Life of IAS Officer

Before jumping into the life of IAS Officer, let us consider this:

If you ask an aspirant about becoming an IAS officer, what would be his reaction?

His reply would be like,

Becoming an IAS officer is the biggest thing one can achieve in his life. I, as an aspirant, will have the biggest dream come true. It would not only give happiness to me but also to the people in my surroundings including the parents, relatives, friends, and society.

Now, you get an idea from this about how important the post of IAS officer is in the country.

Introduction

 Indian Administrative Services is a highly reputed and one the most respected and secured jobs in India. Moreover, it is not easy to live such a life as you have to be ready to face many day-to-day challenges and sometimes life may be miserable and the other times you may not find a solution to many problems.

There are many great responsibilities and roles of an IAS officer that he has to obey and work upon.

In this article, we will be looking at some things like the work of an IAS officer, IAS officer life, also the personal life of an IAS officer, and many more related things.

So, let’s start.

Also Read: IAS Eligibility Criteria

Everyday life in the life of an IAS Officer

Becoming and clearing the IAS exam is not everyone’s cup of tea. The deserving ones clear the exams and interview to get selected as an IAS officer.

After the candidate is selected for the IAS officer’s post, he gets the first time experience of the IAS officer life. The candidate needs to join Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, popularly known as LBSNAA.

After joining LBSNAA, life is automatically changed and the candidate has to work according to the guidelines and follow the routine set by LBSNAA.

Basic Schedule at LBSNAA:

• The training starts at sharp 6 am every day. At 6 am the candidate has to exercise, horse riding, and other pieces of training for 60 minutes.
• Now, after training and exercise, the candidate is given 2 hours from 7 am to 9 am for completing his daily morning activities.
• From then on, at 9:30 am starts the academic lectures, sports, and extra-curricular activities for 8-10 hours.

Daily schedule at LBSNAA

Now, the officers are left free before and after the dinner to meet other officers and can talk with them and prepare themselves for the next day.

• The training includes trekking to the near rural places and tries to cope up with the things and conditions in the rural areas and learn the lifestyle of rural areas. The trainees are also taken for a tour throughout the country for understanding the needs of people and knowing what’s happening in the different parts of the country.
• As soon as the trainees graduate to an IAS officer and now their timetable changes according to their posts.
•  The routine starts at 9 am on each day. Then the officers have to go through many reports, sports, activities, supervising daily tasks of some department or district, and visiting various areas and taking meetings regarding the growth and reviewing the implementation of development acts.
• Usually, these activities and work end during the late evening or till 9 pm.
• For natural disasters, the IAS officer may have to work more and connect with the rescue team and make the situation normal with their efforts as this is the work of the IAS officer.

Life Roles of an IAS Officer

The IAS officers are given three main tasks. The role of an IAS officer depends on the type of assignments they are given.

1. Field.
2. State Secretariat/Public Sector Undertakings.
3. Central Secretariat.

Among these, the field assignments are considered the toughest assignments that are given to an IAS officer. 

The following are the functions of the civil services:

1. They have to handle the government affairs, this includes, framing of policies, implementing, and reviewing them.
2. Connecting with various departments and consulting them for the above functions.
3. Managing the funds for different schemes that are laid by the central government.
4. To supervise and see the implementation of the schemes and various policies by the government.

You might be curious to know the specific roles that the civil servant performs for different assignments.

The curiosity is obvious to arise, and for this, we have discussed this in the following section.

1. Field assignments:

Mostly, after the training, an IAS officer is first placed in a field assignment. There are different complex challenges that they face at different levels of the work.

• Sub-divisional functions: when an IAS is assigned the post of the sub-divisional magistrate, he has to do the things like maintaining law and order, looking at the development and administrative activities in the sub-division.
• District level functions: as a district magistrate, he is appointed as the Collector or Deputy Commissioner and he has to perform the same functions as done by SDM at district levels and also have to supervise SDMs in their roles and works.

The field assignments are usually ended at the district levels for most of the IAS officers. Also, many of them move to the state secretariat within the positions of the state government.

Also Read: UPSC Preparation Tips

2. State Secretariat Assignments:

The state secretariat postings involve using the experience and the expertise gained during the pieces of training and work to formulate the policies and in making decisions for the government processes.

3. Public Sector Undertakings:

Many IAS officers are posted to PSU’s at deputation and they become a part of the higher management of various public sector undertakings such as power stations, industries, etc.

4. Central Secretariat Assignments:

The work of an IAS officer here is to review the policies, making and implementing for various departments of the central government.

Note: Some of the IAS officers are deputed to International organizations such as United Nations.

In the next section, we will see the powers of an IAS officer.

Power of IAS Officer

In the IAS officer’s life, power is most important of all.

1. According to the code of Criminal Procedure (1973) of the Indian penal code: Sections 107, 108, 109, 110, 133, 144, 176 tell the powers given to magistrates for maintaining law and order.
2. Regarding revenue, the tenancy laws define the power of a collector.
3. During natural disasters, for directing the relief operations National Disaster Management Act defines the powers of chief secretaries and Magistrates.
4. There are several other acts such as Arms Act, Drugs Licence Act, Essential Commodities Act. They list out the power of IAS officers in different situations.

We have discussed the powers of an IAS officer in IAS officer life. To be particular, there are more than 300 laws that define the powers. These are mentioned and updated from time to time in All India Service Manuals by the Department of Personnel and Training. The manual also lists the IAS conducts rules and they are answerable to state and central legislatures.

So, let’s move on to the next section of the article.

Also Read: How To Read Newspaper For UPSC

IAS Officer Career

The following is the career path followed by most of the IAS officers. Depending on the cadre allotted to them, the career path may diverge after probation.

1. Phase 1 includes training at LBSNAA.
2. Next is the training at district levels at the allotted cadre.
3. Phase 2 includes a week-long training for foreign attachment at LBSNAA with any one of India’s abroad missions.
4. Central Government attachment at the nominal position of an Assistant Secretary for three months.
5. The IAS officer can be posted as SDM or a Joint Magistrate or as a Sub Collector.
6. Also, an IAS can have a posting as Municipal Commissioner, DDO, or CDO.
7. Posting as DM or a Collector.
8. Posting at State Secretariats at Director/Joint Secretary level.
9. They can also opt for a Deputation to the Central Government during any stage of service but only after serving a few years.
10. Principal/Additional Secretary in the State Secretariat/Central Secretariat.
11. They can become the Chief Secretary of a state.
12. Finally, an IAS can become the Cabinet Secretary.

More than what we have discussed above, an IAS officer can reach the highest post of the Cabinet Secretary of India. 

IAS Officer’s Salary

 Many of you might be waiting for this topic as it seems the most important thing for doing any work.

The basic pay that is set by the 7^th Central pay Commission for new IAS officers is 56100.

The Union Cabinet Secretary receives the highest pay of 250000, there are a total of 18 pay levels for an IAS.

Apart from this, the IAS officer also receives the following benefits on duty.

• IAS officers get the best housing facility all over India. Posting at different district levels doesn’t reduce the facility and they get the best house among any other government service.
• IAS officers are also provided with a cook, gardener, and many more facilities as per their requirements.
• Security covers for the complete time and as per their needs.
• Government transportation in most of the district and state-level posts. There are only a few vehicle facilities in central deputation, but with the high rank, you may get that too.
• The mobile, telephone, and internet are free of cost as everything is reimbursed.
• During the duties at different places, there is free accommodation at government bungalows.
• After retirement, the IAS officers also have monthly pension schemes according to the rank and the work and duration of work they have done.

I think we have covered the complete facilities and salary-related things. There are many more things like reputation, people’s love, and support. Also, an IAS officer can go to any place and get the best treatment and services. These are some normal things experienced by an IAS officer so, they don’t come under the salary.

Also Read: NCERT Books for UPSC Preparation

Conclusion

The life of an IAS officer is challenging and fun together. You are in front of different challenges each day and have to solve things in the best possible ways.

The life of an IAS officer looks really satisfying but there is a lot of hard work behind it, from studying and qualifying for the exams and from training to learning new things everything goes hand-in-hand.

The personal life of an IAS officer may look luxurious but the professional life is way tougher than our normal life.

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I end the article with the hope that the article was a good source of information for you all.