How a PCS Officer Gets Promoted to An IAS Officer?

The demand for civil servants is greatly on the rise when compared to other professions! In this day and age, the vibrant youth of our country are more interested in government administrative jobs and nearly 10 lakh candidates apply for the exams. No doubt that the competition has become very high!  Being an IAS officer is a prestigious post and it’s quite true that PCS officers also aspire to be IAS officers.

Can PCS officers become IAS officers?

Let’s understand the main differences:

> An IAS officer is recruited and posted by UPSC while a PCS officer is recruited and posted by the respective State Govt.

> An IAS officer is posted all across India but a PCS officer can be posted only within its respective state cadres.

> There is no doubt that an IAS officer has a greater edge over a PCS officer in terms of salary, powers, and regular operations.

> IAS officers can get uniform salaries all over the country irrespective of state whereas PCS officers get paid according to the State Government.

There is no doubt that IAS is better than PCS in terms of salary, growth, and overall career aspects. Having said that, a PCS officer has to undergo certain criteria and procedures in order to be promoted to an IAS officer. On average, it takes about 15 years for a PCS officer to be promoted to an IAS officer. However, the actual number may vary from state to state.

The PCS officers need to go through various promotions to get promoted as an IAS officer. If you come under the UPPCS, then the starting post will be of SDM that is level-10 and you will have to get promoted to level 11, level 12, level 13, level 13A, and level 14.

Every state has its own procedure of promotion.

The officers under certain state governments take a longer time to get promoted in comparison to other states. In some states like Tamil Nadu, it takes a  relatively shorter time to get promoted whereas in states like Bihar it can take up to 20 years. In Bihar, if a PCS officer gets promoted to the rank of a Joint Secretary, then he is eligible for the promotion. Due to the lack of recommendation, if he cannot be promoted to IAS then he will get a post correspondent to District Magistrate.

Eligibility Criteria:

>All PCS officers are eligible for promotion after completing eight years of service in their respective offices.

But in most cases, they are generally promoted to IAS after nearly two decades in service.

> The selection committee will not refer to any officer of the state government, whose age is above 54 on the first day of January the meeting is held.

> No charge sheet should be filed against him/her during the time of service.

> If the qualified officer has expressed his unwillingness for the appointment earlier, he/she will not be included in the new list.

> The selection committee will thoroughly check the service record of the officers before listing them finally.

Selection Process

> Firstly, the selection committee categorizes the officers as “Outstanding, Very good, Good, and Unfit”. They assess the officer’s record documents during his/her tenure and the list is prepared including the obligatory number of names first from the officers categorized as outstanding and then from the categories of Very good and Good. The names of the senior officers will always be proposed first in the list.

> If the officer whose name is proposed in the list has any departmental and criminal proceedings pending against him, he will be treated as provisional. The officer can be provisional in the next year list only if he/she is found fit for the service.

> After providing the list, the state government has to forward it to the Commission referring to Regulation 5. With this list, the State Government has to send the record of the officers mentioned in the list of IAS officers and superseded officers.

> Then the state government sends a copy of the list and documents to the central government and the central government has to send their feedback on the list prepared.

> The appointment of the elected officers who are willing to join the services is done out by the central government. The central government has all the rights to not appoint any person included in the list with respect to the concern of public welfare.

Conclusion

After all the necessary criteria are met, a PCS officer finally becomes an IAS. The difference between IAS and PCS is in the responsibility, decisional powers, and facilities enjoyed. They have all the right to serve people for smooth and hassle-free governance. Both positions have their own charm and hold a very respectable position in society.