What is IAS Exam?
UPSC IAS notification 2021 may be delayed because of the petition for extra attempt in the Supreme Court of India (SC). On January 25, SC directed the Centre to not to publish the UPSC notification 2021 till the matter is sub judice. UPSC IAS 2021 exam is scheduled to be conducted on June 27. IAS prelims 2021 is delayed by around three weeks because, in the previous years, it was conducted in the first week of June. The UPSC 2021 exam notification will be released on February 10 and the IAS application 2021 last date will be March 3, 2021. The IAS main exam 2021 will be conducted from September 17. The IAS prelims exam 2021 will be the objective type exam conducted in two sessions. The IAS 2021 main exam will be the conventional essay type exam. The IAS application fee was Rs 100 in the past years and expected to be same this year also. The IAS main exam is scheduled to be conducted from January 8, 2021.
IAS exam is the most coveted exam in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). UPSC recruits the candidates for Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Police Services (IPS) and Central Civil Services including the Indian Foreign Services through this exam. All the ministries and the departments in the union and state governments are headed by the IAS officers. Hence the IAS exam has acquired this much of importance. The topper of the IAS exam has the opportunity to become the Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India. It is the highest bureaucratic position one person can have in India.
Merit-based Civil Services was first introduced in India in 1854. For this purpose, a Civil Service Commission was set up in 1854 in London and a competitive examination was conducted in 1855. This service was called Indian Civil Services(ICS) at that time. For the first time in 1922, the Indian Civil Service Examination began to held in India also, first in Allahabad and later in Delhi with the setting up of the Federal Public Service Commission. The ICS examination in London continued to be conducted by the Civil Service Commission.
How many services are there in the UPSC IAS Exam 2021?
All India Services
- Indian Administrative Services(IAS)
- Indian Police Servies(IPS)
- Indian Forest Services(IFoS) [Prelims Only]
See here: IAS vs IPS
Central Civil Services
Indian Foreign Services(IFS) | Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’ | Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’ |
| Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’ | Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’ | Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’ |
| Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration) | Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’ | Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’ |
| Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’ | Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A' | Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’ |
| Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’ | Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’ | Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group ‘A’ |
| Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' | Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’ | Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade). |
| Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group 'B' | Pondicherry Police Service, Group ‘B’ | Pondicherry Civil Service, Group 'B' |
| Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group 'B' | ||
UPSC IAS Exam 2021 Highlights
Exam Name | UPSC Civil Services Exam (IAS) 2021 |
Conducting Body | Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) |
Exam Level | National |
UPSC Vacancies | To be notified |
Exam Frequency | Once a year |
Exam Mode | Offline - Pen and Paper Mode |
Exam Stages | Prelims - Mains(Written) - Mains(Interview) |
Application Fee(Prelims) | 100 |
Language | Prelims - English and Hindi |
No. of Test Cities | Test centres across the nation |
Exam Helpdesk No. | 011-23098543 / 23385271 / 23381125 / 23098591 |
Official Website | https://www.upsc.gov.in/ |
IAS Eligibility
Eligibility for IAS is one of the first questions which crops up in the mind of an IAS aspirant. The nationality, the number of attempts, age limit and the educational qualifications are some of the basic eligibility criteria for IAS exam. All candidates who wish to appear in IAS exam 2021 need to ensure that they meet all the eligibility criteria as mentioned below.
Nationality
For Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), a candidate must be a citizen of India. For all other services, a candidate can either be a citizen of India or
- A subject of Nepal/ Bhutan
- A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India
- A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India
See here: IAS Eligibility 2021 in detail
Note: Candidates who are subjects of Nepal/ Bhutan or Tibetan refugees are not eligible to apply for Indian Foreign Service (IFS).