qualify for the selection.
Roles and Responsibilities
Few of the roles and responsibilities of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer includes:
- One of the main roles of an IFS officer is to protect and conserve the heritage of the forest and working towards preserving the forest resources.
- Preserving the forest trees is another important task which needs to be taken seriously. As an officer one needs to keep a check on illegal logging of trees and work with the forest guards and security personnel to be alert at all times.
- As an officer one has to work towards planting more trees in the forest are and also initiate and participate in such events.
- Animals are another important forest resource and as a forest officer one needs to assure their safety and need to prevent any illegal activity that involves hurting or killing them. As an officer being alert of poachers and illegal entry in the forest area is also important.
- As an officer one will be responsible for implementing the National Forest Policy.
- As an officer one will have to chalk-out plans for legal commercial exploitation for timber etc.
- As an officer one will have to do the required paperwork and complete reports that have to be presented to the forest department and ministry.
- As an officer one will have to conduct regular surveys of the forest and guarantee that the work is rightly being done. Travelling will also be included.
The UPSC has released the IFS cut-off marks 2019. the marks secured by the last recommended candidate belonging to General category is 918. The Commission has also released the minimum qualifying standards for IFS Prelims cut-off and IFS Mains cut-off 2019. The marks are available for category-wise. Earlier, the UPSC has released the IFS final result 2019 and marks of recommended candidates.
Aspirants are advised to visit our UPSC cut-off page for the list of marks scored in the IFS Prelims, IFS Mains and IFS Final Stage. The IFS rank will be based on the marks secured in the compulsory papers and personality test.
10 March 2020
The UPSC has released the marks of qualified candidates in the Indian Forest Service 2019 examination. The Commission has released the IFS final result 2019 on March 4, 2020. A total of 88 candidates have been recommended for the service.
Rishi Kumar has secured the IFS 1st rank 2019. He secured a total of 1010 marks out of 1700 marks. Rishi is followed by Lavish Ordia and Anmol Jain with 1003 and 992 marks, respectively. The total marks combine both written exam and personality test.
Click here for UPSC IFS 2019 marks
IFS 2020 preliminary exam will be held through Civil Services on May 31.
7 March 2020
The UPSC has announced the final result of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) Exam 2019. A total of 88 candidates have qualified in the examination and recommended for the appointment to the posts. The recruitment notice was released for 90 vacancies. Candidates can check their IFS final result 2019 on the official site using their roll number or name.
Rishi Kumar has topped the IFS 2019 exam. He is followed by Lavish Ordia and Anmol Jain in the second and third ranks, respectively.
Click here for IFS final result 2019
The Commission has conducted the IFS personality test in February 2020. The marks sheets of candidates will be available within 15 days from the date of declaration of result.
5 March 2020
The UPSC will be closing the Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2020 registration window today, i.e., March 3, 2020. Aspirants who have not yet registered for IFS 2020 can apply online through Civil Services application window until 6 PM. The IFS application process is only through Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020.
The Preliminary is common for both Civil Services and IFS. The written test will be held on May 31, 2020. The result will be declared in August 2020. The qualified candidates in Prelims have to apply for IFS DAF Mains 2020 form. The Main exams will be held for 10 days from November 22, onwards.
3 March 2020
The UPSC has released the Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2020 notification. Candidates who are aspiring for the IFS should register online through the Civil Services. They can access the official notification on the official website. The total number of vacancies for IFS is approximately 90.
The online applications will be accepted until March 3, 2020. Aspirants should satisfy the eligibility conditions set by the Commission to apply online. One should pay the application fee to complete the registration process of IFS.
The selection process consists of Preliminary, Mains and Interview. The Preliminary exam will be common for IFS and Civil Services. The qualified candidates in Prelims will be called for the IFS Mains exam scheduled in November.
12 February 2020