A Quick Information about IPS Officer !

IPS Officer - Indian Police Services Officer : To be one out of three hundred thousand is an achievement in itself. Yes, this is what one has to be at one of the most coveted position in civil administration of the India Democratic setup. If you are competing with nearly 3,00,000 young and brilliant minds of the country and getting to such a high profile position, it itself brings a sense of importance to the position you are holding on. This profession not only provides you the self satisfaction to be at the very best, highly respected post in the internal security system of such a vast and diversified country but also give you a chance to serve the society by taking head on some antisocial elements of the country.

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But to reach at this coveted position one has to be really diligent and hardworking. To reach to that level one has to really toil hard for nearly 2 years and pass through a rigorous test involving written tests and interview spreading through out a year which requires self-discipline, patience, punctuality, commitment self-confidence and a burning desire to be at the top ladder of an important organization of the country. The is a kind of career which is ever demanding. you can not get relaxed after getting the post infect you have to work harder after getting the job then before getting it.


To be an (IPS) officer is not a mean thing. If you enjoy power then you have also to accept the responsibility attached with the bound less power. To handle things effectively a lot of hard work, stamina, alertness of mind, adaptability to follow difficult time schedules, good team spirit is required as this is not a time bound job. This is a career in which you are not only supposed to work yourself only but you have to make your team to work hard for the society you have vowed to serve while joining this career.

Eligibility to be an IPS Officer

 1. Educational Qualification

To be eligible for becoming an IPS officer the candidate must possess a degree from an Indian University or an equivalent qualification. Those in the final year of a degree course can also appear in the Preliminary Examination taken every year by UPSC.

2. Age

• The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years on 1st August of the year of examination and must not have attained 30 years of age on that date.
• The upper age limit will be relaxed by 3 years for OBC candidates and 5 years for SC/ST candidates.
• The upper age limit is also relaxed in favor of Defense Services Personnel.

3. Other Eligibility Conditions
Since these services involves decision making towards the internal security of the country. So taking into account the sensitivity of the job the aspirants have to be eligible under certain specific conditions as given ahead.

1. For IPS, the candidate must be a citizen of India.
2. For other services, a candidate must be either:

• a citizen of India, or
• a subject of Nepal, or
• a subject of Bhutan, or
• a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1, 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Process to become an IPS officer

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To become an IPS officer one has to follow the below given steps:-

Step 1

As a first step the aspirant has to procure the “Application Form” along with “Information Brochure” from any of the “Head Post Offices or Post Offices” spread throughout the country and sent the filled Application form to:

The Secretary
Union Public Service Commission
Dholpur House
New Delhi - 110011.

Note:- The notification for the examination with relevant details regarding rules and syllabus is published in the month of December in the 'Employment News' / 'Rozgar Samachar' , 'Gazette of India', and in some leading Newspapers of the country.

Step 2

In the month of May or June the aspirants have to take the “Preliminary examinations”. Consisting of two papers. The papers are on:

1	General Studies	150 marks
2	Some optional subject	300 marks

The optional subject for the second paper may be chosen from the following given subjects

1	Agriculture
2	Animal Husbandry and veterinary science
3	Botany
4	Chemistry
5	Civil Engineering
6	Commerce
7	Economics
8	Electrical Engineering
9	Geography
10	Geology
11	Indian History
12	Law
13	Mathematics
14	Mechanical Engineering
15	Philosophy
16	Physics
17	Political Science
18	Psychology
19	Public Administration
20	Sociology
21	Statistics
22	Zoology

Note:- This exam is just a qualifying exam for the Final exam and scores obtained in this exam are not added to make the final result.

Step 3

Those candidates who are declared qualified in the “Preliminary examination” are supposed to take the final exam (normally held in the month of October) having following papers

• 1 Essay type Indian Language Qualifying Paper (300 marks)
• 1 English Qualifying Paper (300 marks)
• 1 General Essay type paper (200 marks)
• 2 General Studies papers (300 marks each)
• 4 Optional subjects papers (300 marks each)

Step 4

Once you are through the final stage is the interview. The aspirants are grilled in the interview to test their personality and mental ability. Then the final list of the successful candidates is prepared and the candidates who have secured very good rank out of 400-450(approx.) top ranks are admitted to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy as IPS probationers.Where they undergo rigrous training of nearly one year in which all aspects of policing and administration are taken care of.  After completion of their training they are posted as per requirements of the Central and State Governments police  and investigative organisation.

Being All India Services the new IPS incumbant's services are alloted to various state cadre under Cadre System. The Cadre system is alloted on a basis of lottery and the top rank holder  of each state may get a chance to get their home state if he had applied for one.

IPS officer Job Description

The IPS  officer mainly take care of the law and order, crime prevention and detection, tgraffic control and accident prvention and management etc. Beside these routine duties the other duties of an IPS officer may include VIP security, border policing, railway policing, tackling corruption in public life, counter terrorisum, checking smugling, drug trafficking and economic/cyber crimes and  help in disaster management. IPS officer can also be leading officers in intelligence agancies like RAW, IB and CBI etc or paramilitary forces like BSF and ITBP etc.  

IPS officers Job Prospects

An IPS being an All Indian Services officer works for both the Central and State Governments. He serves the State Government in various capacities ranging from an ASP at the beginning of his career to the DGP (The apex of the police force in any state). He can also serve the Central Government in various civil defense and paramilitary organizations like the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) etc. The IPS mainly takes care of law and order a responsibility shared with the IAS ; crime prevention and detection ; and traffic control and accident prevention and management.

IPS officer Salary

Salary of IPS officers in quite good esprcially after implementation of fifth pay commission. Entry Level IPS officers are paid around Rs. 40,000 a month, Middle Level IPS officers get around  Rs. 60,000 a month whereas Senior Level IPS officer get around Rs. 80,000 a month. Besides their pay IPS officers are also entitled to special perks depending on where one is posted.This is however a variable amount specific to some locations only.

The Government of India has fixed salary grades for IPS officers. Although keep on changing with new pay  commission. Present pay scale of IPS are as follows:-

We have the report of Sixth Pay Commission which is the latest one. The Sixth Pay Commission has recommended the following pay scales for IPS officers which have been accepted by the Government of India.

Rank	Equivalent positions or designations  in the State Governments	Pay Scale
Deputy Superintendent of Police	Assistant Commissioner of Police	15600-39100 Rupees plus grade pay of 5400 rupees
Additional Superintendent of Police	Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police	15600-39100 rupees plus grade pay of 6600 rupees
Superintendent of Police,	Deputy Commissioner of Police	15600-39100 rupees plus grade pay of 7600 rupees
Senior Superintendent of Police	Deputy Commissioner of Police	15600-39100 rupees plus grade pay of 8700 rupees
Deputy Inspector General of Police	Additional Commissioner of Police	37400-67000 rupees plus grade pay of 8900 rupees
Inspector General of Police	Joint Commissioner of Police	37400-67000 rupees plus grade pay of 10,000 rupees
Additional Director General of Police	Special Commissioner of Police	37400-67000 rupees plus grade pay of 12000 rupees
Director General of Police	Commissioner of Police (State)	80000 rupees (fixed) plus grade pay-Nil

Junior Time Scale [Pay Band – III]:

Rs. 15,600 – Rs. 39,100 [Grade Pay of Rs. 5,400 is added with this scale]. This is the first pay scale that an IPS officer gets when he joined the service. The new officers are kept on this scale from their training period to the next promotion. Assistant Commissioner of Police and DSP are two usual ranks that we see with this scale.

Senior Time Scale [Pay Band – III]

Rs. 15,600 – Rs. 39,100 [Grade Pay of Rs. 6,600 is added with this scale]

This is the first promotion that an IPS officer gets. One might not get real promotion in rank with this scale.

Junior Administrative Grade [Pay Band – III]

Rs. 15,600 – Rs. 39,100 [Grade Pay of Rs. 7,600 is added with this scale]

When an IPS officer is promoted to the Superintendent of Police [SP] then he catches up with this grade. Deputy Commission of Police [DCP] is another well known post with this grade along with other posts.

Selection Grade [Pay Band – IV]

Rs. 15,600 – Rs. 39,100 [Grade Pay of Rs. 8,700 is added with this scale]

Another promotion and IPS officers touch the next Pay Band that is Pay Band Four. Senior Superintendent of Police [SSP] is a well known post related to this grade along with other posts.

Super Time Scale [Pay Band – IV] – DIG GRADE

Rs. 37,400 – Rs. 67,000 [Grade Pay of Rs. 8,900 is added with this scale]

This marks a big leap for any IPS officer. Deputy Inspector General of Police [DIG] and Commission of Police are two very well known posts of this scale along with other posts.

Super Time Scale [Pay Band –IV] – SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE GRADE

Rs. 37,400 – Rs. 67,000 [Grade Pay of Rs. 10,000 is added with this scale]

Inspector General of Police is a well known post of this scale.

Above Super Time Scale

Rs. 67,000 – Rs. 79,000

Most IPS officers retired with at this scale. It should also be noted that Chiefs of CBI, IB, RAW, NIA belongs to IPS and usually those officers who retired at this scale.

Apex Scale

Rs. 80,000 [Fixed according to Sixth Pay commission]

The Director General of Police [DGP] the top police personnel of any state belong to this scale. Since, only one person can occupy this post at a time hence lots of officers retired at the penultimate scale and becomes head of various intelligence agencies.

Note:- The scales only provide an idea of the pay scales. Different branches of the services have different scales of pay. Even personnel of same branches may have different pay according to their area of posting and responsibility they are holding at a particular time.
In addition to the salary IPS officers receive various types of allowances such as Dearness Allowance, City compensatory Allowance, Leave Travel Allowance, Medical and subsidized housing.

Career options

Hierarchy( In descending order from top to bottom) in the IPS line up.

• Director General of Police (Top Most Post)
• Inspectors General of Police 
• Deputy Inspector General of Police 
• Additional Commissioner of Police (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane) 
• Superintendent of Police in selection grade with 13+ years of service 
• Additional Superintendant of Police 
• Assistant Superintendent in charge of sub-division
• IPS Probationer

Director General of Police DGP (TOP MOST POST)- This is the apex of the  Police administrative setup of a state or central police organisation in India.