The Central Civil Services (CCS) encompass the various

Civil Services of India In India, the Civil Service is the collection of civil servants of the government who constitute the permanent executive branch of the country. This includes servants in the All India Services, the Central Civil Services, and various State Ci ...

that are exclusively under the jurisdiction of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. This is in contrast to the

All India Services The All India Services (AIS) comprises three Civil Services of India common to the centre and state governments, which includes the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), and the Indian Forest Service (IFS). ...

, which are common to both the central and state governments, or the state civil services, which fall under the purview of individual states. The Cadre Controlling Authority for each established Service is controlled by the respective Union government ministries of India. The higher-level positions in Central Civil Services are classified into Group A and Group B, both of which are gazetted.

History

British India

With the passing of the

Government of India Act 1919 The Government of India Act 1919 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 101) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The act embodied the reforms recommended in the report ...

, the Imperial Services headed by the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

, were split into two –

and Central Services. The All India and Central Services (Group A) were designated as Central Superior Services as early as 1924. From 1924 to 1934, Administration in India consisted of 10 All India Services (including Indian Education Service, Indian Medical Service) and 5 central departments, all under the control of Secretary of State for India, and 3 central departments under joint Provincial and Imperial Control. The Central Services was headed by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India.

Modern India

The Group A officers are appointed by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

and appointments to Group B are made by the authorities specified by a general or special order of the President.

Nature, rules and deputations

Rules and regulations

The Central Civil Services (CCS) is run as per Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rule and all service members work under restrictions and rules of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules. The Indian Railway Services work under Railway Services (Conduct) Rules of 1966. The Central Civil Services also follows CCS (Commutation of Pension) Rules and has its own Recognition of Service Associations Rules 1993 and Leave Travel Concession Rules 1988. The University Grants Commission (UGC), in a circular released in October 2018, directed central universities to adopt the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964 for professors of the university.

Deputations

The members of Central Civil Services are eligible for deputation to state governments either on personal grounds or official approval from both

Staffing Scheme of Government of India.

Performance review and dismissal

The employees performance review is conducted under the Fundamental Rule (FR) 56 (J) and 56 (I), and also under Rule 48 (1) (b) of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, that gives "absolute right" to the appropriate authority to retire a government servant, "if it is necessary to do so in public interest". A government servant can be retired "in public interest" under Central Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1965, as a penalty for possession of assets disproportionate to known source of income or for accepting gratification as a reward for doing or forbearing to do an official act.

Recruitment

The recruitment of the CCS (Group A) is made through Civil Services Examination,

Engineering Services Examination The Engineering Services Examination (ESE) is a standardized test conducted annually by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recruit officers to various engineering Services under the Government of India. Held in four categories—Civil, ...

, Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination, I.E.S./I.S.S. Examination, Combined Medical Services Examination, Central Armed Police Forces of

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B) through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applica ...

(UPSC). All promotions or empanelment in the CCS are either by Civil Services Board or by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Central Civil Services (Group A)

The Central Services (Group A) are concerned with the administration of the Union Government. All appointments to Central Civil Services (Group A) are made by the

Organised Service

The attributes of an Organised Group ‘A’ Service (OGAS) are as follows * The highest cadre post is not below the Senior Administrative Grade (Level 14) * The service has all standard grades such as Junior Time Scale (Level 10), Senior Time Scale (Level 11), Junior Administrative Grade (Level 12), Non-Functional Selection Grade (Level 13) and Senior Administrative Grade (Level 14) * At least 50% of vacancies in Junior Time Scale (Level 10) are filled through Direct Recruitment * All vacancies above Junior Time Scale (Level 10) and up to Senior Administrative Grade (Level 14) are filled by promotion from the next lower Grade In 2019, based on the Bibek Debroy committee report of 2015, the

Cabinet of India The Union Council of Ministers is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India'' It is chaired by th ...

approved the plan to merge eight railway services. In 2022, the government released a gazette notification about the merger of existing eight services, which fall under the Central Civil Services, into a new Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS). The eight services includes Indian Railway Accounts Service, Indian Railway Personnel Service, Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers, Indian Railway Service of Engineers, Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers, Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers, Indian Railway Stores Service, and Indian Railway Traffic Service. The merged Indian Railways Management Service is again demerged into various specific services as of 2024.

Central Government Services (Group B)

For Group B

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

posts only, the Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGLE) is conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC).Complete Civil Service Schedule of the Central Civil Services Group B of India
" ''Central Civil Service Group B - Government of India'', 20 April 2020. ''All appointments to Group B are made by the authorities specified by a general or special order of the President.'' Complete Civil Service Schedule of the Central Civil Services Group B of India
" ''Central Civil Service Group B - Government of India'', 20 April 2020.

Reforms and Challenges

In 2016, the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

for the first time, dismissed 72 and prematurely retired another 33

Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for tax collection, collecting and administering Direct tax, direct and indir ...

officers for non-performance and on disciplinary grounds. In 2019, Government of India dismissed 12 (IRS IT) and 15 (IRS Customs and Central Excise) officers for corruption and bribery charges. In 2019, Department of Personnel and Training in Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions listed 284

Central Secretariat Service Central Secretariat Service (; abbreviated as CSS) is the Public administration, administrative Civil Services of India, civil service under Group A and Group B of the Central Civil Services of India, Central Civil Services of the executive bra ...

officers for performance audit by review panel headed by Cabinet Secretary of India.

Notes

References

External links

CCS (CONDUCT) RULES, 1964CCS Rules-1964

Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure
14th Edition by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

News

Prime Minister instructs DoPT for speedy empanelment of officers from all central services
by The Times of India

by CNBC {{Civil service Civil Services of India