Academic Qualification, Positions Offered & Job Posts
The full form of PCS is the Provincial Civil Service. PCS is generally a state-level civil service under Group A and Group B of the state service of the executive branch of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. This is a state civil service which is a multi-layered exam to select its employees. This is conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC). The notification about PCS is announced as Combined State / Upper Subordinate Services Examination.
Academic Qualification for PCS:
The PCS candidates must possess a Bachelor's Degree of any recognised University or equivalent qualification.
The minimum age for the candidates is 21 years, and the maximum age is 40 years.
The eligibility for the PCS exam also needs Physical Measurements/Fitness for certain posts as candidates have to undergo certain medical tests following the interview. The posts that need these physical measurement exams are - Assistant Conservator of Forest, Range Forest Officer, Dy. Superintendent of Police, Superintendent of Jail, District Commandant Home Guards, Excise Inspector.
What is Provincial Civil Service
PCS is often the abbreviation of Provincial Civil Service. It is an administrative civil service under Group A state service of the executive branch of the Government of Uttar Pradesh state. It is also known as the feeder service for Indian Administrative Service in the particular state.
Looking into the divisional level, PCS officers are often posted as additional divisional commissioners of the state. Most divisions commonly have two to three such posts, the most popular of them are the Additional Commissioner (Development), Additional Commissioner (Revenue), and Additional Commissioner (Executive) level.
It is the duty of a PCS officer to collect land revenue and function as the court itself in matters of revenue and crime to prevent any criminal offense happening around the state, to maintain law and order, to implement Union and State Government policies in order to enable strict regulations to be followed by the common people.
A PCS officer will also have to handle and deal with the administration and daily proceedings of the government taking the place of the court, including formulation and implementation of policy in consultation with the specific Minister-in-charge, additional chief secretary/principal secretary, and secretary of the concerned department of any state.
Positions offered after PCS/ Provincial Civil Service:
In the year of 2017, UPPSC announced 251 vacancies when they released the exam notification. Later the number 251 was increased to 677 posts later. You can check the job posts for your convenience given in the following.
Job Posts:
Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Block Development Officer, Assistant Regional Transport Officer, Assistant Commissioner (Commercial Tax), District Commandant Homeguards, Treasury Officer/Accounts Officer (Treasury), Cane Inspector and Assistant Sugar Commissioner, Superintendent Jail, Manager Credit (Small Industries), Manager Marketing and Economic Survey (Small Industries), Executive Officer Grade-I/Assistant Nagar Ayukta, District Basic Education Officer/Associate DIOS & other equivalent Administrative Posts, Assistant Director Industries (Marketing), Assistant Labour Commissioner, Senior Lecturer DIET, Designated Officer, Assistant Commissioner Industries, Statistical Officer, Assistant Accounts Officer (Treasury), Commercial Tax Officer, District Minority Welfare Officer, District Food Marketing Officer, Executive Officer (Panchayati Raj), Deputy Secretary (Housing and Urban Planning), Area Rationing Officer, District Backward Welfare Officer, Naib Tehsildar, District Saving Officer, district Panchayat Raj Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, Executive Officer (Nagar Vikas), Accounts Officer (Nagar Vikas), District Supply Officer Grade-2, Additional District Development Officer (Social Welfare), Passenger/Goods Tax Officer, District Handicapped Welfare Officer, Assistant Employment Officer, Accounts Officer (Local Bodies), Regional Employment Officer, Assistant Registrar (Cooperative), Sub Registrar, Assistant Prosecuting Officer (Transport), District Probation Officer, District Horticulture Officer Grade-2, District Horticulture Officer Grade-1 and Superintendent Govt. Garden, District Horticulture Officer, District Cane Officer, U.P. Agriculture Service Group-"B" (Development Branch), District Administrative Officer, District Audit Officer (Revenue Audit), Assistant Controller Legal Measurement (Grade-1), District Programme Officer, District Youth Welfare and Pradeshik Vikas Dal Officer.
Difference between IAS and PCS Officers
Often IAS and PCS officers are confused and their duties seem to resemble the same but they are different. IAS officers are appointed by the President of India but they work under the State Government whose cadre is allocated to them according to the prevailing conditions. PCS officers are appointed by the Governor of the State directly so they are under the total control of the State Government. An IAS officer has a greater weightage over a PCS officer in terms of salary, functions, powers, and operations because an IAS officer is posted to take care of operations all over India while a PCS officer is posted within its respective state cadres to look over his own state alone.
FAQs on PCS Full Form
1. What is the basic academic qualification to apply for a PCS officer?
Being a 12th passed student you will not be eligible to appear in the PCS examinations as the minimum educational qualification required for the same is a bachelor's degree course with any discipline from any recognized University or any other equivalent qualification. But you can very well start preparing for the role from any age if that is your ambition. The minimum age for the candidates to apply for a PCS role is 21 years, and the maximum age is said to be 40 years.
2. Does UPSC and PCS syllabus have the same concepts to prepare?
While IAS can get control of central deputation, State PCS officers are mainly confined to the control of state deputation. And there is also a difference between the IAS and PCS syllabus, which is, while State PCS exams have some particular state-specific syllabus, the Civil Service exam's syllabus is generic and encompasses a wide range of all India-related knowledge. Any exam should be prepared well by understanding the entire concept and working really hard towards clearing them. These exams can be your life-changing ones if prepared and written well.
3. How many papers are there in the PCS exams?
The main final exam of PCS is subjective in nature and consists of 8 papers in total. The subjects asked in the exam include General Hindi Paper, Essay Paper, General Studies Paper (4), and Optional Paper (2). The students should prepare for every subject carefully by learning the entire concept and getting ready for final exams even months. This will help you save excess time for some repetitive revision processes.
4. What are the posts offered under the PCS position?
PCS officers often hold various posts at sub-divisional, district, divisional, and state-level from planning and conducting revenue administration, introducing new conditions in the state, and the most important one is the maintenance of law and order. Thus a PCS position needs to get prepared for yourself in varied angles of duties. You should be fully aware of what is happening all around the state and take necessary steps legally whenever required.
5. Where can we find the entire PCS syllabus?
We can easily find the syllabus concepts with solutions on the Vedantu website along with many past years' question papers and other sample question papers. This will help you study what is important and learn how the marking schemes are actually working and what you could do to score really well. Keep practicing the concepts and prepare revision notes with all current trends and important concepts that are happening daily because they might appear in your exams as well.
6. What kind of Positions a PCS Officer can hold after Passing the Examination?
A PCS officer may hold various posts at district, divisional, sub-divisional, and state-level ranging from conducting revenue administration and maintenance of law and order. Some of the posts that candidates might be offered are Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Block Development Officer, Deputy Secretary (Housing and Urban Planning), Area Rationing Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, Executive Officer (Nagar Vikas), District Probation Officer, District Horticulture Officer Grade-2, District Horticulture Officer Grade-1 and Superintendent Govt. Garden, District Programme Officer, District Youth Welfare and Pradeshik Vikas Dal Officer etc.
7. What is the pay scale for the PCS Officer after clearing the State Level Examination?
Candidates who are eligible for PCS level jobs carry the pay scale of Rs. 9300-34800 (Grade Pay Rs 4200) to Rs 15600-39100 (Grade Pay 5400).