Protocol – IAS officers have higher protocol than their counterparts in other civil services.
Cabinet Secretary of India who is the senior most civil servant who ranks 11th in Precedence table of India is an IAS officer.

Secretaries to GoI and Chief Secretaries in states ranks 23rd and they too have no counterparts from IPS with same protocol which includes DGP of states, Director of IB, CBI or any paramilitary force despite the fact they belong to same pay scale.

Additional Secretaries to GoI have same protocol to senior-most IPS officers despite the fact that Additional Secretaries belong to lower pay scale.

Service chief – Service chief of IAS officers i.e. Cabinet Secretary is also head of all civil services in India while IPS officers have no service chief.

The custom of ‘primus inter pares’ i.e. first among equal makes IAS a premier service when compared to IPS and other civil services.

Cadre Strength – In Group A services (both All India Services and Central services), IAS has the biggest cadre strength.

There are 4926 sanctioned cadre strength for IAS while IPS has much smaller cadre strength; to be precise 3894 if we go by government data.

The bigger the cadre pool, the stronger the lobby and pressure on system which ultimately secures interest of the service.

Service conditions

Job Domain – An ‘generalist’ IAS Officer contributes towards the policy formulation and helps the system to effectively implement it. And, reserving the top posts of our bureaucracy, IAS officers have become the central power houses of our system.

Working Hours – IAS officers have better working hours unlike IPS officers. IPS officers when at field posting literally work for 24×7 while IAS officers at field posting work more than their own counterparts who are in Secretariat but still working hours are better when compared to IPS officers.

Transfer Policy – IPS officers comparatively get more frequently transferred than IAS officers. IPS officers’ family thus faces more hardship than that of an IAS one. Even Suspension rate and Termination rate of IAS officers is lower when compared to IPS officers.

Promotion Policy – IAS officers presently get paid more than their batch mates from other Group A services (including IPS) in the form of two additional increments – 3 percent of basic pay – at three promotion stages, ie, promotion to the senior time scale, junior administrative grade (JAG) and non-functional selection grade. Technically, the IAS officers get the two-year edge but the actual gap between a joint secretary from IAS and other Group A services is at least 7-10 years.

Better Field Postings – IAS officers get better field postings. A SDM in his sub-division has more power and public interaction than an ASP. Same goes for ADM when compared to Addl. SP and DM to SP/SSP/DIG, Divisional Commissioner to DIG/IG/ADG. IPS officers though have more field postings but not better ones. IAS officers at Secretariat have better perks, privileges and facilities when compared to the IPS officers who are attached to DGP’s office.

Proximity to Government – IAS officers have more accessibility to political executives and public representatives due to various reasons.
PM and CMs both take advice on various issues from Cabinet Secretary and Chief Secretaries respectively. Even PMO and CMOs are administratively headed by Principal Secretary who are mostly IAS officers.

When an IAS officer is posted in Secretariat, Minister concerned (political head of department) consults to Secretary concerned (administrative head) on various policies issues and his dream projects.

MPs, MLAs and MLCs have their Local Area Development schemes passed through DM and District Planning Committee which is convened by DMs in their districts.

In metropolitan cities, Municipal Corporation’s civic chief a.k.a Municipal Commissioner (IAS officer) and chief executive of Development Authority (IAS officer) have more proximity to Mayors while in rural areas CEO Zila Parishad or Chief Development Officer has more proximity to President of Zila Parishad/Panchayat.

1. You are the most visible form of Govt .i.e., A common man might not know who is the Under Secretary of GOI, But would surely know who is the SSP or even SI.

2. As a specialist service dealing mainly with Law and Order , one develops subject specialization (like in the corporate) and this goes a long way in helping you work better than the generalist services. You are also encouraged to pursue any higher studies related to your subjects.

3.  No two days are the same. You will have to deal with emerging problems. So you are on your toes most of the time. There is no way that you will get bored with your job.

4. The police administration job provides great job satisfaction since you are directly dealing with public. When you apprehend a criminal or an anti-social element, you are curing the society of an illness.

5. The common people of India thinking the real state power with police and treat police as above the rest. They are the First Responders of any conflict situation.

6. If you like more challenging and bravery work than go for IPS.
However IPS have to indirectly report to IAS . If you don’t have problem with that then go for IPS.

IPS is one of the most respectable service in our society, but it comes with a heavy price. It is also one of the most engaging service which will leave you with limited/no family and personal time. You have to deal with crimes so there is no turning back from it. Training is tough and postings are tougher. But if you are ready to pay the price, the service will bless you with a character that only a few ways of life will !!