LEFT OUT Inadequate Presence of Muslims Among Group A & B Civil Services Officials

• Only 411 Muslim IAS, IPS & IFS officers between 1951 and 2020 

• Muslims are better represented in IAS than in IPS and IFS

• 581 Muslims among 23,606 officials in Group A’s 28 services 

• 41 Muslim only among 1,322 officials in Group B’s six services 

• Muslim percentage is almost nil among women IAS officers

Team Clarion

NEW DELHI – Ensuring satisfactory levels of governance and effective maintenance of law and order in India, now the world’s most populous country and the seventh-largest country by geographic area, is a Herculean task.

Home to the second-largest Muslim population on the planet spread across 28 states and eight Union Territories (UTs), the world’s largest democracy and the sixth-largest economy in the world has followers of five other major religions including Hinduism with about 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes.

For both the civil and police officials, effective administration is a hugely challenging task across 776 districts, with Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, accounting for the highest at 75, as of the end of 2024, according to a new book Muslims in India – Ground Realities versus Fake Narratives.

A Collector, an IAS officer, looks after the overall administration and revenue collections of a district while the Superintendent of Police (SP), an IPS officer, has to ensure the prevalence of peace and law and order. They are selected through two all-India civil services through the highly competitive Civil Services Examinations (CSE) whose origin dates back to 1855 when the Indian Civil Service (ICS) started as what was called the “steel frame” of colonial rule. 

The first ICS exams had not a single Indian as Indians either did not possess the required education qualifications or did not have enough means to support the high costs of travel to London. Interestingly, Indians had the right to sit for the ICS exams but the only examination facility was in the British capital city.

Until 1869, only 16 Indians appeared for the ICS in London of whom only one had succeeded. It was in 1887 that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan started the Mohammedan Civil Services Fund Association to finance the travel of Muslims to London to write the ICS exams. Between 1855 and 1899, there were 14 ICS officers which included one Muslim – Abdullah Yusuf Ali from Kanpur (seventh rank holder) who resigned in 1914, the year when only five percent of ICS officers were Indians. 

It was only in 1922 that the ICS started being held simultaneously in London and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, and four years later the Public Service Commission of India was established. Two years after All India Services were designated as Central Superior Services. The Indian Political Service was merged in 1930 into the ICS to look after the governance of 559 Princely States. Another service was the Indian Police (IP) which was opened for Indians only in August 1922. There were other services for revenue, audit and accounts, forest, medical and education. The Indian Medical and Education Services were discarded in 1925.  

The ICS had 1,032 officials at its peak in 1931. From 1900 to 1947, Mohammed Saleh Akbar Hydari was the only Muslim among the total 40 ICS officers. The total number of candidates in the last Civil Services Exams held in British India in January 1943 was 9,802 – they joined in October 1944. At the time of Independence, there were 980 ICS officers including 468 Europeans, 352 Hindus, 101 Muslims, 25 Indian Christians, 13 Parsis, 10 Sikhs, and four from other communities. 

After Independence, the ICS was replaced by the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) with the endorsement of eight of the 11 provinces in British India. Punjab, Bengal, and Sindh opposed the proposal. The first batch of IAS officers was recruited in 1948 when the number of ICS officers stood at 242, of which 42 were Bengalis. 

In the very first year of recruitment for IAS in 1948, seven out of 30 officers selected were Bengalis, approximately 22.5 percent of the total intake. In 1949 and 1950, among 32 IAS officers selected each year, six and five, respectively, were Bengalis. In 1958, only two Muslims cleared the exams, including Zafar Saifullah who later became the first and only Muslim to hold the coveted post of India’s Cabinet Secretary. A total of 64 candidates made it to the service that year. In 1960, the number of IAS officers was 2,216 out of which there were only 103 Muslims or 4.65 percent. In 1960, the total number of IPS officers was 1,086 of which Muslims were only 48. 

In 1964, their total number was 3,392 out of which Muslims were only 105 or 3.09 percent. A decade later, the total number went up to 1,661 of whom 53 were Muslims. In the 1950s and 1960s, most of the high-level civil servants were drawn from the well-off urban classes and belonged to the upper castes. In 1981, 50 were Muslims out of 1753 officers.  It was only in the 1970s and 1980s that Muslim “material expectations” rose as they began acquiring a sense of competition and having a larger share in the higher echelon of the civil and police administrations.

Six years into the 21^st century, the country, in particular the Muslim community, was startled when it was revealed that Muslims were in the worst position in CSE when a high-powered committee headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Rajendra Sachar, after analysing 8,827 officers of IAS, IPS, and IFS, found Muslims were only 3.2 percent. In IPS, there were only 128 Muslims, or four percent, among the 3,209 officers then in service. 

Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of the UPA government, tasked the high-level Justice Sachar panel to ascertain the social, economic, and educational status of the Muslim community. Looking at the situation almost 50 years after Independence, in its voluminous report the panel highlighted several interesting aspects, one being that unemployment is slightly higher for all Muslims than for all Hindus, and the unorganised private sector remains a major source of livelihood for Muslims. 

The Sachar Committee Report on the Educational, Social, and Economic Conditions of Muslims in India found that Muslims, in several social and economic parameters, are below Schedule Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).  Their share in IAS, IPS, and IFS was extremely low compared to other religious minorities. Muslim representation in the bureaucracy stood at three to four percent in 2006, stagnant for over one and a half decades. The UPSC exam data for 2003 and 2004 concluded that out of 11,537 candidates who appeared for the CSE Mains in those two years, only 283 were Muslims, or 4.9 percent.

A total of 2,342 candidates cleared the written exams and appeared for interviews of which only 56 were Muslims, or 4.8 percent. About 835 candidates were selected finally, of whom only 20 were Muslims, or 4.8 percent. In the Civil List of 2006, Muslims constituted barely 2.2 percent of the Indian Administrative Services. There were around 108 Muslim IAS officers out of a total of 4,790 in the country, including 1,248 State services officers promoted to the IAS. It was the IFS where Muslims were the most under-represented at barely 1.6 percent – only 10 out of a total of 619 IFS officers.  

In the seven decades from 1951 to 2020, a total of 411 out of 11,569 IAS officers were Muslims, or simply 3.55 percent.  Till that year, 119 Muslim IAS officers have been from Jammu and Kashmir. Bihar had 58, Uttar Pradesh 48, Kerala 31, Karnataka 20, Madhya Pradesh 16, Maharashtra 12, Tamil Nadu 10, Andhra Pradesh 10 and Telangana eight. Interestingly, only 179 have cleared the UPSC-held CSE with direct appointments while 232 rose to this position through official promotions. 

The Indian Journal of Applied Research, in a report in October 2015, noted: “Muslims in India, despite all the efforts taken by the government, remain in a vulnerable condition in socio-economic development. Their representation in the government sector is not very satisfactory. IAS is an area of concern as the Muslim representation is quite low. Ignoring them would come at its peril and end up relegating Muslims to be the ‘New Dalits’ in terms of backwardness and discrimination.” Between 1971 and 1980, the representation of Muslims in IAS was 2.86 percent. From 2009 to 2013, around 140 Muslims cleared the CSE. However, 75 percent of them could not get a posting in the IAS.  

For the 2016 batch, for the first time in history, 50 Muslims were selected through the UPSC, with 10 making it to the top 100. Since that year, the percentage of Muslim candidates has remained around five percent, up 2.5 percent since Independence – it should have been not less than 14 per cent going by the total percentage of Muslims in India of 14.2 as per the Census 2011 data. Since the start of the 21^st century, an average of 32 to 35 Muslim candidates have passed the CSE. An expert noted in a study that it is the low level of participation rather than the low success ratio of Muslim candidates that is the root cause of the low representation. 

Currently, the country has one IAS or IPS officer among every 5.73 lakh Muslims, compared to one among every 1.08 lakh non-Muslims. Two states accounted for more than half the Muslim officers. Uttar Pradesh had over 34 percent of them and Bihar nearly 22 percent, a total of 90 Muslim officers. Uttar Pradesh leads the Muslim officers count with 55, followed by Bihar with 35, Kerala with 16, and Jammu and Kashmir with 15. The first two states account for the bulk of the senior Muslim IAS officers coming from the northern states while Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala have been sending more and more Muslim officers since 2000. 

It is not only the IAS, IPS, and IFS that Muslim numbers are miserable. They fare badly in the Group A and B services, according to data shared by Mohammed Abdul Mannan, the author of Muslims in India – Ground Realities versus Fake Narratives.

India has 24 distinct Civil Services whose vacancies each year are filled through the Union Public Service Commission’s three-phased CSE. There are only a limited number of vacancies every year, with 49.5 percent reservations. The total marks obtained by candidates in written and interviews determine the overall rank of the candidate. After that, the candidates are allotted services based on their performance during training and aptitude. Candidates undergo psychometric/aptitude tests, especially for selection to IPS. More than 10 lakh candidates appear for the CSE Prelims of which around one per cent or 10,000 become eligible for the Mains. Of this, about 3,000 candidates make it to the finals held for 1,000 all-India services posts.

The highest number of Muslims, as per the 2023 Civil List, is in the IAS, formed in 1950. Presently, there are 180 Muslims out of 5,464 officers across the country. The other India’s two top civil services – the Indian Police Service, since 1948, and the Indian Forest Service, since 1966, have 4,433 and 2,151 officers, respectively. The IPS counts 151 Muslims and 35 are in IFS.

The 28 Group A services also have an unimpressive number of Muslim officials. Four out of 101 officers are Muslims in the Indian Petroleum & Explosives Safety Service (IPESS) which was set up in 2018. There are 30 Muslims among the 1,270 officers in the 60-year-old Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS). Three Muslims are among 181 officers in the Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) formed in 1976. A similar number of Muslims are among 118 officials in the Indian Cost Accounts Service (ICoAS) that came into existence in 1982. The Indian Information Service (IIS), set up in 1960, had 69 Muslim officials out of a total of 1,107. Formed in 1967, the Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) has six Muslims among its 267 officials. The Indian Revenue Service (IRS), set up in 1953 to oversee indirect taxes (Customs and GST) has 89 Muslims out of 3,500 officials.  The IRS (Income Tax), set up in 1944, has 70 Muslims out of a total of 4,286 officials.   

The Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS), which came into existence in 1947, has 544 officials of whom six are Muslims. Formed a year after Independence, the Indian Postal Service (IPoS) has 23 among its 394 officials. Formed in 1971, the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) has 19 Muslims out of 758 officials. Set up in 1978, the Indian Telecommunications Service (ITS) counts 27 Muslims among its 1,437 officials. The Indian Foreign Service, in existence since 1948, has 850 officers of which only 12 are Muslims. The Indian Economic Service (IES), in operation since 1967, has 451 officers of which only 14 are Muslims. Only four Muslims are among 134 officials in the 1986-formed Indian Trade Service (ITS). Out of 156 officials in the Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES), formed in 1985, only seven are Muslims. Two less of that number are Muslims among 528 in the Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) formed in 1922. 

The IDES has eight Muslims among its 189 officials. Only seven are Muslims among the 227 officials of the Indian Communication Finance Services (ICFS) – formerly IP&TAFS – formed in 1973. Also formed that year, the Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service has 285 officials of whom 11 are Muslims. Muslim officials in eight Indian Railways-related services are also in negligible numbers. The oldest of them, the Indian Railways Traffic Service, formed in 1967, has 19 Muslims among its 886 officers on the rolls. Formed eight years after it, the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) has 1,265 officials of whom 25 are Muslims. The Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) and the Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers, both formed in 1979, have 21 and 23 Muslims, respectively, out of 783 and 966 officials. 

Formed in 1980, the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) counts 11 Muslims among its 356 officials. Two years later came the Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) which has 12 Muslims among its 542 officials on its rolls. The Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME) which came into existence six years later, has 1,773 officials including 34 Muslims. The last of the railways service, formed in 2019, the Indian Railways Protection Forces Service (IRPFS) has 19 Muslims among its 252 officers.

In the six services under Group B, only 41 are Muslim officials out of a total of 1,322 in 2024, with the highest of 32 in the Indian Statistical Service (ISS) out of 814. Only three are Muslims out of 183 in the Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS). A similar number of Muslim officials are among the 248 in Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS). Pondicherry Civil Service and Pondicherry Police Service have only two and one Muslim officials, out of 20 and 47, respectively. The Indian Salt Service, the smallest of civil services in the country by the number of officials it had, there is no Muslim among its 10 officials. 

As of 2024, the number of IAS, IPS, and IFS officials across the country stands at 11,522, of whom the highest of 5,317 is in the IAS. The IPS has 4,125 officers while IFS counts 2,080 officers. Muslims are 148 in IAS; 144 in IPS and 29 in IFS. These numbers include both Regular Recruits (RR) and State Service officers promoted to these three services. In the 27 State Administrative Services, 770 are Muslims out of 10,810 officers while the similar number State Police Services have 387 Muslims out of 8,434 officers. Jammu and Kashmir has the highest among them – 356 Muslims among 696 in Administrative Service and 12o out 226 in Police Service.

Muslims in IAS, IPS, IFS, Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ Services – 2023 

To read and obtain more data, please visit:

Muslims in India: Achievements & Accomplishments 1947-2024: Mannan, Mohammed Abdul: 9798343270259: Amazon.com: Books

Muslims in India 1947-2024 eBook : Abdul Mannan, Mohammed