IAS Officer : Salary
and Other Facilities
IAS stands for Indian Administrative
Service. It is one of the most prestigious jobs in India. The Salary of an IAS officer
is how much is such a question which is being asked daily by thousands of job
seekers. In India
it is said that the salary in government services is too low. Many bright
students do not want to join the government services for low salary. But IAS is
not everything about salary, it is not a simple job for making money, it is
also about serving the nations and its billions of people. After the 6thpay
commission the salary of an IAS officer in India is not that bad too. I am
going to discuss about the salary and facilities of Indian Administrative
service officer.
Pay
Scales
In government services in India Pay
Scales is not the total salary. It only indicates the minimum and maximum basic
pay of an employee. The IAS are promoted to total four pay scales according to
service seniority. These five scales are named as Junior Scale, Senior
Time Scale, Junior Administrative Grade , Selection
Grade and Super Time Scale.
Junior Scale:
In Junior Scale the new recruit
joins at the payband 3, that is, Rs: 15,600 – 39,100.
In addition he gets a Grade Pay of
Rs 5400. This is the time of training and learning. The new recruit is placed
into a two years probation period. After that he is posted as a SDM ( Sub
Divisional Magistrate ), also known as SDO or Sub-Collector.
Salary of an IAS is
not that bad
Senior
Time Scale:
After , at least 5 years of service
the IAS is promoted to Senior Time Scale at the payband of 15,600-39,100 and a
grade pay of Rs. 6600. At that period he may be posted as a District Magistrate
(DM) or Collector or a Joint Secretary of a Government ministry.
Junior
Administrative Grade:
Payband : 15,600-39,100
Grade Pay: 7,600
The IAS may hope to be promoted to
this scale after 9 years of service. He will get the posts of special secretary
and various Head of the Government Departments.
Selection Grade:
Payband: 37,400-67,000
Gradepay: Rs 8,700
This grade needs a minimum of 12-15
years in the service. The officer will now get the post of a Secretary to a
ministry.
Super Time Scale
Payband: 37,400-67,000
Gradepay: Rs 8,700
After completing a minimum 17 to 20
years of service the officer gets the Super Time Scale salary. He becomes
Principal Secretary of a very important department of the government.
Above
Super timescale:
A limited number of bright
individuals are selected for above Super Time Scales (Payband: 37,400-67,000
and Grade Pay: 12,000).
The highest basic salary is Rs.
80,000 (fixed) for an IAS. Only the central Cabinet Secretary is given the
Basic salary of Rs. 90,000 (fixed).
IAS is not only about
money, but also about power
What
is the Total Starting Salary of an IAS ?
Now, I know you shall want to know
how much total money they get after joining the service. It is difficult to
understand all this jargons: Pay Band, Grade Pay etc.
Now, this total pay is changeable
with time. At this moment the total payment of an IAS recruit can be roughly
estimated as below:
Basic Pay: Rs 23,640
D.A. (@65%): Rs 15,366
H.R.A.(@30%): Rs 7,092
T.A.: 5,280
Total: Rs 51,378
This is the average salary
of an IAS officer in India
at the beginning of his career.
His basic will increase at the rate
of 3% per annum. You may expect a D.A. increment of average 10% to 14%. The IAS
may hope to get double salary after each 7 to 9 years.
The
Maximum Salary of an IAS officer:
The highest salary is drawn by the
Cabinet Secretary among the IAS. He gets Rs.90,000 fixed as basic pay. Fixed
means he shall not get any increments.
His estimated Salary is as follows:
Basic Pay: Rs 90,000
D.A : Rs 58,500
HRA: Rs 27,000
T.A.: Rs 5,280
Total: Rs 1,80,780
This salary may increase with the
increment of DA.
IAS
Officer - Salary and Perks
If you compare this job with a top
private sector one, you may find out some very good facilities and perks.
i) An IAS is often given a superb
accommodation, usually a big Bungalow with its own Security guards, Gardeners,
Servants and Cooks. All of these are given to him for a very low rent.
ii) He gets government cars, usually
with Red lights.
iii) He also gets the facilities of
free electricity and telephone bills.
iv) During official travels for duty
they get the accommodation in very good Government Bungalows and Rest houses.
v) Power and prestige is the
greatest perks for an IAS.
vi) The security of the job is much
more than that of a lucrative private sector job. In fact, it is very, very
tough even for a chief minister to terminate an IAS officer’s job. They have
their legal safe guards against that.
vii) They can apply for a study leave for 2 to
4 years in a reputed foreign university, the cost of which will be paid by the
government.
viii) They shall get life time pensions and
other retirement benefits.
There are many more about these facilities and
perks. It is impossible for a big private sector employee to get such.
Moreover, an IAS is behind the formation and implementation of
the policies of the Central and the various State Governments. You can work for
the good of the people and this is the greatest perk among all.
