IRS over IAS?
SOMETIME back a senior IRS Officer (customs) wrote to me,
Barring one or two Officers, nobody has preferred I.R.S. over I.A.S. And you must remember that around 1000 plus officers have joined I.R.S. in the last 20 years. One or Two officers can have personal reasons or choice.
By the Way, one or two officers have also preferred I.P.S. over I.A.S., purely due to personal reasons or personal choice.
I.P.S. is a different type of Service, with very different job profile. Since 1960s, there have been large number of officers who have not opted for I.P.S. and have opted for I.R.S. and I.A.A.S.
And the fact is that the kind of career profile, variety of assignments, perks, absolute supremacy that I.A.S. enjoys in Districts, State Capitals, New Delhi - no other Service can ever come near it.
He added,
My mail was only conveying the agony of all I.R.S. Officers - or should I say double jeopardy-
* of NOT getting a Civil Services Rank to get into I.A.S. and thereby not being able to join the 'Brahmins' of Civil Services in this lifetime (Civil Services in India too have a caste system as you know - one can only be born into a Service, and after that no amount of sincerity and integrity can change the destiny): and
** then being told that you chose to be born in a non-brahmin caste as you wanted to take bribes!
This was in the context that UPSC selected candidates are preferring IRS to IAS - to make money.