Life of an IAS officer: Roles, career path, salary, perks

Becoming a civil servant is one of the most sought-after, respected and challenging career choices in India.

However, the path to becoming an IAS officer is anything but easy.

Further, the roles and responsibilities that come with the job are enormous. But equally impressive is the salary structure and the perks available.

Here, find out the roles, responsibilities, salary and perks of IAS officers.

Basic duties of an IAS officer

An IAS officer is entrusted with the task of handling government affairs, which involve the framing and implementation of policies, in consultation with the concerned ministry.

One also has to undertake supervision of the implementation process and travel to important sites and places.

Additionally, one has to look after the disbursement of funds.

The officers are answerable to the Parliament or State Legislatures.

Functions of IAS officers in beginning; at district level

During the beginning of their career, IAS officers join State administration at Sub-divisional level, as Sub-divisional magistrate, and have to look after law, order, administration and developmental works of the assigned area, under their jurisdiction.

At the level of a District Magistrate or District Collector, IAS officers supervise policy formulation, implementation and developmental works for the concerned district.

Role and responsibilities of IAS officer at State, Centre levels

During an IAS officer's career span, they might serve in the State Secretariat or as Head of Departments in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

At the apex of an IAS officer's career, they may get to serve as the Cabinet Secretary followed by Secretary/Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary, Director, Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary.

These posts are filled according to the seniority level of the officers.

Meanwhile, a bit about basic pay of an IAS officer

After the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, the basic pay of an entry-level IAS officer is prefixed at Rs. 56,100 per month.

Notably, this base pay doesn't include the various allowances that an IAS officer is entitled to.

Allowances like Dearness Allowance (DA), House Rent Allowance (HRA), and Travel Allowance (TA) are provided separately.

The scale of IAS officers' salary structure

There are, in total, 18 pay levels.

Notably, IAS officers are generally promoted every 4-5 years.

The annual increments in the base pay of officers is in the range of Rs. 1,000-5,000.

The highest base pay salary (ie. Level 18) of Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India is Rs. 2,50,000.