UPSC Rank No Guarantee For Preferred Cadre, Even For Toppers

Even among those who qualify, only 200-250 of them are selected for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Forest Service (IFoS). Then, they are allocated to 24 different cadres representing a state or a group of states.

After Cracking UPSC: First, The Basics

UPSC officials say that merely qualifying doesn’t guarantee an automatic title of a government officer. First, they have to undergo a training process, after which they qualify as a government officer. This is when they are allocated a cadre, the officials noted.

The word 'cadre' means a small group of people with a particular characteristic that binds them together. In the case of the UPSC, it stands for the government of a state, a group of states, or Union Territories. 

The officials said that while the core criteria for allocating cadre are merit list rank, preferences, and available vacancies, at times even toppers fail to get their preferred cadre or home state on account of inadequate vacancy, citing the example of 2015 UPSC topper Tina Dabi, who gave Haryana as her first choice, but was allocated the Rajasthan cadre. 

The officials added that candidates submit a preference list of states/cadres. If a candidate’s top choices are unavailable, they may be allocated a state further down their list, even if they had topped the exam.

Next, Cadre Allocation

The UPSC allocates cadres based on a combination of merit, vacancies in each state, and reservation quotas (SC, ST & OBC). “If the vacancies in a topper’s preferred state are already filled by candidates with higher priority, based on a specific quota, they may not get their first choice,” a senior government functionary said.

The process of allocating cadre involves several steps, as the country’s states are divided into 24 distinct cadres, except three joint cadres: Assam-Meghalaya, Tripura-Sikkim, and AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories).

Vacancies within each cadre are categorised as General, OBC, or SC/ST, and further divided between insiders and outsiders using a 30-point roster system.  

The “insider-outsider” policy in cadre allocation means that a certain number of positions in each state are reserved for candidates from that state, while other vacancies are allocated to candidates from outside that state. If there are more insiders than outsiders, it can affect the chances of even high-ranking candidates from the state.

This means candidates who can be allocated to fill the insider vacancies available in their category get first choice. For this, a list of candidates, their state of origin, and their willingness to serve in these, is prepared.

The All India Service Cadres

The cadres are grouped into five categories — Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, and Group 5 — comprising specific states and joint cadres. Group 1 comprises AGMUT, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, Group 2 has Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, Group 3 has Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Group 4 has West Bengal, Assam-Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura-Sikkim, while Group 5 has Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Candidates are required to express their preferences by choosing cadres from each zone in descending order at the time of filling up the forms in the second stage of the examinations, as allocations are then made on the basis of these preferences by the UPSC.

The officials said that if a candidate has not indicated a preference, it is presumed that they don't have a specific choice and are allocated a cadre based on available vacancies. 

The entire process of allocating cadres is based on the goal of achieving three objectives: National integration, rationalising of vacancies according to All India Service officers’ cadre strength, and increasing efficiency of the administration by redistributing officers from surplus states to deficit states.