Provincial Civil Service (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: ), often abbreviated to as PCS, is the

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

under Group A state service of the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

. It is also the feeder service for

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

in the state. PCS officers hold various posts at sub-divisional, district, divisional and state level from conducting revenue administration and maintenance of law and order. The

Department of Appointment and Personnel The Department of Appointment and Personnel (DoAP) is a department of Government of Uttar Pradesh. The Department of Appointment is responsible for the matters related to transfer posting, training, foreign assignment, Foreign training and compli ...

of the

is the cadre-controlling authority of the service. Along with the Provincial Police Service (PPS) and the Provincial Forest Service (PFS), the PCS is one of the three feeder services to its respective

All India Services The All India Services (AIS) comprises the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service. A unique feature of the All India Services is that the members of these services are recruited by the centre (Union gover ...

Recruitment

Half of the recruitment to the service is made on the basis of an annual competitive examination conducted by

Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (), commonly abbreviated as UPPSC, is Uttar Pradesh's state agency for recruitment of all the entry-level appointments to the various Group A and Group B Civil Services of Uttar Pradesh. The agency' ...

called as direct PCS officers as they are directly appointed at Deputy Collector rank. Half of the total strength of PCS officers is filled by promotion from Uttar Pradesh Lower Provincial Civil Service (Tehsildar cadre) who are known as promotee PCS officers. PCS officers, regardless of their mode of entry, are appointed by the

Governor of Uttar Pradesh The following is the list of governors of Uttar Pradesh. The list also includes governors of the United Provinces of pre-independent India as well as Independent India from 15 August 1947 to 25 January 1950. The province was renamed Uttar Prade ...

Responsibilities of PCS officer

The typical functions performed by a PCS officer are: * To collect land revenue and function as courts in matters of revenue and crime (revenue courts and criminal courts of executive magistrate), to maintain law and order, to implement Union and State Government policies at the grass-root level when posted at field positions i.e. as sub-divisional magistrate, additional city magistrate, city magistrate, additional district magistrate and additional divisional commissioner. And to act as the agent of the government on the field, i.e. to act as the intermediate between public and the government. * To handle the administration and daily proceedings of the government, including formulation and implementation of policy in consultation with the minister-in-charge,

additional chief secretary The Chief Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the state government. The Chief Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the state Civil Services Board, the State Secretariat, the state cadre Indian Admin ...

principal secretary The Principal Secretary is a senior government official in various Commonwealth countries. * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the President of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Ind ...

and secretary of the concerned department.

Career progression

After completing their training, a PCS officer generally serves as Sub Divisional Magistrates (SDMs). Further, they get promoted to city magistrate, and later, Additional District Magistrate. Most districts have two to three posts of ADMs, most common of them being ADM (City), ADM (Finance/Revenue) and ADM (Executive). After a few years of service as they are also promoted to chief development officer (CDO). A CDO looks after rural development, and enjoys general superintendence over most sectoral development in a district. At the divisional level, PCS officers are posted as additional divisional commissioners. Most divisions have two to three such posts, most common of them being Additional Commissioner (Development), Additional Commissioner (Revenue) and Additional Commissioner (Executive). At the state secretariat, PCS officers serve as special secretaries, joint secretaries and deputy secretaries. In

municipal corporations A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owned ...

administered by the Department of Urban Development, PCS officers serve as municipal commissioners and additional municipal commissioners. In development authorities administered by the

Department of Housing and Urban Planning The Department of Housing and Urban Planning ( IAST: ''Āvāsa Evaṃ Śaharī Niyojana Vibhāga''), often abbreviated as DoHUP, is a department of Government of Uttar Pradesh responsible for coordinated and planned development with a comprehens ...

, PCS officers generally serve as secretaries and as vice chairmen. PCS officers also serve as deputy CEOs and additional CEOs in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Authorities, which come under the Department of Infrastructure and Industrial Development. On a deputation, a PCS officer can be sent to one of the various directorates as additional directors, directors and chief general manager, additional/joint managing directors, managing directors in state PSUs. After completion of two decades of service (generally till that period they reach up-to the level 14), those PCS officers who were directly recruited by

(UPPSC) get promoted to the

, after confirmation by the

Department of Personnel and Training The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is a ministry of the Government of India in personnel matters specially issues concerning recruitment, training, career development, staff welfare as well as the post-retirement dispensatio ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

and the

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exami ...

. One-third of the total

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

strength in Uttar Pradesh is reserved for PCS officers (SCS quota).

Salary structure

Generally most of the PCS officers (only those who were directly recruited by UPPSC) get promoted into the IAS after reaching up-to the level of Special Secretary Grade. Those who don't get promotion to IAS then get pay level 15, and get classified as 'superseded'.

Major concerns and reforms

Promotion to IAS

According to the ''Indian Administrative Service (Appointment by Promotion) Regulations, 1955'', PCS officers are eligible for promotion to IAS after completion of eight years of service. But in reality, they are generally promoted to IAS after two decades in service. Some PCS officers moved to the

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...

, due to the anomalies in their seniority which slowed down their promotion for almost one decade. The matter was resolved in 2012 as mentioned in their latest gradation list.

Political influence

Directly recruited IAS officers often complain about promotee IAS officers are given preference in field postings due to their close proximity to politicians which they form in two decades of their service. Since the state government were often ruled by regional parties, many politicians allegedly fix 'their men' as divisional commissioners and district magistrates. Also, an inquiry of recruitment of PCS officers by the

(UPPSC) from 2012, by the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

(CBI), has been started.

Corruption

Two PCS officers were suspended by the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

for an alleged land scam of . The house of a promotee

IAS officer The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

and a former

district magistrate and collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...

, Vimal Kumar's house was raided by the

Income Tax Department The Income Tax Department (also referred to as IT Department or ITD) is a government agency undertaking direct tax collection of the government of India. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance. The Income Tax De ...

. Another promotee IAS officer, P. C. Gupta who was posted as CEO of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority was arrested for his alleged role in land scam.

Notable PCS officers

Members of the service include: *

Shrilal Shukla Shrilal Shukla (31 December 1925 – 28 October 2011) was a Hindi writer, notable for his satire. He worked as a PCS officer for the state government of Uttar Pradesh, later inducted into the IAS. He has written over 25 books, including R ...

* Shyam Singh Yadav *

Manoj Kumar Chauhan Manoj Kumar Singh is an IAS officer who is currently posted as District Magistrate & Collector, Mahoba. Early life and education He was born as Manoj Kumar Singh to Digvijay Singh and Kela Devi. He hail from very humble background of agricultu ...

References

External links

{{Law enforcement in India Civil Services of Uttar Pradesh Government agencies established in 1858 1858 establishments in Asia 1858 establishments in India