Central services has two cadres, Group A and Group B. The cadres come under Central control and the officers selected are appointed in Central Services in any state of the country but are not part of state cadre.
Officers of Central Services are posted in bigger towns or at the centre with the Government of India. The Senior Administrative Grade of the Central Services is equivalent to the IAS Super time Scale.
Indian Railway Services (IRS)
Railways are the life line of the country. There are several opportunities for employment in the Railways. Here we are concerned with entry into the Railway Service (Central Service) and the induction through the UPSC (Selection Commission) into its various branches.
Training and placement
Probationers are trained at Baroda which puts them through a foundation course. This is followed by on the job training in the ‘zone’ to which they are to be assigned. This is followed by the ‘induction course’ and probationers are then allocated to zones according to merit and their choice.
General hierarchy - At the head of each zone is General Manager who takes care of all the railway operations in that zone. A Divisional Railway Manager looks after the division.
Branches to which Central Services Officers are seconded in the Railways
Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS) - IRTS has two functions
(a) Commercial
(b) Operations.
Transportation of objects by trains is the responsibility of IRTS (Commercial) Division. The Operations Department is in charge of the movement of trains. Officers of IRTS, in commercial and operations department, begin as Assistant Superintendents, i.e., as Assistant Commercial Superintendents (CS) or Assistant Operating Superintendents (OS) at the Divisional Headquarters. After 4 years of service at the senior scale they are promoted as Divisional CS or Divisional OS at the Divisional Headquarters. The next promotion is in the Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) when officers are made Senior Divisional CS/OS. The Senior Divisional Superintendent is the boss in his Division. In the Commercial Division, the Senior Divisional CS is in charge of the goods and wagons while the Divisional CS is in charge of the coaches. The Commercial side is headed by the Chief Commercial Superintendent, then comes the Additional Chief Commercial Superintendent, followed by Deputy Chief Commercial Superintendent. A similar hierarchy exists in the Operations Department.
Indian Railway Accounts Service (‘IRAS’) – IRAS is in charge of all the accounts of the railways, i.e., income, expenditures, etc. The IRAS officers begin at Divisional Headquarters as Assistant Accounts Officers. There after they rise to the position of Divisional Accounts Officers. Reaching the Junior Administrative Grade they become Senior Divisional Accounts Officers. Next promotion is Financial Advisor-cum-Chief Accounts Officer of a zone.
Railway Police Service (‘RPF’) – RPF men receive training at Baroda. They follow the same promotional structure as other Railway Services. The RPF is responsible for the security of the railway tracks, personnel, equipment, etc. The Director General is at the apex of the service. His post is equivalent to that of the Additional Secretary. The Inspector General is equivalent to the IAS Super time Scale.
Indian Railway Personnel Service – This branch looks after recruitment of all railway staff (inspectors, drivers, to IRTS officers), planning of such recruitment, deciding promotions, postings, training, welfare, etc., in fact all work concerning personnel. In the personnel service, itself the promotions, follow the following sequence: Assistant Personnel Officer, Divisional Personnel Officer, Senior Divisional Personnel Officer or Deputy Chief Planning Officer (Selection Grade), Additional Chief Planning Officer, Chief Planning and Labour Officer or Chief Personnel officer.
Indian Postal Service
The Officers work with field officers in various capacities during probation so as to learn about the entire functioning of the service. When training is over the appointment is as Senior Superintendent of Post Offices or Railway Mail in large district towns and Divisional Headquarters.
Moving over to the senior scale, the promotion is to the rank of Assistant Post Master General. The next promotion in the JAG as well as selection grade is as Director. The Senior Administration Grade Promotion is to the rank of the Post Master General of a ‘Circle’ Above them are the Senior Deputy Director Generals who are equivalent to Additional Secretary in a Ministry or member of Post and Telegraph Board (total 8 in number). The Chairman of the Board is at the top.
Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS)
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) is one of the Constitutional authorities, like the Chairman, UPSC or the Election Commissioner. The Comptroller and Auditor General is responsible for maintenance of accounts in the states as well as Audit of Accounts of the Union as well as the State Governments. The Indian Audit and Accounts service is under the Control of the C&AG.
During the course of their probation, direct recruits to this service work as Assistant Accountant General>> Deputy Accountant General>> Senior Deputy Accountant General>> Accountant General. Director of Audits>> Additional C&AG>> Dy. C&AG (equivalent in rank to a secretary to the Government of India.
The services of officers of the IA&AS are lent to State Government for functioning as Financial Advisers Chief Accounts Officers, Chief Internal Audit Officers and so on.
The post of Comptroller and Auditor General is not, however, reserved exclusively for officers of the IA&AS. Even officer of the IAS of sufficient experience and seniority may be appointed as the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Indian Civil Accounts Services
The separation of accounts from audit at the Union level has led to the creation of the new Indian Civil Accounts cadre. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India does not, however, control this cadre but the secretary (Expenditure) in the Ministry of Finance. (Government of India) exercises this function.
Beginning as an Assistant Controller of Accounts, the officers of this cadre are in due course promoted as the Deputy Controller of Accounts and Controller of Accounts. The senior most positions in the cadre are those of Additional Controller General of Accounts and Controller General of Accounts (equivalent to Additional Secretary, to the Government of India.)
Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
The Indian Revenue Service has two wings, one being Income-tax and the other Customs and Central Exercise.
Probationers to the customs service begin their field training, at Madras while the excise Officers may start service in any metropolitan town. Customs Officers are posted at international airports and ports like, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Goa, etc. They are also liable to be posted at other border and coastal towns. Their principal duty is to levy customs duty on goods which are brought into the country and are liable to duty. After probation, customs officers get posted as Assistant Commissioners (Customs). They are promoted in due course as Deputy Commissioners (customs), Additional Commissioners (Customs), Commissioners (Customs), member (Central Board of Excise and Customs) and Chairman (Central Board of Excise and Customs).
The Central Excise Officers start as Assistant Commissioner (Central Excise) and are promoted in the course as a Deputy Commissioners (Central Excise), Additional Commissioner (Central Excise), commissioners (central Excise), Member (Central Board of Excise and Customs) and Chairman (Central Board of Excise & Customs).
Customs & Excise Cadres are not water-tight compartments. Officers are liable to transfer from one to another, depending upon their experience and the exigencies of the work. Chief Commissioner of Customs and Excise, with the pay of an Additional Secretary hold technical and administrative charges in all the regions, exercising overall supervision on the technical and administration work in the field.
The head of the administration is the Chairman Central Board of Excise and Customs.
Indian Revenue Service (Income-tax)
Officers of Indian Revenue Services (Income-tax) enter training at their academy at Nagpur. After training, they are posted as Assistant Commissioners either on assessment or other work. While the main work of the department is assessment and recovery of direct taxes, the department has specialised branches dealing with investigation of tax evasion, statistics, and so on with Assistant Directors (of the same rank as Assistant Commissioners of Income-tax). The Assistant Commissioners/Deputy Directors, Communication Chief Commissioners are Members (Central Board of Direct Taxes) in due course. The Head of the Department is the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes who is invariably a Member of the Indian Revenue Services (Income-tax).
Indian Ordinance Factories Services (IOFs)
Ordinance Factories manufacture equipment for the Defence Services. The IOFS officers serve in these factories for a long span of nearly 10 years. They may be asked to serve as Commissioned officers of the Armed forces for 4 years. At the apex of the IOFS is the Chairman equivalent to a Secretary followed by Members of the Ordinance Factories or Director General Ordinance Factories and then by General Manager. The Senior and Junior Scales positions are very much like other services.
Indian Information Services
Earlier known as Central Information Service, the IIS is as recent as 1987. The job of officials from this Service is to constitute a press party, organize press conferences, control official media, organize festivals (national and international), etc. The Service has a lot of charm and glamour and considerable scope for creativity.
Training is at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi (read details in the Chapter on ‘Public Relations’). Personnel for the Government’s print media, electronic media, advertising agency, Union Ministries (news desk), press ad visors are drawn generally from the Indian Information Service.
The IIS Officers are controlled by the Ministry of Defence (Directorate of Public Relations). The work is interesting as it uses the flare for journalism, public relations and administration all together. There is a special requirement to enter this service. The officer needs to have some previous experience of work in a newspaper or news agency or ad agency. The promotional channel is more or less the same as that of other Services.
Central Trade Services
Personnel from the Central Trade Services work with the Ministry of Commerce (Chief Controller of Imports and Exports) primarily but may also work with other Ministries or public sector undertakings. Beginning as Assistant Chief Controllers of Imports and Exports, they rise to the position of Deputy Chief Controller of Imports and Exports. The next position is that of a Joint Chief Controller Imports and Exports or Chairman of a Public Sector unit. Most officers of this service stay in large metropolitan towns.
Central Industrial Security Force (‘CISF’)
Industries too need protection especially the large network of Public Sector Undertakings. The CISF Officers head this organization. Assistant Commandant is the first position for these officers, the promotion then being that of Deputy Commandant. The senior positions are that of Commandants or Additional Inspectors. The job is to head the infrastructural set up of security staff to man the industries.
Refer to Article on CISF and Entry to Paramilitary Services.
Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service
The senior most person is the Deputy Director General who heads this organization. The other positions are very much like the other services.
