IAS and IPS: Roles and responsibilities; Everything you need to know

NEW DELHI: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts India's most popular yet competitive recruitment drive, known as the civil services exam (CSE). Out of the 24 civil services, the most popular ones are the Indian Administration Services (IAS) and the Indian Police Services (IPS). Every year, lakhs of aspirants appear for the CSE with a dream to get into one of these services.

Candidates interested in administration choose IAS as their first choice while filling the detailed application form (DAF), while those who want to look after law and order at grassroots levels, choose IPS.

IPS officers maintain peace in society, whereas IAS officers implement policies of the government and are a part of bureaucracy. Both the posts are prestigious in their own field. However, there is a difference in powers and duties. And hence, the question arises, who has more power, IAS or IPS?

Power and Responsibilities

• Both the IAS and IPS are very powerful posts.

• IPS officers are responsible for their respective department (Police Department of the state), while an IAS officer is responsible for all the departments of the said district.

• An IAS officer is the head of the police department and as per protocol rules, whenever an IPS officer is in uniform, he/she has to salute the IAS officer. If he/she is without a cap then salute is not mandatory.

• In many cities IPS officers have more rights, but it is still less than an IAS officer.

• The area of work for an IPS officer can only be limited to the police and traffic department, while departments such as health, school, revenue, pension, RTO etc are all part of the IAS officers portfolio.

• In terms of power, IAS is much more powerful than IPS.

Role of an IAS

An IAS officer has all the powers in the field of administration, right from looking for events related to Prime Minister, President visits, to transfers, suspensions, surprise raids, issuing circulars and policy implementation etc.

Role of IPS

The role of an IPS officer is to maintain law and order situation especially in times of riots, protests, festivals, major events etc. An IPS also leads the police force and provides directives to them. The IPS officers job is to ensure the safety of the public at any cost. Hierarchy wise, an IPS officer comes after an IAS officer.

As per the UPSC CSE merit list candidates who rank on top and those who have opted for IAS in their DAF will be recruited for the IAS post.

Posts IAS and IPS

Promotions

Cabinet Secretary (Central) and Chief Secretary (State) is the highest post for IAS officers. An IPS officer can be promoted to Director-General of Police (DGP) of the state. IPS officers can also be directors of RAW, IB, CBI and also promoted as National Security Adviser (NSA).

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