As such, the bureaucracy remains politically neutral and guarantees administrative continuity to the ruling party or coalition.

On attaining the higher scales of the pay matrix, IAS officers may lead government departments or ministries.

[5][6][7] The uncovenanted civil service was introduced solely to facilitate the entry of Indians onto the lower rung of the administration.

The Union will go, you will not have a united India if you do not have good All-India Service which has the independence to speak out its mind, which has [the] sense of security that you will standby [sic] your work...

[20] A special cadre was created in 1954 to administer NEFA (present day Arunachal Pradesh) and for later Some North Eastern Region.

The two postgraduate level submissions were later removed, but this has not changed the perceived higher status of the IAS and IFS.

[26][27] After the selection process, the successful candidates undergo training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.

Their initial role is as an assistant collector cum sub-divisional magistrate and they are placed in charge of a district sub-division.

As assistant collector cum sub divisional magistrate, they are entrusted with maintaining law and order, as well as general administration and development work, of the sub-district.

[citation needed] In 2015 it was announced that a new designation of assistant secretary at the Central Secretariat had been created to enable new IAS officers to be posted to Delhi for a three-month assignment as part of their training regime.

IAS officers were previously only permitted to go on a deputation once assigned to the Central Secretariat after nine years of service in their home cadre.

[77] If a serving IAS officer is appointed to a constitutional post such as Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Chief Election Commissioner of India or chairperson of UPSC or as head of a statutory authority, such as the National Commission for Women or the Central Information Commission, he or she is deemed to have retired from service.

[3] In popular perception, the allure of pursuing a career in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) lies in the associated privileges and benefits, which drive hundreds of thousands of candidates to compete for a limited number of positions each year.

The position of an IAS officer is commonly regarded as a gateway to power, privilege, and elevated social status.

Criticisms of the country's bureaucracy have persisted over time, with detractors highlighting its cumbersome nature, slow decision-making processes, inefficiency, and instances of corruption.

These deficiencies have become so widely acknowledged that the Indian bureaucracy often becomes the subject of relentless satirical portrayals in popular culture.

This can lead to a culture of impunity and inefficiency, as civil servants may not face consequences for poor performance or misconduct.

[88] Critics argue that bureaucracy can lead to a lack of accountability as unelected bureaucrats hold significant decision-making power.

[citation needed] The IAS is a highly centralized bureaucracy, with decision-making power concentrated at the higher levels of the hierarchy.

This centralized structure can impede decentralization efforts and limit the involvement of lower-level administrators and local stakeholders in decision-making processes.

[100][101][102] The IAS is hamstrung by political interference, outdated personnel procedures, and a mixed record on policy implementation, and it is in need of urgent reform.

The Indian government should reshape recruitment and promotion processes, improve performance-based assessment of individual officers, and adopt safeguards that promote accountability while protecting bureaucrats from political meddling.Several think tanks and media outlets have argued that the IAS is hamstrung by political influence within the service.

Politicians have also exerted pressure on IAS officers by repeatedly transferring them,[107][108][109][110] suspending them,[111][112][113] beating them,[114][115][116] and, in some extreme cases, killing them.

[123][124] In 2015, it was reported by the Government of India that a hundred IAS officers had come under scrutiny by the Central Bureau of Investigation for alleged corruption.

[125][126][127][128] In 2017 Government records showed that 379 IAS officers had deliberately failed to submit details of their immovable assets (IPR).

[140][139][141] In 2016 it was reported that the Government would provide the means to prosecute corrupt IAS officers,[142] with the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions agreeing to receive requests from private citizens seeking punitive measures against IAS officers even without supporting documentation.

[145][146][147][148] In 2018 the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh, informed the Lok Sabha that disciplinary proceedings were underway against 36 IAS officers.

[149] In 2020, Central Bureau of Investigation arrested two district magistrates in connection with an illegal arms license distribution scandal in the then Jammu & Kashmir state.