West Bengal Civil Service

Last updated

West Bengal Civil Service
পশ্চিমবঙ্গ জনপালন সেবা
Service overview
Founded 26 January 1950;74 years ago (1950-01-26) [1]
State West Bengal
Country India
Staff college
  • Netaji Subhash Administrative Training Institute, Salt Lake, Sector-III, Kolkata (Executive and Other Services) [2]
  • Swami Vivekanada State Police Academy, Barrackpore (Police and Revenue Service)
Cadre controlling authorityPersonnel & Administrative Reforms Department, Government of West Bengal
Minister responsible Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal and Home Minister
Legal personality Governmental; Civil Service
Cadre strength
  • 1,646 (Group-A, Executive) (2019) [3]
  • 517 (Group-B) (2021) [4]
Selection West Bengal Public Service Commission (PSCWB)
Success Rate0.5%
Head of the Civil Services
Chief Secretary B. P. Gopalika, IAS [5]
Website psc.wb.gov.in

West Bengal Civil Service (Executive), popularly known as W.B.C.S.(Exe.), is the civil service of the Indian state of West Bengal. For the WBCS (Exe) and other comparative posts, Public Service Commission of West Bengal arranges competitive examinations in three phases every year. These phases are Preliminary, Mains and Personality Test. WBCS is considered to be the premium public service in the state of West Bengal.

Contents

WBCS Exams

Exam PhasePaperTimeSubjectQuestion TypeTotal Marks
Preliminary Exams1 paper (qualifying)2½ hrs.General Studies (8 topics including Reasoning), English language, History, Geography, Current Affairs, General Knowledge, General Science and Indian Polity and Economy MCQ200
Main ExamsPaper I3 hrs.Bengali / Hindi / Urdu / Nepali/SantaliDescriptive200
Paper IIEnglish200
Paper IIIGeneral Studies-I : History & GeographyMCQ200
Paper IVGeneral Studies-II : Science & Technology, Environment, G.K and Current Affairs200
Paper VThe Constitution of India & Indian Economy200
Paper VIArithmetic and Test of Reasoning200
Paper VIIOptional Subject Paper I [1] Descriptive200
Paper VIIIOptional Subject Paper II200
Total Marks1600 [2]
  • 1 Only one optional subject is to be taken from the prescribed list.
  • Optional paper is only for those candidates who opted for Group A & B
  • 2 Total marks are 1200 in case of Group C and D candidates
Personality Tests
Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
200 Marks150 Marks100 Marks

Usually, form fill-up (through online mode only) begins for the exam in November. The preliminary Exam is generally held in the last week of January or the first week of February in different cities of West Bengal. Post the publication of preliminary results, Mains Exams are held in June–July in some selected centers of Kolkata and at the office of WBPSC. The candidates who passed in Mains are called for the Personality test. Finally, a selection list of Group A & Group B is initially issued by PSC consisting of the names of qualified candidates from the Mains Exams and Personality test. Then, after a few months, a Personality test for Group C is conducted and the selection list is published. At last, a Personality test for Group D services is conducted and then the selection list is published. The process of recruiting Group A & B officers takes almost one and a half years, while it takes two to two and a half years for Group C and Group D respectively.

Recruitment

There are different groups in the recruitment of such examination based on choice and merit of scored number. These are Group A, Group B (only for West Bengal Police Service ), Group C [6] and Group D. The WBCS (Exe) officers belong to Group A. In general, As per the record of the WBPSC, the candidates with higher scores opt for WBCS (Exe), WBPS, and some allied services like erstwhile WBCTS, etc. as their first choice. Since 1988 some of the top-ranked candidates have opted for an allied service called WB Commercial Tax Service (WBCTS) as their first choice due to the less strenuous nature of the service and the lure of metro posting. Mostly WBCS (Exe) & WBCTS(now WBRS) cadres along with WBA&AS cadre are promoted to IAS after around 27 years of service and WBPS officers to IPS after 13-15 years of service in state police service. [7]

Functions

The WBCS (Exe) officers are usually appointed as deputy magistrates or deputy collectors on probation and after completion of two years of mandatory administrative training under the tutelage of Administrative Training Institute, start their career as Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector and Block Development (B.D.O.) Officers. They also pass orders in Executive Magistrate Court and execute some sections of Criminal Procedure Code. The officers of the cadre perform key administrative functions at different levels of various departments of the state. The highest position WBCS (Exe) officers can attain is that of Departmental Secretary. Three posts of district magistrate in the State of West Bengal are reserved for these officers. WBCS (Exe) officers may also be nominated at a later stage in their career to become Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers. [8]

In 2017, West Bengal government merged four departments associated with revenue to form a single department West Bengal Revenue Service (WBRS) to improve better service to the taxpayers. The four departments are West Bengal Commercial Tax Service, West Bengal Excise Service, West Bengal Agricultural Income Tax Service and West Bengal Registration and Stamp Revenue Service. The cadre management of the West Bengal Revenue Service is done by the Finance Department. The officers are initially appointed as Assistant commissioner of Revenue and then promoted to Deputy commissioner of Revenue, Joint Commissioner of Revenue, Senior Joint Commissioner of Revenue, Additional Commissioner of Revenue and Special Commissioner of Revenue. Like the WBCS(Exe) cadre, WBRS officers also get a chance to be promoted to Indian Administrative Service cadre at a later phase of their career.

WBRS officers play a pivotal role in revenue collection, administration and mobilisation in the state. Many aspirants select WBRS as their first service preference over WBCS(Exe) and WBPS due to better work life balance, urban posting and less political interference leading to comfortable work culture. WBRS officers can be posted as Assistant commissioner in Commercial tax department, or as Deputy Excise Collector in Excise Directorate or as an Additional District Sub-Registrar in Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue. Officers recruited at a young age can get promoted up to Commissioner rank which is an IAS cadre post.

WBRS officers, as Assistant commissioner of Revenue are tasked with collection of State GST and prevent tax evasion through search and raids; as Deputy Excise Collector, they are tasked with collection of Excise duty on alcoholic drinks and take preventive measures against illicit sources of drugs through regulatory and enforcement actions; and as ADSR they are tasked with registration and valuation of immovable properties during sale or purchase and collect Stamp duty and Registration fee.

WBCoS officers are initially posted as Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (ARCS).

WBLS officers are initially posted as Assistant Labour Commissioner (ALC).

WBF&SS officers are initially posted as Sub-divisional Controller of Food and Supplies (SCFS).

WBES officers are initially posted as Employment Officer (EO).

WBPS officers are initially posted as Deputy superintendent of police (DySP) or Assistant commissioner of police (ACP).

Services

Services are allotted in four groups, which are as follows: [9]

Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D

See also

Notes

  1. Post GST implementation, the services like Commercial Tax Service (CTS), Agricultural Income Tax Service, Excise Service and Registration and Stamp Revenue Service were merged into one service.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Customs and Excise</span> Former British government department

HM Customs and Excise was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the collection of customs duties, excise duties, and other indirect taxes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District magistrate</span> Executive head of an Indian district

The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territory. Each of these posts has distinct responsibilities, and an officer can assume all of these roles at once. The district magistrate is primarily responsible for maintaining law and order, while the district collector focuses on revenue administration, and the deputy commissioner is in charge of overseeing developmental activities and coordinates government departments. Additionally, they also serve as election officers, registrar, marriage officer, licensing authority, and managing disaster responses, among other things. While the specific scope of duties may vary from state to state, they are generally similar. The district magistrate comes under the general supervision of divisional commissioner.

The All India Services (AIS) comprises three Civil Services of India common to the centre and state governments, which includes the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), and the Indian Forest Service (IFS). Civil servants recruited through All India Services by the central government are assigned to different state government cadres. Some civil servants may, later in their career, also serve the centre on deputation. Officers of these three services comply to the All India Services Rules relating to pay, conduct, leave, various allowances etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sub-divisional magistrate</span> Chief officer of a sub-division in India

A sub-divisional magistrate, also known as assistant collector, sub collector, assistant commissioner, sub-divisional officer (civil), or revenue divisional officer, is an administrative officer of a sub-division within an Indian district, exercising executive, revenue, and magisterial duties. The specific name depends on the state or union territory. Their primary responsibilities include revenue collection, maintaining law and order, overseeing developmental activities and coordinating various departments within a sub-division.

A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Bengal Police</span> Indian state police force

The West Bengal Police is one of the two police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. The other being the Kolkata Police, which has a separate jurisdiction across Kolkata.

In Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, a tehsildar, talukdar, or mamlatdar is a land revenue officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relevant tehsil. The immediate subordinate of a tehsildar is known as a naib tehsildar.

Rajasthan Administrative Service, popularly known as RAS, is a state civil service of state Rajasthan along with Rajasthan Accounts Service, Rajasthan Police Service and other services. The officers are included in the state cadre of civil service officers. RAS officers undergo two years training at HCM Rajasthan State Institute of Public Administration. Cadre controlling authority for this service is Department of Personnel, Government of Rajasthan. The head of this service is Chief Secretary.

Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) is the civil service of Karnataka state in India. The Public Service Commission conducts exams to recruit candidates for the service. These young officers recruited by KPSC take up various administrative posts at the district and state level. At the start they play the role of Sub Divisional Magistrate and, on promotion, Additional District Magistrates. After promotion to IAS, they take up various key positions at the district level as Deputy Commissioners and also equivalent IAS cadre jobs at the state level.

In India, the Civil Service is the collection of civil servants of the government who constitute the permanent executive branch of the country. This includes servants in the All India Services, the Central Civil Services, and various State Civil Services.

The State Police Services (SPS) is an umbrella term for police services under different state governments in India. In India, police is a state subject and each state has its own police service. For example, Maharashtra Police Service (MPS) for Maharashtra Police or Provincial Police Service (PPS) for Uttar Pradesh Police. It's counterpart in the central government is the Indian Police Service (IPS), which is a higher civil service. Recruitments are done through the respective state's Public Service Commission (PSC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil Nadu Civil Service</span>

The Tamil Nadu Civil Service is the state administrative civil service cadre in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is now known as Tamil Nadu Administrative Service (TNAS). Recruitment for the service is based on the results of an annual combined competitive examination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. K. Ravi</span> Indian civil servant (1979–2015)

Doddakoppalu Kariyappa Ravi was an Indian Administrative Service officer of Karnataka cadre, from the 2008 batch. He first came into limelight as a deputy commissioner of the Kolar district, after launching an official crackdown against the encroachment of government lands and rampant illegal sand mining in the district. Following fourteen months of service, he was transferred to Bangalore by the government of Karnataka as Additional Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Enforcement) in October 2014. After his five months' tenure as additional commissioner which involved tax raids on major tax-evading real estate firms, he was found dead at his residence in Bangalore on 16 March 2015, under suspicious circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provincial Civil Service (Uttar Pradesh)</span> Administrative civil service under the State government of Uttar Pradesh

Provincial Civil Service of Uttar Pradesh (IAST: Prāntīya Civil Sevā, often abbreviated to as PCS, is the administrative civil service of the Government of Uttar Pradesh comprising Group A and Group B posts. It is also the feeder service for Indian Administrative Service in the state.

Valluri Kameswara Rao was an Indian Civil Service officer and Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, and the oldest living officer of the Indian Civil Service at the time of his death. He served in the civil service of the British Raj as a collector and magistrate. After Independence Rao joined the Indian government's finance department and transferred into the newly founded Indian Administrative Service. He transferred to Andhra State after it was founded in 1953. After the founding of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 Rao became that state's first secretary of public works. He later served the central government on the Planning Commission before returning to Andhra Pradesh as its chief secretary. Rao was principal secretary to the President of India Neelam Sanjiva Reddy from 1981 to 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Revenue Service (Custom & Indirect Taxes)</span> Central Civil Service under Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs

The Indian Revenue Service , often abbreviated to IRS (Customs&CentralExcise) or IRS (Customs&IndirectTaxes), now called IRS(Customs&GST) is a part of central civil service of the Government of India. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance and is under the administrative direction of the Revenue Secretary and the ministerial command of the Minister of Finance. The IRS is primarily responsible for collecting and administering indirect taxes accruing to the Government of India. It is one of the largest civil service amongst the organised civil services in the Indian government and serves the nation through discharging sovereign functions of collection of revenue for development, security and governance.

The Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service is the administrative civil service of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The officers for this post are recruited by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission through an exam which is known as JKAS examination. The statewide combined competitive examination is conducted for recruitment of various state civil service. While the Jammu and Kashmir Accounts Service is a civil service responsible for overseeing the Financial Administration and Management of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Its primary responsibility is safeguarding the state's exchequer and public funds. Officers for this role are selected through the JKAS examination conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission. "

Bangla Pokkho is a pro-Bengali advocacy organization that focuses on rights for Bengalis in the Republic of India based on Bengali nationalism, and works against the Hindustani cultural and linguistic imperialism and forced domination of Hindi–Urdu speakers in West Bengal. It is organized along linguistic lines and aimed at protecting Bengali culture. It uses the Bengali slogan [Joy Bangla].

Assistant commissioner is a rank used in revenue administrations, including those of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

West Bengal Revenue Service (WBRS) is one of the Group A services under West Bengal Civil Services, recruited through a competitive examination conducted by West Bengal Public Service Commission. The service was created in 2017 merging four erstwhile services concerning revenue matter and revenue collection.It functions under the Revenue Branch and overall administrative control of Department of Finance.

References

  1. About PSC, West Bengal psc.wb.gov.in
  2. "Situation of country grim, politics of isolation not correct, says Mamata". www.millenniumpost.in. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  3. "WBCS officers list as on 01-09-2019" (PDF), Government of West Bengal
  4. "Gradation List of WBPS Officers (as on 01.05.2021)" (PDF). wbpolice.gov.in. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  5. "IAS officer Bhagwati Prasad Gopalika takes charge as Bengal Chief Secretary". India Today. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  6. "WBCS (Gr-C) new appointee of 2018", PSCWB
  7. "Groups of Services of WBCS". WBCSMadeEasy. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  8. "WB CM announces incentives for WBCS officers". All India Trinamool Congress. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  9. "WBCS Job Profile". Edufever Jobs. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.