A Peek Into The Day Of An IAS Officer’s Life
Every year, thousands of IAS aspirants appear for the Union Public Service Commission examination. With the success ratio being as low as about 0.01%, young people are still curious about the profession of an IAS officer lives. We are here to throw some light upon the responsibilities and duties of a civil servant, and how his or her daily life looks like.
We know that IAS is one of the elite jobs that one could achieve. Authorities and duties go hand in hand and this job too has elite responsibilities. Even in hectic schedules they come out with positive attitude. The officers of different districts have their own process of workings.
- Provision of vehicles- An IAS officer is given a car that has to be used only for the government work or any other official purpose. They usually leave from home by 9 am and return by 9 pm. Their days are packed with inspection, field work and a number of meetings. In between these, they hardly get any time for their personal purpose. In case there is a requirement for the personal use of the car, they have to let the matter to the government and pay some nominal charges.
- House allotment- The civil servants are given a lavish house to live in a posh locality where they are posted. The government provides this facility so as to let them be focused about their official responsibilities, rather than wasting time in searching for the same. They are allowed to live with their family. Nevertheless, an officer only gets to sleep in this house as their working time counts around 70-75 hours in a week, which even goes up during the emergency hours. An IAS officer always stays alert and active round the clock.
- Phone facility- The government also provides them phone facility for free, but it has to be used only for work purpose. They are given a handset for making and receiving phone calls. Their phone must be always switched on as there might be cases of emergencies. At such hours of need they have to go out for the whole time, be it day or night. In such situations they are not allowed to leave the office without an approved leave. At times, they even don’t get ample time to have a proper meal. Although they are given an allowance of up to Rs. 1000, most of the time this money falls short due to much of official calls.
- Bodyguard for DM- The state government allows a bodyguard for their security purpose when an IAS becomes District Commissioner and has experienced five to six years of his work life.
- Satisfactory pay scale- A senior IAS officer gets paid around 1.5 lakh per month, unlike corporate employees who are able to earn five times more than them. Their job is of much higher responsibility which surely does not come up with the pay scale. But still they are satisfied with it, because according to them nothing can be compared to the happiness acquired in helping the needy people. As they are into this field with the thought of service for the betterment of the society, they don’t look at how much they are getting paid. They feel privileged to work for the people who approach them to solve their problems.
It is not easy for a normal human to live the life of an IAS officer. It is not that glamorous. It is because their work pressure is immense, they don’t get time for themselves and their families, they are unable to have the luxury of going on vacations or go out for movies as they can be called back for duty anytime in between, and also don’t get time to enjoy the perks they receive from state governments.
But for them, working for mankind is the best job in this world. The power that they hold in order to change the lives for the better is beyond comparison. So, if you are also thinking to approach for the IAS exam you must see the spirit and brighter side of this job.
