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Indian Forest Service
Indian Forest Service
(IFS),
offers a highly challenging and rewarding career. It offers
an exciting opening where an IFS officer not only acts as
custodian of forests under his area of responsibility but
also derives mundane pleasure of being instrumental in
protecting and preserving the environment and wild life. This
exotic satisfaction of protecting forests, environment and
wild life also adds a lot of adventure to the job.
Recruitment to this service is done by the Union Public
Service Commission (UPSC) through a competitive examination
every year. The candidates selected for the service are
allotted a State/Union Territory cadre and they serve in that
particular State/Union Territory thereafter till
superannuation, except for a few deputations to the Central
Government in between. The service has inherent time-bound
promotions and higher scales which are comparable to the best
in government sector in the country. After completion of
training, the IFS officers are usually posted as Divisional
Forest Officers (DFOs)/Deputy Conservators of Forests (DCF)
with the independent charge of a forest division with a large
number of Forest Guards, Block Officers, Range Officers and
Assistant Conservators of Forests working under them. After
putting in a specified years of service as a DFO/DCF, the IFS
Officers are promoted as Conservators of Forests with several
DFOs/DCFs under their control. A direct recruit IFS Officer
can hope to rise upto Chief Conservator of Forests or even
upto the post of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the
Head of Forest Department in a State.
Some of the State Governments have State Forest Development
Corporations also and the IFS Officers can also be posted as
Divisional Managers, General Managers, Executive Directors
and Managing Directors in these Corporations. Thus IFS
officers also get an exposure to the corporate functioning in
the government sector, adding another dimension to their job.
In addition, the IFS officers also enjoy certain powers of
police officers in respect of several offences under the
Indian Forest Act.
The Selection Process
The competitive examination for the IFS is usually held by
the UPSC in the month of July every year. The advertisement
for the examination normally appears in the month of
December/Janaury in all leading newspapers as well as in the
"Employment News". It carries details about the examination,
subjects, etc.
Eligibility: The candidates applying for the IFS examination
must fulfil the following conditions:
(a) They must have attained the age of 21 years but should be
less than 26 years of age.
(b) They must be graduates with atleast one of the following
subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Mathematics,
Statistics and Geology; from a recognized university, or must
have Bachelors Degree in Agriculture or Engineering or
Forestry from a recognized university.
Examination: The scheme of examination has two stages:
(a) Written examination.
(b) Personal Interview.
All the eligible candidates are first tested through a
written examination which consists of two compulsory and two
optional subjects. The compulsory subjects are General
Knowledge and General English. Every candidate has to offer
two optional subjects out of (1) Physics (2) Chemistry (3)
Botany (4) Zoology (5) Forestry (6) Statistics (7)
Mathematics (8) Geology (9) Agriculture (10) Civil
Engineering (11) Agriculture Engineering (12) Mechanical
Engineering (13) Chemical Engineering.
The compulsory papers are designed to test the candidates
command over the language, comprehension, analytical power
and overall general awareness. The General English paper
carries the questions on use of words of common parlance,
passages, precis, comprehension, idioms etc. In addition the
candidates are also required to write an essay out of a few
given topics. The standard of this paper is such as is
expected of an average
science/engineering/forestry/agriculture graduate of an
Indian University.
The second compulsory paper on General Knowledge is aimed at
testing the general awareness and knowledge of the candidates
in subjects other than those studied by them in their
academic curriculum. This paper also tests the knowledge of
candidates on current events of national and international
importance. There are a few questions on Indian Political
System, Indian History, Economy, Geography and applied
aspects of Science and Technology. The standard of this paper
is again such as is expected of an average
science/engineering/forestry/agriculture graduate. The
questions in this paper are multiple choice objective-type in
nature.
So far as the choice of optional subjects is concerned, list
of subjects offers a vast choice. Every eligible candidate is
usually expected to specialise in atleast one of the optional
subjects which he/she would have offered during his/her
academic degree. The choice of second subject is also not
difficult. It is recommended that the candidates appearing
for the first time in the examination should go through
previous question papers before finally deciding on the
optional subjects. The standard of optional subjects is that
of degree level academic examination. Further details
regarding syllabi of all optional subjects are available in
the instructions received alongwith the application form
supplied by the UPSC.
Interview: The written examination is followed by a
personality test in the form of personal interview. The
interviews are held by the UPSC soon after the result of
written test is declared. The marks obtained in the interview
are added to the marks obtained by a candidate in the written
test to draw up the final merit list. The main aim of
personality test is to judge the suitability of candidates as
officers of Indian Forest Service. The candidates appearing
in the interview may expect some questions on common
day-to-day observations and current affairs of importance.
Questions on Indian Polity, Planning Process, Budgeting and
Economic Geography may also be expected. The personality test
also aims at testing leadership qualities, mental alertness,
initiative, balance of judgement, analytical capabilities and
variety of interests.
Preparation and Coaching
The IFS being among the most prestigious services of the
country, the competition for examination is quite tough and
needs meticulous preparation. So far as optional subjects are
concerned, most of the students are expected to do well. It
is the performance of candidates in compulsory subjects which
makes the real difference. Any candidate who does well in
optional subjects and also excels in the compulsories can
expect to qualify the examination. It, therefore, requires
systematic planned study with added emphasis on both the
compulsory subjects which are usually neglected during the
academic examinations.
To have a sound base in the General Knowledge paper the
candidates must refer to a basic and standard general
knowledge book like "General Knowledge Refresher" by O.P.
Khanna, regularly supported by "The Competition Master". This
would keep the candidates posted upto date as far as general
knowledge and current affairs are concerned and would give
them an edge over others in this paper.
Similarly, the personal interview also requires an exhaustive
preparation. Passing of written examination must not lead a
candidate to a state of complacency. Personality test being
the final test of suitability of the candidates for the
service, thus assumed greater importance. Indepth study of
all important aspects of general interest as well as
brushing-up of optional subjects offered in the written
examination is required. Thorough self-appraisal is also an
effective way of preparing for the interview.
There are certain private institutions/agencies imparting
coaching and guidance for IFS examination as well as personal
interview. By taking due precautions for not falling into
unscrupulous hands, coaching from a reputed institution will
go a long way to help the fresh candidates to do well in this
examination.
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