UPSC CSE 2024: Full Form & Functions

UPSC Civil Services Exam is widely considered to be one of the toughest and the most coveted government exams in India. The exam recruits officers for some of the most prestigious services like IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, etc.

To provide you an overview of UPSC’s history, let me take you back into the year of 1923, when under the chairmanship Lord Lee of Fareham, the Royal Commission on superior civil services was set up in India.

Based on the recommendation of the report submitted by Commission, a Public service Commission having equal number of Indian and British members was established in 1924.

The key suggestions made by the Lee Commission included 40% of the future entrants to be British, direct recruitment of 40% Indians and promotion from provincial services for 20% Indians.

The first Public Service Commission, under the chairmanship of Sir Ross Barker, was finally instituted in the year of 1926. But being a mere advisory role body, it faced pressure from leaders of Indian Independence movement.

This resulted in the establishment of Federal Public Service Commission under Government of India Act 1935, which later became what we know as Union Public Service Commission after getting constitutional status on 26 January 1950 post-independence.

UPSC Full Form

The full form of UPSC is Union Public Service Commission. It conducts an exam on a national level known as CSE which means Civil Service Examination.

https://www.anujjindal.in/upsc-complete-info/The exam is held to recruit for the various civil service and government posts like IAS which is an abbreviation for Indian Administrative Service.

UPSC Functions

The institution of UPSC is bestowed with many roles and responsibilities. As per Article 320 of the Indian constitution, the Union Public Service Commission shall conduct examinations for appointments to various posts and services at the Union level.

Some of the other functions of the UPSC include consultation on the following matters:

• On methods of recruiting candidates for various civil services posts
• 2. To make appointments for civil services and other posts.
• Promotion and Transfer of officers from service to another
• Checking the suitability of candidates for such appointments, promotion or transfers
• On taking disciplinary actions against a civil servant serving in a civil capacity including petitions or memorials in such matters.

UPSC IAS Exam 2024 Overview

The UPSC exam is conducted every year to recruit candidates to various civil services of the Indian central government.

The UPSC CSE is also popularly known as the IAS exam and is conducted subsequently after the official release of the UPSC vacancy memo.

Now, talking about UPSC CSE, it is widely considered as challenging and one of the toughest exams in the country.

It has three rounds that you need to clear in order to get selected as an IAS officer.

The first round that you’d need to clear is the Prelims, the second round is Mains, and, the third or final round is the personal interviews.

UPSC Recruitment 2024

There are several UPSC recruitments that happen every year. Some for the military, others for the post of scientists, so on and so forth.

However, what we are concerned with here are the UPSC recruitments of IAS officers. These happen once every year with each UPSC recruitment cycle lasting several months. And by UPSC recruitment for IAS officers, I don’t mean that its only for IAS officers.

It also serves as a common recruitment process to fill up the annual UPSC vacancy strengths of other officer posts as well. Posts such as that of IPS, IFS, and IRS officers.

Therefore, having said all that I guess you already know that the UPSC recruitment being spoken of here is the CSE, also called the Civil services exams.

Now, to get recruited as an IAS or IPS officer is a pretty grueling process, with annual UPSC recruitment processes lasting for a duration of more than 9 months.

Millions of students apply for the process each year, and only a handful are able to get through to being able to fill in the various UPSC vacant positions.

Reference : UPSC CSE