How many promotions and years it takes an IAS officer to become Election Commissioner
With the Chief Election Commissioner's appointment before the Supreme Court, here is the career path an IAS officer must climb to reach the Election Commission.
A dispute is underway over the powers and functioning of the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners, and the matter of the Chief Election Commissioner's appointment is pending in the Supreme Court. This has put the issue in the spotlight, and it has made young people, especially students preparing for the UPSC exam, curious about what the journey to becoming an Election Commissioner actually looks like, including how long it takes an IAS officer to reach the post and how the salary changes along the way.
An IAS officer's career begins at Level 10 of the Seventh Pay Commission. At this first stage, the officer is posted as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) or Assistant Collector, with a starting basic salary of around Rs 56,100 a month. After completing about 4 to 9 years of service, the officer becomes a Deputy Collector or Under Secretary, which is Level 11, with the basic salary rising to around Rs 67,700.
The third stage comes after about 9 to 13 years of service, when the officer reaches the post of District Magistrate (DM) or Joint Secretary. This is Level 12, with a basic salary of around Rs 78,800. After 14 to 16 years of service, the officer becomes a Divisional Commissioner or Director, which is Level 13, with the salary rising to around Rs 1,18,500.
The most essential condition for becoming an Election Commissioner is that the officer must have served as a Secretary in the Government of India. To reach this level, an officer becomes Secretary-cum-Commissioner after about 16 to 20 years of service, followed by Principal Secretary after 20 to 25 years, Additional Chief Secretary after 25 to 30 years, and finally, after more than 30 years of service, reaches the post of Secretary to the Government of India. This is Level 17, with a basic salary of around Rs 2,25,000 a month. In other words, an IAS officer becomes eligible to be appointed Election Commissioner only after clearing about 6 to 7 major promotions over a career of roughly 30 years.
Interestingly, both Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner draw the "apex pay scale", which is around Rs 2,25,000 a month, nearly the same as the salary of a Secretary to the Central Government. While this does not make a major difference to the basic salary figure, the protocol status, security, facilities and the opportunity to carry out one of the country's most important constitutional responsibilities that come with the post set it apart from other Secretary-level positions.
