Indian Telecommunication Service
National Emblem | |||||||||||
Service Overview | |||||||||||
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Establishment | 1965 | ||||||||||
Country | India | ||||||||||
Training centre | Advance level telecommunication training centre(ALTTC) | ||||||||||
Controlling Authority | Department of Telecommunications under Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India) | ||||||||||
Cadre Size | 2500 Posts |
The Indian Telecommunications Service, widely known as ITS, is an organised civil service of Government of India[1]. The appointment to this service is done through Combined Engineering Services exam held every year by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) of India. ITS is a Group A Central Civil Service of the Union of India. The service was created to meet the technical and managerial functions of the government in areas related to telecommunications.The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) had been run for years by this permanent cadre of technical civil servants called the Indian Telecom Service (ITS).
The officers of ITS are working in senior management and administrative positions in the Department of Telecommunications (DOT), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), Telecom Consultants India Limited (TCIL), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),Telecom Dispute Settlement Administrative Tribunal (TDSAT), Unique Identification Authority of India (UID), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) etc.At present, ITS officers are also working in many other central and state government assignments on deputation.
Recruitment and induction
A competitive examination called combined engineering services examination is conducted by the UPSC for recruitment to the ITS. Recruitment to Group A and Group B Services/Posts are made under the following categories of Engineering:
- I. Civil Engineering
- II. Mechanical Engineering
- III. Electrical Engineering
- IV. Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
Appointments to ITS are made in category IV, i.e., Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. The appointment to following services are also made through the same exam:
- Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers
- Indian Railway Stores Service (Telecommunication/Electronics Engineering posts)
- Engineer in Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing/Monitoring organisation; Ministry of Communications (DOT)
- Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Engineering branch) (Electronics Engineering posts)
- Indian Naval Armament Service (Electronics Engineering posts)
- Central Power Engineering Service (Telecommunications Engineering posts)
- Survey of India Service (Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering posts)
- Assistant Executive Engineer, Group A (Electronics Engineering posts) in the Corps of EME, Ministry of Defence
Training
After recruitment through Combined Engineering Services Examination, the officers undergo a two years course at Advanced level telecommunication training centre (ALTTC),[2] Ghaziabad and Bharatratna Bhimrao Ambedkar institute of telecom training (BRBRAITT),Jabalpur[3] for management and telecommunications engineering. The officers are also deputed for on job field training in various areas.The ITS officers were trained at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) until 1980.
Appointments and responsibilities
As in the other Central Services, the officers are liable to be transferred and posted in anywhere in India. The officers of ITS work in the DOT, TRAI, TDSAT, BSNL, MTNL,Ministry of Home Affairs,UID,Ministry of Power,Department of Pharmaceuticals, Department of Defence, National Highway Authority of India, RITES, IRCON,TCIL,UPSC,SSC and various other Ministries and Statutory bodies of India.
The following officers of ITS are currently working in high positions :
- Kuldeep Goyal, Member, CAT [4]
- G.D. Geha, Member, TDSAT[5]
- R. K. Agrawal, Director, BSNL[6]
- Gopal Das, CMD, BSNL[6]
- R. Wadhawa, Director, BSNL[6]
- K. Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, MTNL[7]
- S. P. Pachauri, Director, MTNL[7]
- R. K. Upadhyay, Chairman and Managing Director, TCIL [8]
- V. K. Sharma, Director, TCIL [8]
- Vimal Wakhloo, Director, TCIL [8]
- Mr. M K Shedha, Chief General Manager, Centre for Excellence in Telecom Technology and Management (CETTM)
Present(2009) cadre strength in different time scales is given below:
Grade | Position In The Central Government | Strength |
---|---|---|
Apex Scale | Member (equivalent to secretary) | 2 |
Higher Administrative Grade+ (HAG+) | Advisor (equivalent to Additional secretary) | 1 |
Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) | Chief General Manager/Senior Deputy Director General | 55 |
Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) | General Manager/Deputy Director General | 658 |
Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) | Deputy General Manager/Director | 875 |
Senior time Scale (STS) | Divisional Engineer | 234 |
Junior time Scale (JTS) | Assistant Divisional Engineer | 49 |
Cadre controlling authority
Member (Services), Telecom Commission of India is cadre controlling authority of ITS, Group A. Member(Services)is ex-officio Secretary to Government of India. S. C. Misra is currently working as Member(Services) , Department of Telecom, Government of India [10]
Indian Telecom Service Association
The officers of ITS are represented by the Indian Telecom Service Association in different forums. N.K.Chhoker and A.S. Meena are currently president and secretary, respectively.[11]
Honours
Many members of ITS are awarded by many national and international organisations for their significant contributions.Few of them are enlisted below,
1.Late Shri P.S.Saran was conferred with prestigious Padmashri in 1998 by Government of India[12].
2. Dr.T.H.Chowdary was awarded the L.V.Ramaiah award in 1989 for distinguished service to society thro’ telecoms.[13] He was conferred a Doctorate (Honoris Causa) by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad in 1999 for distinguished service to engineering, education & IT services.He was one of the eminent five Engineering Personalities who were felicitated by Institution of Engineers (India), at its Fifteenth Indian Engineering Congress, on 19 December 2000, in Hyderabad.He was the founding Chairman and Managing Director of India’s Overseas Communications Corporation (VSNL).[14] From May, 1997 to May 2004, he was the Information Technology Advisor to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, in the rank of a Minister of State.[15]
3. Mr. Shailendra Kumar Gupta joined the Indian Telecom Service in September 1965.He was CMD of VSNL and on board of many other companies. Mr. Gupta received a national award for excellent communication arrangements during the Maha Kumbh at Allahabad in 1989. He also received the best chief executive (PSU) of the year 2001 award from the National Foundation of Indian Engineers in August 2001. Mr. Gupta was honoured with the Udyog Rattan Award by the Institute of Economic Studies in January 2002 and the Rashtriya Rattan Award for outstanding individual achievements and distinguished services to the nation in January '2002. Mr.Gupta also received The Trans World Gold Star Award from the Institute of Economic Studies in June '2002.[16]
4. Dr D.P.S Seth is a former member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and he has also been chairman of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).
Retirements
Many ITS officers will be retiring from government service shortly on attaining current superannuation age of 60 years. Year wise retirement position is given below,
Year | Number of officers retiring |
---|---|
2010 | 18 |
2011 | 30 |
2012 | 44 |
2013 | 50 |
2014 | 51 |
2015 | 56 |
Notes
- ^ Notification dated 29 May 1992 published in part II, section 3, sub-section (1) of the gazette of India, Government of India
- ^ ALTTC
- ^ BRBRAITT
- ^ http://www.telecomtiger.com/Policy_Movement_fullstory.aspx?passfrom=topstory&storyid=9677§ion=S205
- ^ TDSAT
- ^ a b c BSNL board of directors
- ^ a b MTNL board of directors
- ^ a b c TCIL board of directors
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ ITSA official website
- ^ [3]
- ^ http://www.tana09.com/Forms/THChowdary.pdf
- ^ http://www.drthchowdary.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=38
- ^ http://www.rakshaonline.org/Chowdary.jsp
- ^ http://www.vsnllanka.com/about_gupta.htm
References
- MB Athreya,January-February 1996,Chairman of the Telecom Restructuring Committee, Government of India (1990–91).'India's telecommunications policy:A paradigm shift' Telecommunications Policy Volume 20, Issue 1, Pages 11–22
- 'DOT sets deadline for ITS officers' India Telecom,Vol.11,No.1,January 2005, page 3
- Manoj Gairola,'PM calls for BSNL’s performance review as revenues fall' Hindustan Times,13 November 2010 [4]