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The Indian Foreign Service,is a part of ‘Group A’ central services under the civil services of India. IFS is one of the three arms of the All India services along with IAS and IPS. The IFS members represent the country at an international level. IFS deals with India's external affairs like trade, diplomacy, and cultural relations. Also, IFS is accountable for framing the Government's foreign policies and management of Indian missions abroad. Moreover, it is the most popular job after IAS. Also, every year in this department UPSC introduces 17-18 vacancies. To sum up, the competition is quite tough among the candidates. Further, this is one of the smallest cadres in the country.
The Indian Foreign Service(IFS) is the diplomatic and administrative division of Group A and Group B Central services under the Indian government. IFS service brings new challenges & provides generous monetary benefits that attract many candidates to become an IFS service. IFS officers get to travel to different countries & get a chance to experience different cultures & cuisines is the tip of the iceberg. In this article, we will be exploring duties, salary perks and more things about IFS.
IFS officers are selected through the UPSC civil services exam(CSE) conducted every year annually. The UPSC exam consists of three rounds of exam/test to recruit candidates into the Group A and Group B Central services. These are Prelims, Mains, and Interview. Moreover, the selected candidates go to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration(LBSNAA) for training. The second method of recruitment in IFS is via promotion from Group B services.For this, the Staff Selection Commission(SSC) recruits the candidate. In other words, the officer selected through this process can get the position of Joint Secretary in the Ministry.
IFS officers deal with the external affairs of India which include diplomacy, cultural relations and trade. The role of an IFS officer includes as mentioned below:
The overall salary of an IFS officer is around Rs 60,000 per month. Moreover, they are provided with several benefits like transportation, accommodation, medical expenses and much more. In addition to that, a government servant enjoys a pension and many retirement benefits. The officer's pay package can also get increased based on the country of posting. In this case, the salary can go up to 2.4 lakhs. Also, the highest position an IFS officer can attain is of the ambassador or the Foreign Secretary.
An IFS officer is posted in different foreign countries and serves the nation. Furthermore, it comes with various additional benefits & perks in addition to the benefits for family as well.. They get allowances according to the country's level of security and level of posting which makes their salary very attractive. As they are posted abroad and are subjected to the local environment (political, economic, social etc.) and therefore get paid accordingly. Also, they have to keep up with the standard of living in different foreign countries. It depends on the country of posting and the level of danger the IFS officers are posted.
An IFS officer serves the nation but is posted in different foreign countries. Moreover, it comes with various additional benefits and perks along with the benefits for family as well. The salary seems to be high because they get allowances according to the country's level of security and level of posting. They are subjected to the local environment (political, economic, etc.) and hence get paid accordingly. Also, they have to keep up with the standard of living in different countries. It depends on the country of posting and the level of danger the IFS officers are in.
Grade | Rank | Basic Pay in INR (as of 7th Pay Commission) |
---|---|---|
Junior Time Scale | Under Secretary | 8000 |
Junior Time Scale | Under Secretary | 8000 |
Senior Time Scale | Under Secretary | 10700 |
Junior Administrative Scale | Deputy Secretary | 12750 |
Selection Grade | Counselor Director | 15100 |
Senior Administrative Scale | Joint Secretary | 18400 |
High Commissioner/ Ambassador | Foreign Secretary | 26000 |
Nationality Criteria: The IFS candidate’s nationality must be either of the following::
For IFS officers post the candidate should have a degree of graduate or a degree which is equivalent to a bachelor's degree from any of the recognized Universities.
The minimum age is 21 years but the maximum is 32 years as per the UPSC CSE notification. For SC/ST candidates, the age relaxation is up to 37 years and there is no limit on the number of attempts. For OBC, it is up to 35 years of age. Similarly, the age limit is different for residents from J&K, physically handicapped and Defence candidates.
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The IFS exam contains 3 stages - Prelims, Mains and interview.
The prelims exam contains 2 papers. The maximum marks of both papers are 200 marks and the time duration for both papers is 2 hours each. Moreover, both papers contain objective types of multiple-choice questions. Also, the language of both papers in Hindi and English. However, in each paper, blind candidates get an extra 20 minutes.
The candidates who clear the Prelims exam sit for the Mains. However, the Mains exam total contains 1750 marks. Also, the final list is created on the basis of the sum of interview and Mains marks. But paper A and B are related to Compulsory Indian language and English respectively contains 300 marks each and the remaining 7 papers contain 250 marks each. Below are the papers in the mains -
The last stage of UPSC CSE(Civil Service Exam) is the Interview and it comprises 275 marks. The interview stage is much more than just bookish knowledge it checks the overall personality of the candidates. The board members evaluate the calibre of the candidate and see if the candidate is suitable for the job or not. Also, the candidate must know about all the recent current affairs of the country & the world. Apart from this, the candidate should sit for several mock Interviews to check their weak areas and make them strong before the final UPSC interview. Candidates who are selected for the interview are twice as compared to the total number of vacancies in that year. Thus, UPSC CSE candidates are selected on the basis of the presence of mind & smart answers. The other factors that affect the selection are patience, awareness, judgement capability, morals and much more. The Interview panel test the overall personality of the candidate & not merely knowledge. The knowledge base of candidates is already tested in the first two rounds.
For General Studies(GS) Paper 1
General Studies Paper 2
Compulsory paper English Paper - 300 Marks
Compulsory Paper Indian Language Paper - 300 Marks
Essay
General Studies Paper 1
General Studies paper 2
General Studies paper 3
General Studies 4
It completely depends on the candidate whether they desire to become an IAS or IFS officer based on their interests. However, candidates should be kept in mind that it takes a lot of hard work and passion for becoming a government servant. To become an IAS/IFS officer is a prestigious job as you serve and represent the nation. You should be focused and hardworking as it is not a cakewalk to crack these exams. An IFS officer represents the nation in various countries. So, the Candidate should mould your personality accordingly. The benefits and perks of IFS officers are very eye-catching but the responsibilities during service are very stressful. Whatever they do is the decision of approximately 1.34 billion Indians. Isn't it an amazing service?
1. Where does the IFS Training takes place?
The IFS training also starts at LBSNAA, Mussoorie along with IAS & IPS trainees. Later, they are shifted to Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service which functions under the Ministry of external affairs.
2. What does IFS stands for?
Indian Foreign Service is the full form of the IFS acronym. IFS is the most preferred job after IAS service but the cadre of IFS officers is one of the smallest in the country.