The Indian Information Service (IIS) ( hi, भारतीय सूचना सेवा) is the central

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

under Group A and Group B of the

Central Civil Services The Central Civil Services (CCS) is part of Civil Services of India and are concerned directly with the union non-political executive administration and is the permanent Executive body of the federal Government of India. Most of the specialized fiel ...

of the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. Indian Information Service officers are the media managers of the

. They act as a vital communication link between the Government and the people by way of disseminating information and communicating various Government policies and schemes to the public at large; and also collecting and providing valuable feedback to the Government for policy formulation. Most IIS officers work in various media units which are under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting such as DD News,

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

Press Information Bureau The Press Information Bureau, commonly abbreviated as PIB, is a nodal agency of the Government of India under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Based in National Media Centre, New Delhi, Press Information Bureau disseminates informatio ...

DAVP The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) is the nodal agency of the Government of India for advertising by various Ministries and organisations of Government of India, including public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies. A ...

etc. During their tenure in

, they are posted with various Ministries as spokespersons to handle the Ministry's information and communication needs and help in policy formulation. IIS officers are also posted as spokespersons to various constitutional bodies such as

Comptroller and Auditor General of India The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the supreme audit institution of India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. They are empowered to audit all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the S ...

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...

and statutory bodies such as

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

. Besides postings all over India, an IIS officer also gets posted to a few foreign assignments under Prasar Bharathi.

History

Indian Information Service (IIS) was established as an organized central service named Central Information Service (CIS) on 1 March 1960. Prior to 1960, these posts were manned by officers recruited separately by each media unit. In 1987, CIS was bifurcated into IIS Group 'A' and IIS Group 'B'.

Recruitment

IIS Group-A officers are selected through two modes, # Direct recruitment through

Civil Services Examination The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a national competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Se ...

conducted by the

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exami ...

for recruitment to the various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

(IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...

(IPS) among others. # And also through promotion to IIS Group-A from the Senior Grade officers of IIS Group-B.

Privatisation

With the exponential increase of private electronic and print media, and with the universal access to social media, the role of IIS officers has sharply shrunk in the recent years. The IIS officers have also not been able to keep abreast with the competition. The government is currently considering privatising the broadcasting in India.

Training

After the officers are allocated the Service depending on their rank and preferences in the

, they undergo a three months Foundation Course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration Mussoorie. This is followed by nine months of professional training at Indian Institute of Mass Communication,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. During the training period there is also a 3-week training module for IIS Officer Trainees at

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

Pune. Thereafter, an IIS Probationer undergoes one year On-Job-Training, during which he/she is attached to various media units under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting such as- *

* DD News *

Registrar of Newspapers for India Office of the Registrar of the Newspapers for India (official name), more popularly known as Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), is a Government of India statutory body of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the registration of ...

Publications Division To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

* Directorate of Field Publicity * New Media Wing of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting * Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity *

Electronic Media Monitoring Centre Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) is a subordinate office under the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting tasked to monitor content of television channels and report on violations of the programme and advertising code. History ...

Career progression

After successful completion of the two years of probation, an IIS officer is posted to a media unit depending on the vacancy and requirement. During the various roles of his or her career, in Directorate hierarchy, an IIS officer progresses through following designations in ascending order of seniority- * Assistant Director ( JTS - Junior Time Scale) * Deputy Director (STS - Senior Time Scale) * Joint Director ( JAG - Junior Administrative Grade) level of Deputy Secretary to

* Director ( Selection Grade) * Additional Director General ( SAG - Senior Administrative Grade) level of Joint secretary to the Government of India * Director General (HAG - Higher Administrative Grade) level of

Additional secretary to the Government of India Additional Secretary (often abbreviated as AS, GoI or Union Additional Secretary or Additional Secretary to Government of India) is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for creation of thi ...

* Principal Director General Higher Administrative Grade +) level of Special secretary to the Government of India

Work profile

By its very nature of handling the information and communication, the Service enjoys a great diversity in its nature of work and responsibilities. The Ministry of I&B lists the functions of an IIS officer in its official mandate as- * To plan and execute the media strategy to provide publicity to various programmes/schemes of the Government for the welfare of the people across the country. * Organisation of press conferences and visual publicity campaigns for disseminating information to the people on the various activities and policies of the

through various tools of mass communication. * Control, supervision and guidance to News Services units of

and DD News including regional news units. * To look after administration and coordination work of PIB headquarters and day to day publicity works of the Government. * To guide, supervise and control the field publicity units of the Central Government spread across the country and to issue timely directions for effective monitoring and evaluation of field units. * To monitor the complex legal issues involved in the verification of titles, registration and circulation for Newspapers in India.

References

{{Public Services of India Civil Services of India Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)