All India Services

Also called: Article 312 · Topic: Civil Services: Role, Accountability and Reforms · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The State, the Government, and You"; Class 11, Ch 4 "Executive"; Class 11, Ch 7 "Federalism"

Meaning

An All India Service (AIS) is a civil service that is common to the Union and the states (Article 312). The Centre recruits officers through the UPSC, the President appoints them, and they work mainly in a state cadre. Today there are only three: the IAS, the IPS and the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) [3].

It matters because AIS officers run the districts and state secretariats, yet the Centre controls their careers. This makes the AIS a frequent flashpoint in Centre–state relations.

Explanation

How an AIS officer's career works (dual control)

The officer works for the state, but the Centre controls their career. This is called dual control.

• Recruitment: the Centre recruits through the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission, Article 315). The President appoints the officer.
• Cadre: each officer is given a state cadre for life. A cadre is the fixed set of posts in one state, or in a joint group such as AGMUT.

• Cadres are allotted under the zonal cadre-allocation policy (2017). Officers rank zones of states in order of preference.

• Daily work: the state government posts and transfers the officer and supervises their work as Collector, SP or Secretary.

• Central deputation: the officer can be sent to work for the Union government for a fixed term and then return to the state.
• The officers belong to the permanent executive. These are the civil servants who stay in office whichever party wins. The political executive is the elected ministers.

Discipline: who can punish an officer

These rules come from the AIS (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1969.

Action	State government	Central government
Suspension (keeping an officer off duty while charges are examined)	Yes, if the officer serves under it	Yes
Minor penalties (censure, holding back increments or promotion, recovering losses)	Yes	Yes
Major penalties (dismissal, removal, compulsory retirement)	No. It can only start proceedings and recommend action	Only the Centre

• If the state and the Centre disagree on a suspension, the Centre's view prevails [6].
• Time limits on suspension:
• For charges other than corruption: up to 1 year. If the inquiry does not finish in that time, the suspension ends on its own [6].

• For corruption charges: up to 2 years, on the same terms [6].

• An IAS officer working at the Centre can be suspended only on the recommendation of the Central Review Committee, with the approval of the minister in charge of DoPT [6].

• Why only the Centre can dismiss: under Article 311, no civil servant can be dismissed by an authority lower than the one that appointed them. For AIS officers, that authority is the President.

Central deputation and the Central Staffing Scheme

• Rule 6(1), IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954:
• An officer can be deputed to the Centre only with the concurrence (agreement) of the state.

• If the two disagree, the Centre's decision prevails, and the state must carry it out.

• Central Deputation Reserve (CDR): each cadre includes a reserve equal to 40% of Senior Duty Posts. This reserve exists to supply officers to the Centre [7][8].

• Shortage: the Centre says states have not sponsored (nominated) enough officers [7][8]. The gap is worst at Deputy Secretary and Director level.
• Central Staffing Scheme (CSS): this fills Union posts at Deputy Secretary level and above for fixed terms.
• Each state sends an offer list of willing officers.
• The Centre chooses officers from these lists.

• The officers serve their term and return to their cadre.

• Empanelment is the process that clears an officer for Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary or Secretary posts at the Centre.

• 2021 reform: new IAS officers now work briefly at the Centre as Assistant Secretaries before they join their state cadres [12].

How a new AIS is created (Article 312)

Step	Who acts	What is needed
1	Rajya Sabha	A resolution that a new AIS is "necessary or expedient in the national interest"
2	Majority for that resolution	Two-thirds of members present and voting (special majority)
3	Parliament (both Houses)	An ordinary law that creates the service and sets its recruitment and service conditions

[2]

• Why the Rajya Sabha? It is the House of the states. A new AIS takes some control of administration away from the states, so their House must agree first. This is a federal safeguard.
• No constitutional amendment and no ratification by the states is needed.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional base: Part XIV, Chapter I ("Services"), mainly Articles 309–313.
• Art. 312(2): the IAS and IPS are "deemed" (treated as) services created by Parliament under this Article. They continued from the colonial Indian Civil Service (ICS) and the Indian (Imperial) Police.
• All-India Services Act, 1951 (Act No. 61 of 1951, passed 29 October 1951): this law regulates the recruitment and service conditions of AIS officers [3]. Rules made under it include the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954 and the AIS (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1969.
• 1963 amendment to the AIS Act: this provided for three new services: the IFoS, an Indian Service of Engineers and an Indian Medical and Health Service. Only the IFoS was set up, in 1966 [3].
• 42nd Amendment (1976): added an All India Judicial Service (AIJS) to Art. 312(1) [2].
• Art. 312(3): it cannot include any post below district judge (Art. 236) [2][5].

• In March 2023 the Union told Parliament there was no consensus among the states and High Courts, so the AIJS had not been set up [5].

• Art. 312A (28th Amendment, 1972): lets Parliament change or end the special pay, leave and pension guarantees of former Secretary of State's Services (ICS) officers who were still serving. The matching law is the Former Secretary of State Service Officers (Conditions of Service) Act, 1972 [4].

• Art. 313: service laws from before 1950 stay in force until a new law replaces them. This is a transitional provision.
• Sarkaria Commission (1988): it favoured creating more AIS. The states resisted, so none has been created since 1966.
• Intake: 180 IAS a year from CSE-2012 and 200 IPS a year from CSE-2020 [10]. A committee was set up to recommend IAS intake for CSE-2022 to CSE-2030 [11].
• Vacancies as on 1 January 2025: IAS 1,300, IPS 505, IFoS 1,029. These figures come from a Parliament reply of 12 February 2026 [9]. The AGMUT cadre had 542 IAS posts authorised but only 406 officers in position [9].
• Alapan Bandyopadhyay case (2021): the Centre recalled West Bengal's Chief Secretary to Delhi without the state's agreement. This followed a dispute over a cyclone-review meeting.
• 2022 draft amendment to Rule 6(1) (under Section 3 of the AIS Act) [7][8]:
• The Centre would decide how many officers each state must send.
• States would have to release officers within a fixed time. If they did not, the officer could be relieved on a date the Centre chose.
• The Centre could ask for specific officers in situations such as a major disaster or a national security need [7].
• West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and other states opposed it.

Don't confuse with

• Central Services (e.g. Indian Foreign Service, IFS): these serve only the Union. The AIS serve both the Union and the states. The AIS "IFS" is the Indian Forest Service (IFoS), not the Foreign Service.
• State Services: these are recruited by the State Public Service Commission and controlled fully by the state. AIS officers are recruited by the Centre, and only the Centre can impose major penalties on them.
• Creating a new AIS vs a constitutional amendment: a new AIS needs only a Rajya Sabha resolution (two-thirds of members present and voting) plus an ordinary law. It needs no Article 368 amendment and no ratification by the states.
• Suspension vs dismissal: a state can suspend an AIS officer serving under it. Only the Centre can dismiss, remove or compulsorily retire them.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 312: a new AIS needs a Rajya Sabha resolution passed by two-thirds of members present and voting, and then a law of Parliament [2].
• IAS and IPS are "deemed" created under Art. 312(2). The IFoS was created in 1966 under the AIS Act 1951 [3].
• 42nd Amendment (1976) added the AIJS. Under Art. 312(3) it cannot include posts below district judge (Art. 236), and it has not been created [2][5].
• 28th Amendment (1972) added Art. 312A, which deals with former ICS (Secretary of State's Services) officers [4].
• Rule 6(1), IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954: deputation needs state concurrence, but the Centre prevails if they disagree. The Central Deputation Reserve is 40% of Senior Duty Posts [7][8].
• Trap: "The state government can dismiss an IAS officer serving in the state." This is false. Only the Centre can impose major penalties [6].

Mains Points

• AIS as a unitary feature:
• The Centre controls recruitment, cadre allocation, major penalties and deputation. The states control only daily postings.
• The 2022 draft amendment and the Alapan Bandyopadhyay recall (2021) show how officers can get caught between rival governments, which leads to divided loyalty.

• Way forward: settle deputation quotas through consultation, for example at the Inter-State Council, and keep state concurrence real. Critics say the real issue is trust, not new legal powers.

• The case for the AIS (Patel's "steel frame"):

• Sardar Patel called the AIS the "cement" of the Union. It gives a national outlook, neutral administration and links between the Centre and the states.

• The real problem is the shortage: about 1,300 IAS vacancies (2025) and gaps at DS/Director level [9]. Better cadre planning and higher intake would fix this better than forced deputation.

• New AIS (judicial, medical, engineering, education):

• For: merit-based national pools and uniform standards. For the AIJS, more diversity on the bench.
• Against: loss of state autonomy, weaker High Court control over subordinate courts (Arts. 233–235), and judges who may not know the local language and laws.
• No new AIS has been created since 1966, which shows how strongly the states resist.

Related concepts

• Indian Administrative Service
• Indian Police Service
• Indian Forest Service
• Central deputation
• Central Staffing Scheme

Read more

• All India Services and federalism