Indian Forest Service (Hindi: भारतीय वन सेवा) (Abbreviated as IFS) is one of the Civil Services of India and belongs to the All India Services group, with other two All India Services being the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS).The main mandate of the service is the implementation of the National Forest Policy which aims to ensure environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance which are vital for sustenance of all life forms, human, animal and plant. IFS officers while in field postings in respective state cadres work for conservation, protection and development of forests and wildlife along with an aim to enhance livelihood opportunities of forest dependent communities of rural and tribal areas. An IFS officer is largely independent of the district administration and exercises administrative, judicial and financial powers in their own domain. All top positions in state forest department are held by IFS officers. Positions like Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Conservator of Forests (CF) and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) etc are some examples. They are also eligible for State and Central deputations as their counterpart IAS and IPS officers. Deputation of IFS officers to the Central Government includes appointments in Central Ministries at the position of Deputy Secretary, Director, Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary etc; appointments in various Public Sector Units, Institutes and Academies at the position of Chief Vigilance Officers (CVO), Managing Directors, Inspector General, Director General etc.
Recruitment
IFS officers are recruited through the Indian Forest Service examination which is conducted annually by the Union Public Service Commission. The examination is open to graduates in any science or engineering discipline. From several hundreds of thousands of candidates that apply for the examination only around 85 make it to the final selection list.
The Indian Forest Service Examination has a gruelling three stage competitive selection process spanning nearly seven months.
Stage one : All applicants have to take an objective type examination called the Preliminary Examination which is the same as that of the Civil Services Examination. It consists of two papers, where they are tested on areas such as economics, politics, history, geography, environment, awareness of current affairs, reading comprehension, logical reasoning, basic numeracy skills, inter-personal skills and decision making. Generally the qualifying cut-off marks of preliminary exam required to sit for IFS main examination is greater than that required to sit for Civil Services main examination. The marks of Preliminary Examination is not counted in making final overall merit.
Stage two : Around 1400 candidates are selected for the Main Examination which consists of six descriptive papers. Each candidate has to select two optional subject (two papers each) from among the subjects allowed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and has to take one General Studies paper and an English language paper.
Stage three : Around 230 candidates securing highest marks in the Main Examination are called for the interview conducted by UPSC board members. Interview or personality assessment is followed by a medical checkp and a physical test which requires all male candidates to complete a 25 km walk/run in under 4 hours. For ladies the distance is reduced to 14 km. The test is usually conducted at the National Zoological Park Delhi.
After selection for the IFS, candidates are allocated state cadres. There is one cadre for each Indian state, with the exception of three joint cadres: Assam-Meghalaya, Manipur-Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories (AGMUT). Two-thirds of the strength of every cadre is filled directly by IFS officers and the remaining are promoted from the respective states cadre officers.
Examination Pattern
The competitive examination comprises two successive stages :
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the screening & selection of candidates for Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination; and
(ii) Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates against the vacancies identified and reported for the Indian Forest Service Examination.
Preliminary Examination:
The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.
Important Points
(i) Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions).
(ii) The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English. However, questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper.
(iii) Details of the syllabi are indicated in Part A of Section III.
(iv) Each paper will be of two hours duration. Blind candidates will; however, be allowed an extra time of twenty minutes for each paper.
Mains Examination
The written examination consisting of the following papers:
Paper 1- General English 300 Marks
Paper 2-General Knowledge 300 Marks
Papers III, IV, V and VI.
Any two subjects to be selected from the list of the optional subjects set out in para 2 below. Each subject will have two papers: 200 marks for each paper.
(C) Interview for Personality Test (See (C) of Section II of this Appendix) of such candidates as may be called by the Commission-Maximum Marks : 300
List of optional subjects
(i) Agriculture
(ii.) Agricultural Engineering
(iii) Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
(iv) Botany
(v) Chemistry
(vi) Chemical Engineering
(vii) Civil Engineering
(viii) Forestry
(ix) Geology
(x) Mathematics
(xi) Mechanical Engineering
(xii) Physics
(xiii) Statistics
(xiv) Zoology
The following combination of subjects are not allowed:
(a) Agriculture and Agricultural Engg.
(b) Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.
(c) Agriculture and ·Forestry.
(d) Chemistry and Chemical Engg.
(e) Mathematics and Statistics.
(f) Of the Engineering subjects viz. Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering- not more than one.
This source is really helpful for me and others as well. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteEngineering Outsourcing Services | Expert Global Solutions