The Indian Statistical Service (abbreviated as ISS) (Hindi: भारतीय सांख्यिकी सेवा) is a civil service under Group A of the Central Civil Services of the executive branch of the Government of India. ISS is a civil service with high degree of proficiency in Statistical methods and applications. With the main mandate of producing quality Official Statistics with better methods and techniques, provide solutions to the data and information needs and interpretation and analysis of statistics, a majority portion of the probationary training programme is to be devoted to acquiring of technical knowledge in the field of official statistics, economics, financial statistics, survey methodology etc. The posts are recruited through UPSC examination. The minimum eligibility criterion is Bachelor’s degree with Statistics or Mathematical Statistics or Applied Statistics as one of the subject.

HISTORY

The committee under the chairmanship of Shri V.T.Krishnamachari, the then Deputy Chairman of erstwhile Planning Commission was constituted for examining the matter of establishing statistical cadres after the cabinet decision of 26 July 1952. The Committee submitted its report in September 1953 and recommended formation of ‘Statistical and Economic Advisory Service’. However, Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the then Honorary Statistical Adviser to the Cabinet did not favor the idea of a combined Statistical and Economic Advisory Service and suggested an alternative scheme for creation of a Central Statistical Pool. After deliberating on various contradictory views, the Cabinet on 12 February 1958 decided that two separate services namely Statistical Service and Economic Service should be formed. This decision paved the way for formation of ISS and finally the service was constituted in 1961 as a cadre of qualified professional with core discipline of Statistics.

The Indian Statistical Service along with Indian Economic Service (IES) was constituted as a Group-A Central Service on 1 November 1961 by a Gazette notification. Direct recruitment in the Service was initiated in 1967 through an examination organized by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the first batch joined in October 1968. The Indian Statistical System is a decentralised system and the officers of Indian Statistical Service have pivotal role in compiling Official Statistics at central level for use of government and nongovernment entities.

Cadre strength

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is the Cadre Controlling Authority (CCA) for the ISS officers. Officers of ISS cadre having a strength of 814 sanctioned posts are serving in various Ministries and offices across the country at different levels.The CCA is responsible for policy decision related to service matters and the management of the service on the basis of the service rules notified time to time.

At the entry grade of ISS i.e. Junior Time Scale, 50% of the posts are recruited through UPSC examination. The minimum eligibility criterion is Bachelor’s degree with Statistics or Mathematical Statistics or Applied Statistics as one of the subject. Like any other government service, ISS officers are put to probation for a period of two years on joining the service . Remaining 50% by promotion of officers from Subordinate Statistical Service (SSS). The National Statistical System Training Academy (NSSTA), Greater Noida (UP) is the training academy for the ISS officers. The direct recruits undergo a two-years comprehensive probationary training comprising the foundation course, training on survey methodology, micro & macro economics and econometrics at the Indian Statistical Institutes, training on various modules at several national institutes of repute across the country, attachment with different Ministries, National Statistical Office (NSO) and State Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) etc.

The Cadre strength of ISS is periodically reviewed by the ISS Board chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and the final Cadre strength is approved by the Cabinet. The latest Cadre Review was approved by the Cabinet on 29 July 2015 and the ISS rules 2016 were notified on 7 June 2016. At present, the cadre strength of the service is 814 and distributed in various grades as under:

Sl. No.| Grade  Designation  | Pay Structure| Sanctioned Strength

1 |HAG Plus (Director General)| Level -16        | 5

2| HAG (Additional Director General)| Level -15  |18

3|SAG (Deputy Director General)|Level -14|136|

4|JAG/NFSG (Joint Director/Director)|Level-12 & 13| 176

5|STS (Deputy Director)|Level -11|179

6| JTS (Assistant Director)Level-10| 300

Role of ISS Officers

Generally, the ISS officers serves at various Ministries/Departments at various part of our Country. The cadre posts of the ISS are spread across 40 different Ministries of the Central Government. Besides manning Cadre posts, the ISS officers go on deputation to serve in various domestic and international organizations such as Central Staffing Scheme, UN bodies, foreign governments, state governments, PSUs etc.

Each Ministry/Department are expected to maintain relevant databases and also undertake monitoring and evaluation of all the concerned projects and programmes. The ISS officers are involved in compilation of different kind of statistics and formulation/monitoring/evaluation of different schemes in these Ministries/Departments and are under the administrative control of the concerned Ministries.

Notable members

• T C A Anant – Member of Union Public Service Commission

• Pranab K. Sen - Former Chief Statistician of India

 CANDIDATES TO ENSURE THEIR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE EXAMINATION : 

All candidates (male/female/transgender) are requested to carefully read the Rules of Indian Economic Service/ Indian Statistical Service Examination notified by the Government (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) and this Notice of Examination derived from these Rules. Candidates applying for the examination should ensure that they fulfill all eligibility conditions for admission to the Examination. Their admission at all the stages of the examination will be purely provisional subject to satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions. Mere issue of e-Admission Certificate to the candidate will not imply that his/her candidature has been finally cleared by the Commission. Verification of eligibility conditions with reference to original documents is taken up only after the candidate has qualified for Interview/Personality Test. The Commission takes up verification of eligibility conditions with reference to original documents only after the candidate has qualified for the Interview/Personality Test. 

 HOW TO APPLY : 

Candidates are required to apply online only by using the website https//www.upsconline.nic.

 Detailed instructions are available on the above-mentioned website. 

•  Candidate should have details of one Photo ID Card viz. Aadhaar Card/ Voter Card/PAN Card/Passport/Driving Licence/Any other Photo ID Card issued by the State/Central Government. The details of this Photo ID Card will have to be provided by the candidate while filling up the online application form. The candidates will have to upload a scanned copy of the Photo ID whose details have been provided in the online application by him/ her. This Photo ID Card will be used for all future referencing and the candidate is advised to carry this Photo ID Card while appearing for Examination/Personality Test. 

•  The Commission has introduced the facility of withdrawal of Application for those candidates who do not want to appear for the Examination. In this regard, Instructions are mentioned in AppendixII(B) of this Examination Notice.

LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSION AND WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATIONS: 

(I) The Online Applications can be filled up to 27th April, 2021 till 18.00 Hours. 

(II) The online Applications can be withdrawn from 04.05.2021 to 10.05.2021 till 6.00 PM. 

  The eligible candidates shall be issued an e-Admission Certificate three weeks before the commencement of the examination. The e-Admission Certificate will be made available in the UPSC website [https//www.upsconline.nic.in] for downloading by candidates. No Admission Certificate will be sent by post. All the applicants are required to provide valid and active E-Mail I.D. while filling up Online Application Form as the Commission may use electronic mode for contacting them.

 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS Candidates are advised to read carefully “Special Instructions to the Candidates for Conventional Type Tests”  and “Special Instructions for Objective Type Tests” 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING UP OMR SHEETS:

 a) For both writing and marking answers in the OMR Sheets (Answer Sheet) candidates must use black ball point pen only. Pens with any other colours are prohibited. Do not use Pencil or Ink pen. 

b) Candidates should note that any omission/mistake/discrepancy in encoding/filling in details in the OMR answer sheet; especially with regard to Roll Number and Test Booklet Series Code, will render the answer sheet liable for rejection. 

PENALTY FOR WRONG ANSWERS (In Objective Type Question Paper): 

Candidates should note that there will be penalty (Negative Marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Paper. 

 FACILITATION COUNTER FOR GUIDANCE OF CANDIDATES: 

In case of any guidance/information/clarification regarding their applications, candidature, etc. candidates can contact UPSC’s Facilitation Counter near ‘C’ Gate of its campus in person or over Telephone No.011-23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 on working days between 10.00 Hrs. and 17.00 Hrs. 

Mobile Phones Banned : 

(a)The use of any mobile phone (even in switched off mode), pager or any electronic equipment or programmable device or storage media like pen drive, smartwatches, etc. or camera or blue tooth devices or any other equipment or related accessories either in working or switched off mode capable of being used as a communication device during the examination is strictly prohibited. Any infringement of these instructions shall entail disciplinary action including ban from future examinations. 

(b) Candidates are advised in their own interest not to bring any of the banned items including mobile phones/bluetooth or any valuable/costly items to the venue of the examination, as arrangement for safe-keeping cannot be assured. Commission will not be responsible for any loss in this regard.

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS : 

(I) Nationality  A candidate must be either :— 

 (a) a citizen of India; or  

(b) a subject of Nepal; or  

(c) a subject of Bhutan; or  

(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India, before the 1st January, 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India; or  

(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India :  Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) & (e) above shall be person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. 

 A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him/her by the Government of India. 

Age Limits : 

 (a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on 1st August, 2021 i.e he/she must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1991 and not later than 1st August, 2000.  

(b) The upper age-limit prescribed above will be relaxable as follows :—  (i) up to a maximum of five years if a candidate belong to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;  

(ii) up to a maximum of three years in the case of candidate belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates; 

 (iii) up to a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services Personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area, and released as a consequence thereof ;  (iv) up to a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2021 and have been released : 

• on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st August, 2021 otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account or misconduct or inefficiency; or 

•  on account of Physical disability attributable to Military Service; or 

•  on invalidment;

v) up to a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st August, 2021 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for Civil employment and that they will be released on three months’ notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment; 

 (vi) up to a maximum of 10 years in the case of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities viz; (a) blindness and low vision; (b) deaf and hard of hearing; (c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; (d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; (e) multiple disabilities from amongst person under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf blindness. 

NOTE I: Candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes who are also covered under any other clauses of para 3(II)(b) above, viz. those coming under the category of Ex-servicemen and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities will be eligible for grant of cumulative age-relaxation under both the categories. 

NOTE II: The term ex-servicemen will apply to the persons who are defined as Ex-servicemen in the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1979, as amended from time to time. 

NOTE III: The age concession under Para 3(II)(b)(iv) and (v) will be admissible to Ex-servicemen i.e. a person who has served in any rank whether as combatant or non-combatant in the Regular Army, Navy and Air Force of the Indian Union and who either has been retired or relieved or discharged from such service whether at his own request or being relieved by the employer after earning his or her pension. 

NOTE IV: Notwithstanding the provisions of age relaxation under para 3(II)(b)(vi) above, a person with Benchmark Disabilities will be considered to be eligible for appointment only if he/she (after such physical examination as the Government or appointing authority as the case may be, may prescribed) if found to satisfy the requirement of physical and medical standard for the concerned Services/Posts to be allocated to the persons with Benchmark Disabilities by the Government. 

NOTE V: The details of Functional Classification (FC) and Physical Requirements (PR) of each service is indicated in this Notice which are identified and prescribed by the respective Cadre Controlling Authorities (CCAs) as per the provisions of Section 33 and 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Only those category (ies) of disability (ies) mentioned in the Notice shall apply for the examination under Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) categories. Therefore, the candidates belonging to the Persons with Benchmark Disability categories are advised to read it carefully before applying for the examination.

 Minimum Educational Qualifications : 

  A candidate for the Indian Statistical Service must have obtained a Bachelor's Degree with Statistics/Mathematical Statistics/Applied Statistics as one of the subject or a Master's degree in Statistics/Mathematical Statistics/Applied Statistics from a University incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other Educational Institutes established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 or a Foreign University approved by the Central Government from time to time. 

NOTE 1: A candidate who has appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them eligible to appear at this examination, but has not been informed of the result, may apply for admission to the examination. A candidate who intends to appear at such a qualifying examination may also apply. Such a candidate will be admitted to the examination, if otherwise eligible, but his/her admission would be deemed to be provisional and subject to cancellation if his/her does not produce the proof of having passed the requisite qualifying examination along with the Detailed Application Form which will be required to be submitted by the candidate who qualifies on the results of the written part of the examination. Such proof of passing the requisite examination should be dated earlier than the due date (closing date) of the Detailed Application Form of the Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2021. 

NOTE 2: In exceptional cases, the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate, who has none of the foregoing qualifications, as a qualified candidate provided that he/she has passed examinations conducted by other institutions the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission, justifies his/her admission to the examination. 

NOTE 3: A candidate who is otherwise qualified but who has taken a degree from a Foreign University may also apply to the Commission and may be admitted to the examination at the discretion of the Commission.

SCHEME OF EXAMINATION  

SECTION-I

The examination shall be conducted according to the following plan—  Part I-Written examination carrying a maximum of 1000 marks in the subjects as shown below. 

Part II-Viva voce of such candidates as may be called by the Commission carrying a maximum of 200 marks. 

PART-I  

The subjects of the written examination under Part-I, the maximum marks allotted to each subject/paper and the time allowed shall be as follows :

Sl.  |Subject |Maximum Time No. |Marks Allowed 

1. | General English|  100 | 3 hrs. 

2.  General Studies| 100 | 3 hrs. 

3. Statistics-I (Objective) | 200| 2 hrs. 

4. Statistics-II (Objective) | 200|  2 hrs. 

5. Statistics-III (Descriptive)| 200| 3 hrs.

6.  Statistics-IV (Descriptive)| 200|  3 hrs.

Note-1:  Statistics I & II will be of Objective Type Questions (80 questions with maximum marks of 200 in each paper) to be attempted in 120 minutes. 

Note-2: Statistics III and IV will be of Descriptive Type having Short Answer/ Small Problems Questions (50%) and Long Answer and Comprehension problem questions (50%). At least one Short Answer and One Long Answer Question from each section is compulsory. In Statistics-IV, there will be SEVEN Sections in the paper. Candidates have to choose any TWO Sections out of them. All Sections will carry equal marks. 

Note-3: The papers on General English and General Studies, common to both Indian Economic Service and Indian Statistical Service will be of subjective type. 

Note-5: The details of the standard and syllabi for the examination are given in Section-II below.  

2. The question papers in all subjects in Indian Economic Service Examination and in Indian Statistical Service Examination will be of Conventional (essay) type except in Statistics Paper I and Statistics Paper-II which are Objective Type Papers. 

3. ALL QUESTION PAPERS MUST BE ANSWERED IN ENGLISH; QUESTION PAPERS WILL BE SET IN ENGLISH ONLY.

 PART - II

 Viva voce—The candidate will be interviewed by a Board of competent and unbiased observers who will have before them a record of his/her career. The object of the interview is to assess his/her suitability for the service for which he/she has competed. The interview is intended to supplement the written examination for testing the general and specialised knowledge and abilities for the candidate. The candidate will be expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in his/her subjects of academic study but also in events which are happening around him/her both within and outside his/her own State or Country as well as in modern currents of thought and in new discoveries which should rouse the curiosity of well educated youth.  The technique of the interview is not that of a strict cross-examination, but of a natural, through directed and purposive conversation intended to reveal the candidate's mental qualities and his/her grasp of problems. The Board will pay special attention to assess the intellectual curiosity, critical powers of assimilation, balance of judgment and alertness of mind, the ability for social cohesion, integrity of character initiative and capacity for leadership.