Indian Police Service commonly known as IPS is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. Indian Police Service (IPS) came into existence in 1948 when the British-era Indian(Imperial_Polivce was replaced. IPS officer carries lots of responsibility and also enjoys many benefits and perks. \
The Ministry of Home Affairs is the controlling authority of the IPS.
Table of Contents
IPS Exam
The Indian Police Service examination is a part of the Civil Service Examination conducted every year by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
There are two modes of recruitment for the Indian Public Service (IPS)
- Civil Service Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission( UPSC)
- Promotion by State Police Service Officers.
Every year, UPSC conducts the Civil Service Examination(CSE) for more than 24 services, such as IAS, IPS, and IFS, by shortlisting the candidates. More than nine lakh candidates registered for the IAS exam and almost five lakh candidates appear for the examination.
The selection process goes through several screenings starting with the preliminary exam, main examination, and interview. Selection is a year-long process that starts in the month of June and ends in April, and the final list comes in the month of May.
| Name of the Exam | Civil Service Examination |
| Organizing Body | Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) |
| Exam Level | National |
| Exam Mode | Paper and Pen based( Offline) |
| Number of Vacancies | Approx. 900 |
| Number of Services | 24 |
| Number of Attempts | 6 times |
| Number of Registrations | Approx. 9Lakh |
| Admit Card | Online |
| Official Website | https://www.upsc.gov.in/ |
UPSC IPS EXAM NOTIFICATION
The UPSC generally releasees the date of the Civil Services Examinations notification in the month of February. Aspirants willing to appear for this All Indian Services along with other services can apply online by visiting the official website of UPSC.
| Notification | Month |
| Civil Service Examination Advertisement | February |
| IPS- Online Application Form | February to March |
| IPS- Preliminary Admit Card | 2nd Week of May |
| IPS- Preliminary Exam | October |
| IPS- Preliminary Result | November |
| IPS-Main Exam | January |
| IPS-Main Result | February |
| IPS-Interview | March to April |
| IPS-Final Result | May |
Eligibility Criteria: IPS Exam
1. Nationality
- Candidates must be a citizen of India
- Candidates must be a citizen of Nepal or a subject of Bhutan.
- Candidates must be Tibetan refugees who came to India before January 1, 1962, for settling permanently in India.
- Candidates must a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Burma, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Myanmar, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Vietnam, Zaire with the motive to settle permanently in India.
2. Educational Qualification
- Candidates must hold any Bachelor’s degree from any of the recognized universities. There is no minimum percentage required for graduation.
- Candidates who have appeared for the qualifying exam and are awaiting results are also eligible.
- Candidates with professional and technical qualifications by recognized universities or their equivalent are also eligible to apply.
3. Age Limit & Number of Attempts
A candidate should be a minimum of 21 years and a maximum of 32 years to appear for the Civil Service Examination. The maximum age mentioned above is relaxable for the following candidates :
- Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST): 5 years
- Other Backward Classes(OBC) : 3 Years
- Defence Service Personnel: 5 years
- Candidate from the State of Jammu & Kashmir: Upto max. 5 years
- Ex-servicemen and ECOs/SSCOs who have served at least 5 years in Military Service as of 1st of August of the Notification Year: 5 years
- Blind, Deaf-mute and physically handicapped person: 10 Years.
| Category | Maximum Age Limit | No of Attempts |
| General | 32 Years | 06 |
| Other Backwards Castes (OBC) | 35 Years | 09 |
| Economically Weaker Section(EWS) | 32 Years | 06 |
| Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) | 37 Years | Till the age limit |
| Physically disabled candidates | 42 Years | For General and OBS candidates = 9
For SC/ST Candidates = Till age limit |
Physical Criteria
The physical criteria of fulfilling the eligibility criteria of the IPS officer is as follows :
Minimum Height
- Men : 165 cm
- Women : 150cm
Relaxable minimum height for candidates belonging to ST and other races like the Assamese, Garhwalias, Gorkhas, Kumaonis, Naga Tribes is 160 cm( Men) and 145cm (Women)
Minimum Chest Girth :
- Men : 84 cm
- Women: 79 cm
Myopia
Should not exceed minus 4.00D ( including cylinder)
Hyper myopia
- Should not exceed 4.00D ( including cylinder)
- Near vision should be J1 and J2 respectively.
- Distant vision for a better eye should be 6/6 or 6/9
- Distant vision for the worse eye should be 6/12 or 6/9
- High-grade color vision required
- Binocular vision is required
- Spectacles are allowed.
- Squint is a disqualification
IPS Officer: Roles & Responsibility
The Indian Police Service comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs( MHA). An IPS officer serves both the State and Centre and their primary responsibility is to maintain peace and security. Below are some of the major responsibilities of an IPS officer :
- Border responsibilities and duties by counter-terrorism and border policing.
- Maintain peace and order by prevention of crime, investigation, detection, and intelligence.
- Safety and security of VIP.
- Railway Policing
- Drug trafficking and Anti-smuggling
- Disaster management
- Top-level post in Indian Intelligence Agencies like CBI, R&AW, IB, CID
- Commanding Indian Federal Law Enforcement Agencies like Civil and Armed Police Forces in all Union Territories and States, and Central Armed Police Forces(CAPF) including Central Police Organisations (CPO) and Central Paramilitary Forces like BSF, ITBP, CRPF, NSG, CISF
- Serve as a head authority in policymaking in the Ministries and Department of State and Central Governments as well as in Public Sector Undertakings(PSU).
- Work closely with all other All-Indian Service, Indian Army, and Armed Forces.
Career Graph of IPS Officer
- The highest position, an IPS officer can desire is the rank of Director General of Police. The newly appointed IPS officer has to go through two years of training or a probationary period. Three months of the foundation course is the first part of the training which is common for all the new UPSC CSE recruits.
- After their training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, the IPS probationers go to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), Hyderabad.
- Apart from the above-mentioned training, they go through various indoor and outdoor exams.
| Indoor Subjects | Marks | Outdoor Subjects | Marks |
| Information & Communication Technology | 100 | Fieldcraft Tactics and Map Reading | 200 |
| Indian Evidence Act,1872 | 100 | Drill | 100 |
| Indian Penal Code,1860 | 100 | Drill | 80 |
| Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 | 100 | Physical Fitness | 80 |
| Police Leadership and Management | 100 | Equitation | 40 |
| Crime Prevention & Criminology | 75 | Unarmed Combat | 30 |
| Police in Modern India | 75 | Swimming | 25 |
| Investigation-I | 75 | Yoga | 25 |
| Investigation—II | 75 | First Aid & Ambulance Drill | 20 |
| Forensic Science | 75 | ||
| Maintenance of Public Peace and Order | 75 | ||
| Internal Security | 75 | ||
| Special Laws | 50 | ||
| Forensic Medicine | 50 |
- Posted as Deputy Superintendent of Police
- Posted as Additional Superintendent of Police
- Posted as Senior Superintendent of Police
- Posted as Deputy Inspector General of Police
- Posted as Inspector General of Police
- Posted as Additional Director General of Police
- Director-General of Police
IPS EXAM PATTERN
UPSC conducts exams in three-level as mentioned below. The candidate has to clear all the 3 exams successfully to get the offer letter from Union Public Service Commission( UPSC)
- Preliminary Test
- Main Exam
- Interview.
Stage One-Preliminary Test (400 Marks)
- The Preliminary Exam consists of GS (General Studies) & CSAT( Civil Service Aptitude Test).
- Both the papers are objective type (Multiple Choice Questions)
- The question papers are set in Hindi and English language.
- Blind candidate gets an additional 20 minutes of time for both papers.
- Candidates appearing in the preliminary test must qualify for the cut-off score to get themselves eligible for the mains exam.
- There is a negative marking associated with the question asked in the exam.
| Paper | Type | Number of Questions | Total Marks | Negative Marking | Duration |
| General Studies I | Objective( MCQ) | 100 | 200 | Yes | 2 Hours |
| General Studies II (CSAT) | Objective( MCQ) | 80 | 200 | Yes | 2 Hours |
Stage Two-Main Examination (2025 Marks)
- Candidates who qualify for the preliminary test are called for the Main Exam.
- Main exam consists of 9 papers.
- Paper A & B are qualifying in nature (Highlighted below)
- The candidate needs to obtain at least 25% in each of the Paper I to Paper VII to be given weightage to the Main Exam
- Paper A is not compulsory for the candidate belonging to the State of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim as well as the candidate from hearing impairment provided the fact that they have been exempted from such 2nd or 3rd language courses from their board or university.
- The language paper consists of the languages included in the 8th schedule of the Constitution.
- All the paper is bilingual – Hindi & English except for the language papers.
The written exam consists of the following papers
| Paper | Subject | Type | Duration | Total Marks |
| Paper A | One of the Indian Language | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 300 |
| Paper B | English | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 300 |
| Paper I | Essay | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 250 |
| Paper II | General Studies I | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 250 |
| Paper III | General Studies II | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 250 |
| Paper IV | General Studies III | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 250 |
| Paper V | General Studies IV | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 250 |
| Paper VI | Optional I | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 250 |
| Paper VII | Optional II | Descriptive | 3 Hours | 250 |
| Sub Total Marks | 1750 | |||
| Interview Marks | 275 | |||
| Grand Total Marks | 2025 | |||
The subject which is covered in the General Studies in Main Exam is mentioned below
| General Studies I | General Studies II | General Studies III | General Studies IV |
| Indian Heritage and Culture | Governance | Technology | Ethics |
| History and Geography of the World | Constitution | Economic Development | Integrity |
| Society | Polity | Bio-Diversity | Aptitude |
| Social Justice | Environment | ||
| International Relations | Security and Disaster Management |
The list of the Optional Paper VI and VII of the Main Exam is enumerated below
| Agriculture | Chemistry | History | Geography | Mathematics |
| Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science | Political Science and International Relations | Mechanical Engineering | Commerce and Accountancy | Electrical Engineering |
| Anthropology | Psychology | Statistics | Physics | Economics |
| Botany | Sociology | Law | Medical Science | Geology |
| Zoology | Philosophy | Civil Engineering | Public Administration | Management |
| Literature can opt from any of the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, and English.
|
||||
Stage Three- Interview (275 Marks )
The candidate who qualifies for the mains exam is called for the interview process. This is the last and final stage of the recruitment cycle before the final results are declared. The maximum mark in the interview is 275 thus accruing the total marks in the merit list to be 2025. UPSC board takes the interview which consists of competent panelist, who would judge the candidature on the following grounds :
- Mental Attentiveness
- Critical power of understanding
- Clear and Logical Interpretation
- Balance of Judgement
- Ability of social solidarity and leadership
- Intellectual and virtuous integrity
Getting into a good job is a dream, you need to plan it before that.
Career Planning plays an important role in shaping your career, so is the planning to choose the best suitable B-School for yourself. You need to focus on various aspects before jumping into a final decision.
Career path analysis helps you in getting the best road map. Get your career assessment test by appearing for the free student profiling process. https://eduxact.edumilestones.com/
Study_Abroad
Click the link below and get an exhaustive career report and book for a free counseling session. For Studying abroad in 15000+ across 20+ Countries visit the mentioned link.
Click: Start Study Abroad Profiling to get access to 15000+ Universities across 20+ Countries
Please share your valuable inputs regarding the article. Also, help me develop other information guides by giving your suggestions.
You can comment in the section below for sharing your thoughts.
