ALL INDIA SERVICES
Prior to Independence, the Indian Civil Service (ICS) was the senior most amongst the Services of the Crown in India. Besides the ICS, there was also the Indian Police Service. After Independence, it was felt that though the ICS was a legacy of the imperial period, there was need for the All India Services for maintaining the unity, integrity and stability of the nation. Accordingly, a provision was made in Article 312 of the Constitution for creation of one or more All India Services common to the Union and State. The Indian Administrative Service and The Indian Police Service are deemed to be constituted by the Parliament in terms of Article 312 of the Constitution. After the promulgation of the Constitution, a new All India Service, namely, The Indian Forest Service, was created in 1966. A common unique feature of the All India Services is that the members of these services are recruited by the Centre, but their services are placed under various State cadres, and they have the liability to serve both under the State and under the Centre. This aspect of the All India Services strengthens the unitary character of the Indian federation. Of the three All India Services, namely, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), and the Indian Forest Service (IFS), the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is the cadre controlling authority for the IAS. The recruitment to all the three services is made by the UPSC. These officers are recruited and trained by the Central Government, and then allotted to different t State cadres. There are now 24 State cadres including three Joint cadres, namely, (i) Assam and Meghalaya, (ii) Manipur and Tripura, and (iii) Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and the Union Territories (AGMUT).

CENTRAL SECRETARIAT SERVICES
The Central Secretariat has three services, namely, (i) Central Secretariat Service (CSS), (ii) Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service (CSSS) and (iii) the Central Secretariat Clerical Service (CSCS). The grades of Selection Grade and Grade I of CSS and as well as the Senior Principal Private Secretary and Principal Private Secretary of CSSS are centralised. The Section Officers Grade and Assistants Grade of the CSS, Steno Grade 'D', 'C', 'A' and 'B' (merged) of CSS and LDS & UDC are decentralised. The grade-wise cadre strength of these services as on 30 June, 2007 was as under:

Service	CSS Grade	CSSS No. of Post	CSCS Grade	No. of Post	Grade	No. of Post
1.	Sr. Selection Grade (Group 'A' Gazetted)	110	-	-	-	-
2.	Selection Grade (Group 'A' Gazetted)	330	Sr. PPS (Group 'A' Gazetted)	68	-	-
3.	Grade-I (Group 'A' Gazetted)	1405	PPS (Group 'A' Gazetted)	182	-	-
4.	Selection Officer (Group 'B' Gazetted)	3000	PS (A&B) (Group 'B' Gazetted)	1598	-	-
5.	Assistant (Group 'B' Non Gazetted)	4905	Grade "C"/PA (Group 'B' Non Gazetted)	2793	-	-
6.	-	-	Grade 'D' Grade 'C' (Non-Gazetted )	1958	UDC/LDC (Group 'C' Non- Gazetted)	9115
Total	-	9750		6599		9115

Appointments and promotions in the Centralised Grades are made on all secretariat basis by Department of Personnel and Training (DOP&T). In respect of the decentralised grades, DOP&T monitors and assesses the overall requirements of different cadres for fixing zones of promotion against the vacancies in seniority quota and arranges centralised requirement against direct recruitment and departments examinations quota vacancies through open competitive and departmental examinations.

Pursuant to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, the Government set-up a Committee on the Cadre Restructuring of CSS in February 2001. The committee submitted its Report in February 2002 and made several recommendations. The Government after careful considerations has taken several decisions in October 2003 for improving the career prospects of the CSS personnel and many of these recommendations have either been implemented, or are in various stages of implementation.

The Government had also constituted a 'Group of Officers' on Cadre Structure of the Central Secretariat Stenographers' Service (CSSS), which submitted its Report in February 2004. After considering the recommendations of the Group of Officers, the Government has taken several decisions on Cadre Structure of CSSS, for improving the career prospects of the CSSS personnel. Necessary executive orders for operationalisation of almost all the decisions have been issued.

UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (UPSC)
The Constitution provides for an independent body known as Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to Group ‘A' and Group ‘B' Gazetted posts under Central Government, and for advice in various service matters. The Chairman and members of the Commission are appointed by the President for tenure of six years, or till they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. To ensure independence, members who were at the service of Government at the time of appointment are deemed to have retired from Government service on their appointment in the Commission. The Chairman and members are also not eligible for further employment under the Government. They cannot be removed except for the reasons and in the manner provided for in the Constitution.

STAFF SELECTION COMMISSION (SSC)
Staff Selection Commission, initially known as Subordinate Services Commission, was set up on 1 July 1976. It has been entrusted with the work of making recruitment to (i) all non-gazetted Group 'B' posts in the various Ministries/Departments of the Government and their Attached and Subordinate Offices, which are in the pay scales of Rs 6,500-10,500, and (ii) all non-technical Group 'C' posts in the various Ministries/Departments of the Government and their Attached and Subordinate Offices, except those posts which are specifically exempted from the purview of the Staff Selection Commission. The Commission is an attached office of the Department of Personnel and Training, and comprises of a Chairman, two Members and Secretary-cum-Controller of Examinations. The tenure of Chairman/Members is for five years or till they attain the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier. The Commission's headquarters and the office of its Northern Region are in New Delhi. The offices of Central, Western, Eastern, North-Eastern, Southern, and Karnataka-Kerala region are at Allahabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, and Bangalore respectively. Its sub-regional offices of Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh region and North-Western region are at Raipur and Chandigarh respectively.