Selection
In 1948 the first group of Indian Foreign Service officers recruited under the combined Civil Services Examination administered by the Union Public Service Commission joined the service. This exam is still used to select new IFS officers.
The Civil Services Examination is used for recruitment for many Indian administrative bodies. It has three stages - a preliminary exam, a main exam, and an interview - and is known for being extremely challenging.
The entire selection process lasts for about 12 months. About 800 to 900 candidates are finally selected each year out of the nearly 400,000, but only a good rank guarantees an IFS selection— an acceptance rate of 0.01 percent.
In recent years, the intake into the Indian Foreign Service has averaged around 20 persons annually. The present cadre strength of the service stands at approximately 600 officers manning around 179 Indian missions and posts abroad and the various posts in the Ministry of External Affairs at home. The Times of India reported a shortage of Indian diplomats.
Read more about this topic: Indian Foreign Service
Famous quotes containing the word selection:
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—Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926)
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