IPoS is an abbreviation for Indian Postal Service. It is one of the Group ‘A’ Civil Services in India. The Indian Government and the Ministry of Communications have the authority to control the Indian Postal Services (IPoS). It operates and monitors divisional and regional postal services throughout the country, both as e-commerce services and traditional post services.
For operating an effective network of Indian Post, the entire Indian Postal Network is distributed into twenty-two Postal Circles. It also ensures non-commercial services, like MGNREGA wages, and disbursal of Old-age pensions. Like the other Indian Civil Services Officers, the Indian Postal Service Officer is known as the high-rank officer, in the hierarchy of Indian Post.
An IPoS Officer is responsible, and has the administrative authority to conduct and manage the postal services effectively throughout the country. It includes various functions that need to be executed properly as well as consistently.
These functions are:
Managing and Operating the Divisional Postal services.
Handling the finance, technology, and material.
Managing the Public Grievance Redressal Systems, and handling client relations.
Expand and implement the planning for the divisional and regional postal networks, within regions, states, and all over the country.
Management of mail and post offices within a division.
Conduct and manage the marketing of postal products and services in India, like Banking and Insurance.
Coordinating and cooperating with Government organizations, like Police and District Administration.
Indian Postal Service also stands for the management of employees, and personnel.
There are some eligibility criteria and conditions, applied by the Government of India, to enrol and become an IPoS Officer. It is the same as other Indian Civil Services.
The Candidate must appear for the UPSC exam.
He has to clear the exam, and get a rank under the preference of Indian Postal Services, and as per the Government of India.
After getting a Group ‘A’ rank, there is proper training management.
When the training is completed, the trained officers get the certificate to join the Indian Postal Services.
On the other hand, some of the officers can also be promoted from Group ‘B’ to Group ‘A’, who are already serving under the IPoS.
There is a condition that a candidate who is being promoted must work for at least three years in the Indian Postal Service.
These officers are chosen by the ‘Departmental Promotion Committee’, and by further discussion the Union Public Selection Public Board.
The UPSC 2022 Civil Services Examination will be used to conduct recruitment for the Indian Postal Service (IPoS). The UPSC applicants chosen for the IPoS begin working as SSRMs or Senior Superintendents of Post Offices (Senior Superintendent of Railway Mail Services). IPoS officers are also chosen through promotion from India Post "Group B" officers. They have the potential to advance to the post of director general of post offices.
Designation | Pay Scale according to the designation |
Director-General of Post Offices | Rs.225000 |
Member Postal Services Board | Rs.205400 |
Chief Postmaster General | Rs.144200 |
Postmaster General | Rs.131100 |
Director of Postal Services | Rs. 78800 |
Assistant Director/Assistant Postmaster General | Rs. 67700 |
SSPO/SSRM | Rs. 56100 |
The officers who are selected by the Direct Recruitment Management are sent for foundational course (FC) training, at the National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT) in Nagpur, Sardar Vallabhbh Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad, and Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie.
After this, a brief skilled and training program in ‘Postal Management and Administration’ is conducted, at ‘Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy’ (RAKNPA) in Ghaziabad.
Senior Superintendent of Post Offices is a position that IPoS cadre officials may hold in junior positions.
The Superintendent of Railway Mail Service position could be filled by officers from the IPoS cadre.
Officers in the IPoS cadre hold the positions of Director-General of Posts and Postmaster General, respectively.
They would hold the titles of Chief Postmaster and Additional Postmaster General if they were stationed in the field.
Officers from the IPoS cadre may also chair the Postal Services Board.
Officers from the IPoS cadre might hold the position of Secretary to the Government of India at the highest level.
The Director-General is the highest post in IPoS. A candidate must get the highest rank to become Director-General in the UPSC exam, or can get promoted to this.
For an SSPO – Senior Superintendent of Indian Post Office, or SSRM – Senior Superintendent of Railway Mail Services to Director-General, the salary varies from INR 56,100 to INR 2,25,000.
Other Civil Services exams are IRS, IAS, IFS, and IPS, offered under the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The job profile of an officer varies from junior to senior levels of the post. Usually, it is started with the Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, and can reach up to the Director-General post.
Ranks may vary based on different categories of candidates, and the qualifications, along with the age category, but it must be less than four hundred, and as thousands and lakhs of candidates appear in the UPSC exam.