Indian Forest Service Recruitment 2021: Everything You Need to Know About IFS

Usually, when we hear civil service the first two words that come to everyone’s mind are IAS or IPS. But here is one more, which is an equally important and fascinating job under the Government of India: IFS or Indian Forest Service.

As the name suggests IFoS or IFS deals with environmental issues and adopts various policies to manage and protect forests. However, you know there is a lot more to know about it. Let us find out in this article.

Indian Forest Services: IoFS

Indian Forest Service is one of the three All India Services of India. In short, it is known as IFS or IoFS. The others are IAS and IPS. To become an IFS officer you have to give the same exam as the other civil aspirants had to.

The main motive of the service is to maintain ecological balance and stability through the management and protection of natural resources.

India has 19.32% of the area under forests and this is lower than average. Therefore, there is an urgent need to protect them and even increase them. Hence, forest officers play an important part in protecting and managing them.

A Forest service officer manages and exercises his powers within his own area independent from local district administration.

Before Independence, forests were protected and managed by the Imperial Forest Service. Later in 1935, this responsibility fell upon the federal government.

The modern-day forest service was established in 1966 under the All India Service Act, 1951.

Job Roles Assigned as IFoS With Their Salary

Designation	Indian Forest Service Salary (monthly)
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests	INR 2,00,000-2,25,000
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests	INR 1,82,000-2,25,000
Chief Conservator of Forests	INR 1,44,200-2,18,200
Conservator of Forests	INR 1,31,100-2,16,600
Deputy Conservator of Forests	INR 70,000-2,10,000
Probationary Officer/ Assistant Conservator of Forests	INR 56,100-1,77,500

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Exam Pattern

The selection procedure of UPSC IFS consists of Preliminary, Main Examination, and Interview. This is followed by a training period of 2 years.

Prelims

There are two papers in the preliminary examination. This paper is bilingual in nature. Each paper carries 200 marks and has MCQs. It is similar to other civil services prelims exams.

Mains

Those who qualify prelims proceed to the next level that is mains. The mains examination has 6 papers, one of general English, the other of general knowledge and then the other 4 are of optional subjects.

Interview

The last stage includes a face-to-face interview with the panel. This personality test tries to assess the candidate’s concentration level, leadership qualities, adaptability, attitude, decision-making skills and overall calibre.

Training Period

After clearing all stages successfully, the selected candidates undergo a training period. The training begins at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie. After 15 weeks of basic training, they are sent to Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy at Dehradun for intense training. This mainly focuses on the forest, wildlife management, biodiversity, climate change, environment protection, etc.

Also Read: UPSC Aspirants Common Traits in LBSNAA: Here’re the Important Qualities of UPSC Cleared Aspirants

Eligibility Requirement

Nationality

# You must be either a citizen of India.

# A subject of Nepal.

# A subject of Bhutan, who came to India before first January 1962.

# Indian origin who migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries like Kenya, Uganda. United Republic of Tanzania, Zaire, Ethiopia, and Vietnam.

Education Requirement

A candidate must hold a bachelor’s degree in at least one of these subjects, Mathematics, Physics, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Statistics and Zoology or a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Forestry or in Engineering.

Subject combinations that are prohibited:

#  Agriculture Engineering and Agriculture

#  Forestry and Agriculture

#  Chemical Engineering and Chemistry

#  Statistics and Maths

#  Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science and Agriculture.

#   Not more than one engineering subject

Age Limit

#  A candidate must be at the age of 21 years not more than 31 years as of first August 2021 (born between 2 August 1989 to 1 August 2000)

#  Maximum five years in the case of a candidate belongs to SC/ST.

# Maximum three years in the case of candidates belonging to OBC.

# Maximum three years in the case of defence service personnel, disabled in operation.

# Maximum five years, in the case of ex-servicemen, including commissioned officers, ECOs/SSCOs.

# Maximum 10 years in the case of persons with benchmark disability.

Number of Attempts

Category	No. of Attempts
General	6
SC/STs	–
OBCs	9
PwD	9

Application Fees

# For General/ OBCs: INR 100

# For Women/SC/ST: nil

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Application Procedures

1. Log on to the official site of IFoS.
2. Go to DAF-Indian Forest Service.
3. Notification has all the details and important notifications on it.
4. Take a note of all important documents from it.
5. Now, visit the official website of UPSC.
6. Click on the registration link and fill in all the required details.
7. Upload the required documents.
8. Complete the application form by submitting fees.

Note: Save a copy of the fees receipt and application form for future reference.

Indian Forest Service: Syllabus

Preliminary Examination

General Science I

# Current Affairs: National and International

# Indian History: special attention on INM

# World Geography, with special reference to India(physical, social, economic)

# Indian Polity and Governance

# Sustainable Economic and Social Development

# Environment Diversity and Social Issues

# General Science

General Science II

# English Comprehension

# Communication and Interpersonal Skills

# Logical and Analytical Reasoning

# Problem Solving and Decision Making Questions

# General Mental Ability

# Basic Numerical Ability

# Basic English Language

Main Examination

List of Optional Subjects

# Agriculture

# Agricultural Engineering

# Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

# Botany

# Forestry

# Zoology

# Geology

# Chemistry

# Mathematics

# Chemical Engineering

# Civil Engineering

# Mechanical Engineering

# Physics

# Statistics

Indian Forest Service Recruitment 2021

Important Dates 2021

Important Dates	Reasons
24-03-2021	Last Date to Apply Form
23-03-2021	Last Date to Submit fees (Pay-in-slip)
24-03-2021	Last date to Submit Fees Online
31-03 to 6-04-2021	Dates to Withdraw Application
10-10-2021	Prelims Date
Not final (somewhere between 27 Feb to 8 March)	Mains Date

Vacancies

Around 200 vacancies of IFS has come this year.

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Cadre Allocation Policy

In 2017, the Union Government revised the cadre allocation policy and implemented it. According to current policy, the states were divided into several zones. Each candidate has to choose 5 preferred zones.

Zone	States Covered
I	Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, UT, J&K, HP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana
II	UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha
III	Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP and Chhattisgarh
IV	West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland
V	Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, T&N, and Kerala

Conclusion

UPSC IFS is another important civil service department. Forests are essential as they produce oxygen in huge quantities. Moreover, if you are a nature-lover and wildlife lover this job is going to be interesting for you.

Do you need help in preparation? Well, then visit UPSC Pathshala for Experts and Professional teachers, best and optimized online classes, or for notes material and other related information.