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Know How to Become an Indian Statistical Service Officer In India

Career as an Indian Statistical Image

Are you a number cruncher? Are you doing very well in Mathematics? Do you feel easy with numerical charts and graphs? Do you find it easy to interpret these charts and graphs? Have you always dreamed of working in government administration? If yes then you must look into this option of Indian Statistical Services. Find out more about the Indian Statistical Services and get started with your preparations early!

Indian Statistical Service Officers are responsible for the efficient handling and management of the statistical administration of the government. They work in Statistical units and Divisions of various ministries like Agriculture, Water Resources, Health, Commerce, Labour, etc. The ISS officers maintain databases, compile different types of statistics, evaluate monitor and formulate different schemes and implement them. They are recruited directly through the Indian Statistical Service examination which is conducted by UPSC.

Why become an Indian Statistical Service Officer?

Civil Services Officers are one of the most important administrative authorities in India. Civil Services officers run government administration – both at the central and the state level. The Indian Economic Service Officers are a part of the administrative civil service under Group A of the Central Civil Services of the Government of India.

Indian Statistical Service Officers work at the executive level. They are responsible for ensuring the efficient working of the statistical administration (maintaining norms and standards in the field of statistics, involving concepts and definitions, methodology of data collection, processing of data, analysis of data, preparation of statistical reports, and dissemination of results), preparing national accounts, publishing annual estimates of national product, government and private consumption expenditure, capital formation and consumption of fixed capital etc.

As Indian Statistical Service Officer, you will serve in the Statistical units or Divisions of some of the ministries like Agriculture, Water Resources, Health, Commerce, Labour, etc. There you will maintain databases, compile different types of statistics, and evaluate monitor and formulate different schemes. The compilation usually includes estimates related to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), National Income, Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPIs), Annual Survey of Industry (ASI), Economic Census, Agriculture Census, Livestock Census, NSS reports on Socioeconomic survey, monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), etc.

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  1. Indian Statistical Service Officer (Official Statistics): Official Statisticians provide statistical information about a country or different phenomena through data, and images such as graphs and maps. (Statistical Information covers economics, demographics and social, etc. The Official Statisticians provide essential information for decision-making, evaluations, and assessments at different levels.
  2. Indian Statistical Service Officer (Agriculture and Allied Statistics): Agriculture and Allied Statistics Professionals are responsible for conducting various surveys and censuses related to agriculture such as Surveys on Land and Livestock, Agriculture census, Land Record Statistics, Crop cutting experiments, etc.
  3. Indian Statistical Service Officer (Industrial Statistics): Industrial Statistics officers are involved in the Policy Making and research of the national economy. They play a key role in the formulation and promotion of industrial policies and are often posted in Central Statistics Office (Industrial Statistics Wing), Economic Statistics Division (ESD), Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy etc.
  4. Indian Statistical Service Officer (Economic Statistics): Economic Statisticians are involved in the collection, processing, compilation, dissemination, and analysis of economic data. They study and evaluate surveys on National Accounts, Price Statistics as well as Trade Statistics.
  5. Indian Statistical Service Officer (Labour and Employment Statistics): Labour and Employment Statistics officers are involved in the study and evaluation of the data collected by the Ministry of Labour and Labour Bureau in relation to Labour economics, Labour force statistics etc.
  6. Indian Statistical Service Officer (Social Statistics and Demographic Statistics): Social Statistics officers are involved in the study and evaluation of non-economic characteristics of the population. They also deal with miscellaneous topics like Swachch Bharat Abhiyan and NREGA etc. They are posted in offices like the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Road Transport & Shipping, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Water resource, etc. The demographic Statistics officer’s work includes the study and evaluation of the Population census and challenges faced during the implementation, and reports on the Annual Health Survey, Sample Registration System, Birth and Death registration system, etc.

What does Indian Statistical Service Officer do?

As an Indian Statistical Officer, you would be involved in the following Key roles and responsibilities:

  • You would be responsible for national and international organizations in terms of ensuring statistical administration; statistical planning & advice; formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development policy and programmes etc.
  • You would be involved in the compilation of different kinds of statistics and formulation/monitoring/evaluation of different schemes in various government Ministries/Departments
  • You would be producing weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual outputs, using a range of statistical data via reports and visual aids
  • You would be involved in a range of projects such as: designing ways of collecting survey and administrative data, quality checking and cleansing data etc.
  • You would be responsible for interpreting statistical analysis for policy development, evaluation/monitoring, forecasting, and National Statistics
  • You would be developing statistical tools for future data collection
  • You would be involved in the compilation of estimates/indicators related to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), National Income, Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPIs), Index of Industrial Production (IIP), Annual Survey of Industry (ASI), Economic Census, Agriculture Census, Livestock Census, NSS reports on Socio-economic survey, monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), monitoring of Central Sector Infrastructure projects, policy formulation for Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), etc.

How to become an Indian Statistical Service Officer – Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible for Indian Statistical Service Examination, you must hold a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics/Mathematical Statistics/ Statistics/ Applied Statistics or a similar field. The minimum age to be eligible for the ISS exam is 21 years and the maximum age is 30 years. The Indian Statistical Service examinations and recruitment are conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The examination is conducted in two parts. Part I comprises a total of 6 papers of 1000 marks. The first two papers will be of a subjective type and carry 100 marks each and the other four papers are of 200 marks each.

Part I-Written examination

  1. General English
  • Essays
  • Comprehension Passage
  1. General Studies
  • Current Events – National & International
  • Indian Geography
  • Indian History
  • Indian Polity
  • Indian Constitution
  • Policy & Governance
  • Environmental Studies
  • Science & Technology
  1. Statistics-I
  • Probability
  • Statistical Methods
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Computer application and Data Processing
  1. Statistics-II
  • Linear Models
  • Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Testing
  • Official Statistics
  1. Statistics-III
  • Sampling Techniques
  • Econometrics
  • Applied Statistics
  1. Statistics-IV
  • Operations Research and Reliability
  • Demography and Vital Statistics
  • Survival Analysis and Clinical Trial
  • Quality Control
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Design and Analysis of Experiments
  • Computing with C and R

Part II- Viva voce carrying a maximum of 200 marks

The Union public service commission conducts interview rounds for those who have successfully cleared the exam. An interview will be conducted of total 200 marks to assess the suitability of a candidate for the Indian Economic Services.It may assess the following attributes in a candidate (these are only indicative and do not comprise all the criteria):

  • Analytical and logical abilities
  • Balance of judgement
  • Compassion and empathy
  • Critical abilities
  • Deductive and Inductive Reasoning abilities
  • Ethical thinking
  • Integrity and morality
  • Intellectual abilities
  • Interpersonal abilities
  • Leadership abilities
  • Multi-faceted interests and depth of interests
  • Power of expression
  • Self-awareness or intra-personal abilities
  • Understanding of social issues and challenges

Educational Fees

The Indian Statistical Services (ISS) is a highly competitive and prestigious examination conducted by India’s Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The ISS exam is conducted once a year, and the exam fee for the general category candidates is Rs. 200 per attempt.

Apart from the exam fee, candidates who aspire to become an ISS officer may have to bear additional expenses such as coaching fees, study materials, accommodation, and other miscellaneous expenses.

The coaching fees for ISS preparation can range from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1,50,000 (approx. $700 to $2,000 USD) depending on the duration and quality of coaching.

Job Opportunities

After qualifying for the Indian Statistical Service Examination, you would be directly recruited as Assistant Director. After recruitment, you would undergo a two-year probationary training comprising the foundation course at The National Statistical System Training Academy (NSSTA), Greater Noida (UP).

As a Statistical Officer, you will be joining the Government Statistical Service and working in the following Government Ministries/ Departments:

  • Ministry of Agriculture& Farmer Welfare:
  • Ministry of Chemical & Fertilizer
  • Ministry of Civil Aviation
  • Ministry of Coal: Coal control
  • Ministry of Commerce & Industries: Directorate General of Foreign Trade,
  • Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), Directorate General of Supply and Disposal, Department of Commerce- Office of Economic Adviser, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Directorate of Anti-Dumping.
  • Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
  • Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • Ministry of Culture- Anthropological Survey of India
  • Ministry of Defence: Army Statistical Organisation, Management Information Systems Organisations (MISO), Director General (DG) Infosys, DirectorateGeneral of Resettlement, Naval Headquarters, Additional Director General (ADG) Systems, Military Training Directorate, Air Headquarters Computer Centre, Directorate of Flight Safety
  • Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
  • Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
  • Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change: Forest Survey of India(FSI), Dehradun
  • Ministry of Finance: Department of Economic Affairs, Department of FinancialService, Department of Expenditure- Pay Research Unit, Department of Revenue, Tax Research Unit, Financial Intelligence Unit, Directorate of Data Management
  • Customs and Central Excise, Directorate of Income (Tax-Research-Statistics),
  • Publication and Public Relations (RSP and PR)
  • Ministry of Food Processing Industries
  • Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: Department of Health and FamilyWelfare, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS)- All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, National Centre for Disease Control, National Anti-Malaria Programme (NAMP), National Tuberculosis Institute, Central Bureau of Health, and Intelligence(CBHI)
  • Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
  • Ministry of Home Affairs: Registrar General of India (RGI), Intelligence Bureau(IB), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
  • Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
  • Ministry of Human Resources Development: Department of School Education and literacy, Department of Secondary and Higher Education
  • Ministry of Labour and Employment: Ministry Proper, Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET), Directorate General of Mines Safety, LabourBureau
  • Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
  • Ministry of Mines: Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM)
  • Ministry of Minority Affairs
  • Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
  • NITI Aayog
  • Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
  • Ministry of Power
  • Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
  • Ministry of Rural Development: Department of Rural Development, Department of Land Resources
  • Ministry of Science and Technology: Department of Biotechnology
  • Ministry of Shipping
  • Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment: Department of Social Justice,
  • Department of Disability Affairs
  • Ministry of Steel
  • Ministry of Textiles
  • Ministry of Tourism
  • Ministry of Tribal Affairs
  • Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation: Ministry Proper, Central Water Commission (CWC), Central Water and PowerResearch Station (CWPRS), Central Ground Water Board (CGWB)
  • Ministry of Women and Child Development
  • Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

As an Indian Statistical Service Officer, you will be working in one of the following Divisions/Departments:

  • Statistics wing
  • Central statistics office (CSO)
  • Data Informatics and Innovation Division(DIID)
  • Program Implementation (PI) wing
  • Integrated Finance Division
  • Administration Division

After acquiring work experience of 5-10 years as an Indian Statistical Service Officer, you would also be deputed to serve in various domestic and international organizations such as Central Staffing Scheme, UN bodies, foreign governments, state governments, PSUs etc.

After joining the Indian Statistical Services, as an ISS officer’s career is categorised into two phases: General Phase and the Specialisation Phase. Candidates in the General phase serve for 15 years as Indian Statistical Officers and the Specialisation Phase starts after 15 years of working as ISS officers and lasts till retirement. After completion of 15 years of service, the posting of ISS officer will be done on the basis of their specialisation. Some of the major areas of specialisation are as follows:

  • Official Statistics
  • Agriculture and Allied Statistics
  • Industrial Statistics
  • Economic Statistics
  • Labour and Employment Statistics
  • Social Statistics and Demographic Statistics

Salary of ISS Officer

According to the 7th Central Pay Commission,

As Research Officer, you would earn around Rs. 69,237 – 95,796 per month.

As Senior Research Officer, you would earn around, Rs. 82,809 – 1,42,245 per month.

As Deputy Statistical Adviser, you would earn around, Rs. 95,796 – 1,56,987 per month.

As Deputy Director-General, you would earn around, Rs. 1,72,314 – 2,11,837 per month.

As Chief Statistical Officer, you would earn around, Rs. 2,43,918– 2,76,962 per month.

Career progression in ISS Officer

If you begin your career after your appointment as Assistant Director you would progress as:

Assistant Director – Deputy Director –Joint Director/Director – Deputy Director-General – Additional Director General – Director-General

If you begin your career after appointment as Research Officer you would progress as:

Research Officer – Senior Research Officer – Additional Statistical Adviser/Deputy Statistical Adviser – Deputy Director General–Director General/ Chief Statistical Officer

If you begin your career after appointment as Statistician you would progress as:

Statistician – Senior Statistician – Chief Statistical Adviser/Deputy Statistical Adviser – Chief Director/Advisor-Additional Director-General – Director-General

According to the 68th Annual Report submitted by Union Public Service Commission, a total number of21, 831 applied for Indian Economic Service /Indian Statistical Services examination. A total of only 2, 804 appeared in the examination while only 104 candidates were interviewed/ whose service records were evaluated out of which only 44 candidates were recommended for appointment to the Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service posts.

The number of seats available for Junior Scale of Indian Economic Service (IES) posts is 32 Seats and for Indian Statistical Service (ISS) is 33 seats. Although the Indian Economic Services/Indian Statistical Services examination is very tough to crack with such high-end competition, a career as IES/ISS officer offers great opportunities and perks.

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