When it comes to
a government job with scintillating glamour and responsibilities, Indian Foreign
Services (IFS) stand tall among all others. There was a time when toppers of
UPSC Civil Services Examination used to prefer IFS ahead of even IAS and IPS.
However, that is no more the case and majority of toppers give IFS a preference
after IAS, IPS and IRS – IT. But, there is no denying that IFS is still among
the best government service of India.
Indian Foreign
Service (IFS) is not an All Indian Services as conceptualized by the
Constitution of India. There are only three AIS in India namely IAS, IPS and
IFoS (Forest Services which was created in 1966). IFS come under the umbrella
of Central Services. IFS and IRS are two of the top Central Services of India.
However, IFS is also selected on the basis of rank in the UPSC Civil Services
Examination.
As far as
training for new recruits are concerned, IFS are trained at LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur
Shashtri National Administrative Academy – Mussorie) and Foreign Service
Institute, New Delhi.
Salary of Indian
Foreign Service (IFS) Officers
As you might
know, IFS officers after training are posted in Indian embassies and High
Commissions around the world as well as offices of Indian Ministry of External
Offices throughout India. When it comes to salary and emoluments, the location
of their posting needs to be taken care of. For example, two officers of the
same batch are posted in New Delhi and Washington. Naturally, the officer
located at Washington needs to get more than his counterpart posted at New Delhi.
The Government of India gives special Foreign Allowance to those officers who
are posted outside of the country. This allowance depends on the purchasing power
parity of that particular country. Therefore the salary structure presented
here needs to be adjusted with the Special Foreign Allowance that these
officers get.
Salary Structure
of IFS as per their Grade:
1. Junior Time
Scale (Posted as Under Secretary)
Basic Scale at
this level is: Rs. 8000 – 275 – 13, 500
2. Senior Time
Scale (Posted as Under Secretary)
Basic Scale at
this level is: Rs. 10, 650 – 325 – 15, 850
3. Junior Administrative
Scale (Posted as Deputy Secretary)
Basic Scale at
this level is: Rs. 12, 750 – 375 –
16, 500
4. Selection
Grade – IV (Posted as Counselor Director)
Basic Scale at
this level is: Rs. 15, 100 – 400 – 18, 300
5. Senior
Administrative Scale (Posted as Joint Secretary)
Basic Scale at
this level is: Rs. 18, 400 – 500 – 22, 400
6. High
Commissioner / Ambassador (also Foreign Secretary)
Basic Scale at
this level is: Rs. 26, 000 which is FIXED.
With all
allowances and perks, an IFS officer first salary is around Rs. 60, 000 (if
he/she is posted in India).
It is the
Special Foreign Allowance that makes the major mark in the salary of an IFS
officer. For example, if a new IFS officer is posted at the Indian Embassy in
the USA, then he is entitled to get at least $ 4, 000 (2.40 Lakhs) per month as
Special Foreign Allowance. This allowance increased with the increase in the
Grade and level. As you can see, an IFS officer really gets a very fat check
when he/she becomes an Ambassador or High Commissioner.
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Important Information:
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India 2015. Well, there are many…many more books, you need to go through.
However, these two are must-haves. These are also available on Amazon with
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Other Perks and
Facilities of IFS Officer:
Apart from fat
pay check per month, IFS officers are also entitled to get innumerable benefits
and perks. Some of the perks are mentioned below:
-
Return
to ticket to family members of the officer who are staying in India, while the
officer is posted outside India – Two times in a year.
-
When
an officer is posted outside India, his family in India is given complete
facility in a government flat.
-
He/she
along with his direct family gets free medical facility at the best hospitals
in India and abroad
-
Completely
furnished and well managed residential flat at the place of posting.
Salary is not the real symbol of the status of IFS
officer. In fact, he always lives a life like a king. That is why even Nawabs
and Princes, after India’s independence, had loved to become an ambassador.
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