What is Civil Services Examination (CSE)?
The country-wide conducted Civil Services Examination (CSE) is one of the prestigious exams of India. Clearing this exam makes you the civil servant of Union India. The Civil Services Examination is the commonly used name for filling the posts at Central and State government jobs. The exam for the civil services posts at Central Government is conducted by UPSC (Union Public service Commission) and that for the posts at state is conducted by respective State Public Service Commission as listed below.
Here, your job is to execute all the policies and schemes of the Government for the welfare of the people. It is he permanent structure to carry out the administrative tasks. By being a civil servant, you can make a positive impact on the life of a common man. However, civil servants work under the direction and control of the elected representatives of the people.
- The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years (for the General category candidate) on 1 August of the year of examination. Prescribed age limits vary with respect to caste reservations.
- For Other Backward Castes (OBC) the upper age limit is 35 years.
- For Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the limit is 37 years.
- For Defence Services Personnel disabled in operations during hostilities, the limit is 40 years.
- For Candidates belonging to ex-servicemen including Commissioned officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered military services for at least five years as on 1 August, of the year and have been relaxed
- on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1 August of the year otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency or
- on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service or
- on invalidation or
- Relaxation of up to a maximum of five years will be given in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1 August of the year and whose assignment and has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months' notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment, the age limit is 32 years.
- For Physically Disabled candidates, the age limit is 37 years.
- For Domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1989, the age limit is 32 years.
Number of attempts
- General category candidates – 6
- OBC category candidates – 9
- SC/ST candidates – unlimited attempts till 37 years of age.
Appearing to attempt one of the papers in the preliminary examination is counted as an attempt, including disqualification/ cancellation of candidature. However, applying to sit for the exam but not attending the exam is not counted as an attempt.
Posts offered by UPSC:
Central Services (Group A)
- Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
- Indian Police Service (IPS)
- Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
- Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS)
- Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS)
- Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
- Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS)
- Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES)
- Indian Information Service (IIS)
- Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)
- Indian Postal Service (IPoS)
- Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS)
- Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)
- Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)
- Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS)
- Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)
- Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT)
- Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
- Indian Trade Service (ITrS)
Group B Services
- Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHCS)
- Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS)
- Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS)
- Pondicherry Civil Service (PCS)
- Pondicherry Police Service (PPS)
The exams for state civil services
- Andhra Pradesh -Andhra Pradesh State Civil Service (Executive Branch)
- Arunachal Pradesh- Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service-Executive Branch (APCS)
- Assam- Assam Civil Service (ACS)
- Bihar- Bihar Administrative Service (BAS)
- Goa- Goa Civil Service (GCS)
- Gujarat- Gujarat Administrative Service (GAS)
- Haryana- Haryana Civil Service (HCS)
- Himachal Pradesh- Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service (HPAS)
- Jharkhand- Jharkhand Administrative Service (JAS)
- Kashmir- Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS)
- Karnataka- Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS)
- Kerala- Kerala Administrative Service (KAS)
- Maharashtra- Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC)
- Manipur- Manipur Civil Service (MCS)
- Mizoram- Mizoram Civil Service (MCS)
- Meghalaya- Meghalaya Civil Service (MCS)
- Nagaland- Nagaland Civil Service (NCS)
- Odisha- Odisha Administrative Service (OAS)
- Uttar Pradesh- Provincial Civil Service (Uttar Pradesh)
- Punjab- Punjab Civil Service (PCS)
- Rajasthan- Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS)
- Sikkim- Sikkim Civil Service (SCS)
- Telangana- Telangana Civil Service-Executive Branch (TCS)
- Tamil Nadu- Tamil Nadu Civil Service (TNCS)
- West Bengal- West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS)
The basic pay of a civil servant is in between 56100 – 132000 INR for a civil servant working with Central Government of India according to the seventh Pay Commission. However, according to the seniority the pay increases.
- For the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service(IPS), the candidate must be a citizen of India.
- For other services, the candidate must be:
- A citizen of India
- A citizen of Nepal or a subject matter of Bhutan
- A Tibetan refugee who settled permanently in India before 1 January 1962.
- A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, SriLanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam to permanently settle in India
All candidates must have a minimum of one of the following educational qualifications:
- A degree
- from a Central, State or a Deemed university
- received through correspondence or distance education
- from an open university.
- from a private university.
- from any foreign university recognized by the Association of Indian Universities.
- A qualification recognized by the Government of India as being equivalent to one of the above
- The following candidates are also eligible, but must submit proof of their eligibility from a competent authority at their institute/university at the time of the main examination, failing which they will not be allowed to attend the exam:
- Candidates who have appeared in an examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified enough to satisfy one of the above points.
- Candidates who have passed the final exam of the MBBS degree but have not yet completed an internship.
- Candidates who have passed the final exam of ICAI, ICSI and ICWAI.