IAS which is acronym of Indian administrative service is one of the most sought after career among the youth in India.
Let me present you some interesting numbers about the civil service examination that are conducted by Union Public Service Commission every year and
In the year of 2020 more than 10 lakh students have applied for writing the exams of civil services but only 4.5 lakh students have appeared for the examination and the vacancies were 800 of which
180 were of IAS officers and the rest other were related to other services like IPS and IFS etc.
So you can see how popular and competitive it is to become an IAS officer but let’s take a deeper look and understand whether it is really worth becoming an IAS officer after working so hard for clearing the civil service exam which is considered to be the toughest examination in the world.
In this blog we will take a look at the benefits and drawbacks or advantages and disadvantages of becoming an IAS officer in india.
Table of Contents
Pros and cons of being an IAS officer.
Let’s first start with the benefits of becoming an IAS officer.
Pros of an IAS officer.
1. Job security
This has to be the number one benefit and advantage of being an IAS officer in India because first of all becoming an IAS officer in the first place is very tough task and
after becoming one it is also equally hard to suspend an IAS officer and if the government ever wanted to suspend one then the case will be reviewed in detail and
the decision will be only taken by the president considering the dignity and contributions of the IAS officer and only the central government along with the president has the right and power of removing and suspending the job of IAS officer.
This is the reason why we can rarely see the news of IAS officers getting suspended because it is very rare case that any IAS officer would get suspended and this makes becoming an IAS officer high profile and highly secure job especially for the youth who are not willing to take the risk In their career.
2. Respect
Believe it or not being an IAS officer can get you immense respect from society because it is considered to be highly respected position and job.
3. Perks
Because of the fact that becoming an IAS officer is very tough task because you will have to pass in the civil service examination which is the second most toughest exam in the world but
if you get it done then the perks you get of being an IAS officer can make it worth it for you for working hard for the civil service examination.
Some popular perks of becoming an IAS officer are,
- You can get residence facility as a house from the government
- You can also get transport facility as a car from the government
- You can also get servants and chefs in your home who can work for your comfort in your home from the government
- You can also get security guards and bodyguards to protect you from threats and attacks from the government
- You can also get free electricity, water, gas and telephone bills from the government
- Whenever you go to a trip or vacation to any place you can also stay at government offices and bungalows which is also a perk included of being an IAS officer from the government
You can also get more and higher perks depending upon your experience and contributions and also promotions.
At the same because of your job opportunity and experience you can also get appointed in various different positions of the Government and the highest and senior most position would be cabinet secretary in the central government or you can also become the head of any department in the state government.
All of this can be possible by becoming an IAS officer.
These are some of the popular perks you get of being an ias officer which really excite majority of the youth to aim for ias.
4. Retirement benefits
Even after getting retired from IAS, you can still get amazing benefits of post retirement like lifetime pension from the government.
The pension of the IAS officer will be 50% of the last withdrawn value and there will be a 10% hike in the pension every year for this IAS officers ,They do get Dearness Allowance (DA) every six months but the actual pension value will vary.
Apart from getting lifetime pension from the government because you have been an IAS officer in the past, you can get high profile job in private sector with even more salary and higher benefits then what you have received from being an IAS.
5. Power
You should know for a fact that becoming an IAS officer will give you powers to control the administration of entire district from the beginning.
Your decisions and actions can directly influence the lives of people and bring a positive change in the society which can add immense value and satisfaction in your life.
And as I said earlier depending upon your experience and contributions you can also get appointed to becoming the chief of any department in state or central government which can increase your powers even more.
Because you are in charge of the administration of the entire district as DM you can have immense power in application of the laws and policies of the government.
So these are all the benefits of becoming an IAS officer.
Now let’s talk about the drawbacks and disadvantages of becoming an IAS officer
Disadvantages of becoming an IAS officer.
1. Transfers
This is one of the big disadvantage of becoming an IAS officer.
Even though the power of transfer of IAS officers lies with the central government only but still you can expect lots of transfers in your career of being an IAS officer.
Because of frequent transfers it can also arise lots of problems in your family life as well as work life because you are going to be staying away from your family at the same time you cannot easily accommodate with the changing conditions and situations around you due to transfers and you do not function properly.
2. Political interference and threats
This one is a hard reality of becoming an IAS officer and it is also a main disadvantage.
Because you have a perks and powers of controlling the administration of an entire district you can have constant interference with any politicians and you can also so get some threats from them.
In some common cases you can have interference with politicians like,
- When it comes to revenue collection and policy formation or implementation.
- When it comes to cases related to corruption and crime.
- When it comes to handling the proceedings of the government like working on new government projects.
You need to find a balance between how you can handle the job and the responsibility you have of being an IAS officer at the same time negotiate with the interference of politicians in your work.
All those IAS officers who resigned from their job somewhere correlate with the reason of political interference and threats and also immense work pressure as their reason for the resignation of the most sought after career among the Indian society.
3. Work pressure
There is a popular saying that goes like,
With great power comes great responsibility.
This particular line suits very well with the life of an ias officer.
Because of the fact that you have immense power on your shoulders of the administration which is generally running a a particular district in a state and if anything goes wrong related to crime or corruption or
you signed a wrong project or deal or any other case because you are the head of the district you are the person who has to answer the questions, consequences and face the problems from the government and public even though if you have not committed the mistake.
At the same time you can also have immense work pressure and you cannot have holidays on Sundays or anything like any other employee would have because you are a public servant sometimes you can have duties and work even during festivals to control law and order and maintain peace and stability in the society.
4. No privacy
Because of the fact that there is a lot of work pressure and constant transfers of IAS officers you can have issues with privacy because you can have less time to spend with yourself and more time to spend solving the problems of the society and maintaining the peace and stability.
If you do not address the problem properly it can lead to lots of mental issues to you.
5. Salary
Salary can become a bit of a problem if you ignore the perks and other benefits you have after considering the fact that you have worked so hard for clearing the toughest examination of the world.
The initial salary of an IAS officer is approximately 56000 rupees and the highest salary can reach up to two lakh fifty thousand rupees as the cabinet secretary for the central government and you can only become a cabinet secretary after having experience of more than 35 years as ias.
But the problem arises due to slow and gradual promotion based on the years of experience not on the level of contributions you make which can be frustrating sometimes.
You should consider for the fact that your job requires you a lot of energy both mental and physical and lots of sacrifices.
Conclusion.
So these are all the benefits and drawbacks of becoming an IAS officer and
please do let me know your comments about being an IAS officer and what is your favourite benefit in the comment section below.
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