UPSC Indian Forest Services Recruitment 2024 Out, Apply Online for 150 vacancies

Indian Forest Service (IFoS) is a prestigious service for which UPSC conducts recruitment through the UPSC IFoS exam, On 24 February 2024 UPSC released the official notification announcing the exam for 2024, following which the prelims was successfully conducted and now the mains exam is scheduled for 24 November 2024. In this article, you can read all about the Indian Forest Service Exam date, application form, eligibility, vacancy, syllabus, selection process and exam pattern.

Indian Forest Service Overview

The Indian Forest Service (IFoS) is one of the three All-India Services of the Union Government. The service dates back to 1864 when it was established as the Imperial Forest Service under the British Raj but was converted in the present form in 1966.

The main responsibilities of the Indian Forest Service Officer include;

• Forest Conservation
• Wildlife Protection
• Law enforcement
• Sustainable development
• Community engagement

Indian Forest Service Exam Date

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) released a notification for recruiting 150 candidates for the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) in February 2024. The recruitment process involves multiple stages, first stage i.e. the Preliminary Examination, already completed. Candidates who qualified in the prelims will now appear for mains exam, the mains examination, scheduled for 24 November 2024. This stage is crucial as it will determine who progresses to the final interview round, also note that the mains marks will be considered for final merit list along with the interview marks.

IFoS Exam Important Dates

Below we have shared Highlights for IFoS exam

UPSC IFoS Application Form

UPSC IFoS examination is conducted by UPSC for which the application forms were made available in February, last date for submitting the application form was 5 March 2024, now that the prelims exam has been successfully conducted and results have been declared UPSC has opened the window to submit Detailed Application Form (DAF) on 27 August 2024 and will remain open till 5th September 2024, candidates can find the DAF notice by UPSC below

Download UPSC IFoS DAF Notice

How to apply for Indian Forest Services 2024?

Applicants must first register on the One Time Registration (OTR) platform, accessible on the official website of UPSC i.e. https://upsc.gov.in/.

The OTR registration is a one-time process. Candidates can fill the form directly if they have already completed OTR. Below we have mentioned steps for UPSC One Time Registration

1. Visit the official UPSC website https://upsc.gov.in/
2. Navigate the Home page and search for OTR option
3. Click on OTR login and enter your details
4.  Upload your documents in next stage
5. Click on Submit button to submit your details
6. Keep the id generated and password generated with you for future reference.

UPSC IFoS Eligibility 2024

Before kick starting the preparations for the UPSC IFoS exam, candidates must check their eligibility for the exam as it is mandatory to fulfill the eligibility criteria in order to be appointed as IFoS officer, we have mentioned eligibility conditions for Indian Forest Service;

Age

• Minimum – 21 years
• Maximum – 32 years
• Age relaxation of 10, 5 and 3 years is provided to PwBDs, SC/ST and OBC respectively.

Educational Qualification

• The Candidate should have successfully passed in 10+2
• Also the candidate is required to have a bachelor’s degree from a recognized university.

Nationality

• A citizen of India
• A subject of Nepal or Bhutan or a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India
• A Person of Indian Origin migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, certain East African countries and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Number Of Attempts

• General Category – 6
• OBC – 9
• PwD – 9

UPSC IFoS Vacancy 2024

With the release of the official notification for the IFoS exam 2024 by UPSC we know that there are a total of 150 vacancies to be filled with this exam, though the notification does not mention the post-wise breakdown it tells us about –

The reservation for PwBD candidates includes:

• Low Vision (LV): 2 vacancies
• Hard of Hearing (HH): 3 vacancies (1 of which is a backlog)
• Locomotor Disability (Leprosy Cured and Acid Attack Victims): 4 vacancies (2 of which are backlogs)
• With Respect to the PwBD candidates this year there are 9 vacancies, which contain 6 new vacancies and 3 backlog vacancies.

IFoS Syllabus 2024

The syllabus can be a strategic tool for candidates as it contains complete information about the areas and topics from where the questions may be asked in the examination, student should take leverage of the syllabus insights provided below

Syllabus for IFoS Prelims Exam – 

Paper I (General Studies):

• Current events of national and international importance.
• History of India and Indian National Movement.
• Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
• General Science.

Paper II (Aptitude Test):

• Comprehension.
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills.
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability.
• Decision-making and problem-solving.
• General mental ability.
• Basic numeracy (Class X level) – numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.

Indian Forest Service Exam Pattern 2024

Prelims Exam –

• Consist of 2 papers each of 200 marks.
• Each correct answer is awarded 2 marks and 1/3rd marks are deducted for every wrong answer.
• Each paper is to be solved with 2 hours.

Mains Exam – 

Syllabus for IFoS Mains Examination 2024 –

Paper I: General English (300 Marks)

• Essay writing.
• Understanding of English and workmanlike use of words.
• Passages for summary or précis.

Paper II: General Knowledge (300 Marks)

• General Knowledge including current events.
• Indian Polity, the political system, and the Constitution of India.
• History of India and Geography.

Papers III, IV, V, and VI: Any two optional subjects chosen by the candidate from the following list, each having two papers of 200 marks each:

• Agriculture
• Agricultural Engineering
• Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Forestry
• Geology
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Physics
• Statistics
• Zoology

It should be noted that there are certain combination of subjects that can’t be taken together.

UPSC IFoS Selection Process 2024

The IFoS exam is conducted by UPSC to recruit officers for The Indian Forest Service, these officers upon selection will be serving as Assistant Conservator Forest(ACF), Divisional Forest Officer(DFO), Principal Chief Conservator of Forest(PCCF) and Director General Forest (DGF) also these officers play crucial role in working with communities and NGOs for protecting the forests and Wildlife.

Thus the UPSC conducts a rigorous examination for selecting candidates for such responsible post those aspiring to be IFoS officers need to understand the exam and the selection process involved, further we will be discussing about the selection process which include the 3 stage exam

Prelims Exam – 

• This stage is Objective in nature.
• All questions are single correct only.
• It contains 2 papers each of 200 marks.
• Paper II is qualifying in nature and requires 33% marks to qualify.
• For each incorrect answer 1/3rd of the marks are deducted.
• Marks Obtained at this stage are not counted in the final merit list.

Mains exam –

• Those who qualify prelims exam are eligible to write the mains exam.
• Unlike prelims exam the mains exam is descriptive in nature.
• It consist of 6 papers.
• Paper 1 and 2 are for English and general knowledge respectively.
• Paper 3-6 are for optional subjects.
• Candidates have to choose 2 optional subjects, each subject has 2 papers.

Interview –

• Interview examines the candidate’s communication skills, decision-making abilities, adaptability in complex situations, and ethical grounding along with checking on candidates alignment with environmental issues, commitment to conservation, and ability to handle the challenges of forest management.
• It is advised that candidate should be well equipped with the current events and happenings which relates to environment and their areas of interest mentioned in their DAF.

Sharing is caring!