The Indian Police Service or IPS is one of the 3 All India Services of the Government of India. The IPS was formed in the year 1948. The cadre controlling authority for the IPS is the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Indian Police Service examination is a part of the Civil Services Examination which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission each year.

IAS is the permanent bureaucracy in India and forms a part of the executive branch. It is one of the three All India Services, its cadre can be employed by both the Union Government, the State Governments and public-sector undertakings.

IPS Officer

An IPS (Indian Police Service) officer carries out his/her responsibilities by safeguarding public. The IPS gives more importance to law and order, which, at the district level, is a collective responsibility of IPS and IAS officers; detecting and preventing crime; and traffic control and accident prevention and management.

Branches in IPS

In order to fulfil these functions efficiently, responsibly and systematically, the IPS service is divided into various functional departments such as Crime Branch, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Home Guards, Traffic Bureau.

Eligibility Criteria:

Physical Criteria:

The physical criteria for eligibility of the IPS officer is as follows:

* Minimum Height - Men - 165cm Women - 150cm Relaxable minimum height is 160cm (men) and 145cm (women) for candidates belonging to ST and races such as Gorkhas, Garhwalias, Assamese, Kumaonis, Nagaland Tribals, etc.

* Minimum Chest Girth - Men/Women: 84cm 79cm

*Myopia (including cylinder) should not exceed minus 4.00D

*Hypermyopia (including cylinder) should not exceed plus 4.00D

*The presence of Squint is a disqualification

*Spectacles are permitted.

*Distant vision for better eye(Corrected Vision) should be 6/6 or 6/9.

*Distant vision for the worse eye(Uncorrected Vision) should be 6/12 or 6/9

*Near vision should be J1 and J2 respectively

*High grade color vision is required and Binocular vision is needed

Nationality:

*Nationality of a candidate must be either of the following:

*Citizen of India.

*Subject of Nepal

*Subject of Bhutan

*A Tibetan refugee who came to India before January 1, 1962 for permanent settlement in India.

*Migrant from any of the following countries for permanently settling in India: Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam

Educational Qualification:

*A candidate must hold a Bachelor's degree from any of the universities recognised by the UGC or possess an equivalent qualification.

Age Limit:

Candidate should fulfill the age limits mentioned below:

*Minimum age 21 years

* Maximum age 30 years as on 1st of August in the year of examination.

Relaxable age limit is as follows:

*Upto max. 5 years for SC/ST candidates.

*Upto max. 3 years for OBC candidates.

*Upto max. 5 years for candidate from the State of Jammu & Kashmir

*Upto max. 5 years for Defence Services personnel

* Upto max. 5 years for Ex-servicemen including Commissioned officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least 5 years Military Service and have been released.

*Upto max. 5 years for ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of 5 years of Military Service.

*Upto max. 10 years for Blind, deaf-mute and Orthopaedically handicapped persons

Number of Attempts:

The number of attempts restriction to appaer for the exam is as follows:

*For General category candidates: 4 attempts.

*Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Candidates (SC/ST): No Limits

*Other Backward Classes (OBC): 7 attempts

Roles & Responsibilities:

*To fulfill duties based on border responsibilities, in the areas of maintenance of public peace and order, crime prevention, investigation, and finding, collecting of intelligence reports, taking care of VIP security, counter-terrorism, border patroling, railway policing, working towards preventing smuggling, drug trafficking, economic offences, corruption, playing a key role in disaster management, enforcement of socio-economic legislation, bio-diversity and defending of environmental laws etc.

*Exchanging information with the Indian Intelligence Agencies like R&AW, IB, CID, CBI

*Leading the Central Armed Police Force (CRPF) and being in touch with them on a regular basis

*Interact and coordinate with the Indian Revenue services (IRS), Indian Armed forces, primarily with the Indian Army

*Serve the people of the country with full integrity, honesty and whole hearted dedication.