What is Class 1 or Group 1 Posts in Government Jobs

To understand the importance and relevance of Class 1 or Group 1 posts within the Government.  You need to know few things:

 

1. India ia a democracy, and it has 3 main organs

a. Parliament - for making laws

b. Executive - to implement those laws

c. Judiciary - To keep check on Parliament and Executive & their powers

2. Parliament is under purview of politicians, Executive is under purview of Officers mostly which people like you and me aspire to become one day, and Judiciary is under purview of Law professionals.

 

To understand further, Executive is of two types - Political Executive i.e. PM, CM, Ministers who are part of Executive branch of democracy but are appointed to that post by directly or indirectly by people.  Then there is Permanent Executive i.e. Officers belonging to Classes - I, II, III in Central Govt or Group - I, II, III, IV, V, VI in state governments.

 

 Having understood the basics, lets now connect them. Remember this representation is to simplify things so that you can understand different positions well.

 

Position	Type	Responsibility
Prime Minister	Political Executive	S/He is the leader of our country, who provides vision
Ministers	Political Executive	Help Prime Minister to formulate that vision. Different Ministries would come up with Policies
Cabinet Secretary	Officer, Class I	S/He is a Class 1 officer & boss of all Civil Servants under purview of Central Govt or appointed by President. Cabinet Secretary usually serves Prime Minister.
Secretary	Officer, Class I	S/He is a Class 1 officer who supports Ministers to convert the vision into reality
Joint Secretary	Officer, Class I	They support secretaries, and usually head some departments within the Ministry.
Additional Secretary	Officer, Class I	Heads a department within the Ministry
Section Officer	Officer, Class II	Heads a section within the Department
Various Positions under Section Officer	Clerical, Class III	They work under guidance of section officer
Sub-ordinate Posts	Clerical, Class IV ( this class is now merged with Class III)	They provide support services like typing, stenography, peons to all the above Officers from Class I, II and Clerks from class III who are higher ranked

 

From the above hierarchy, it becomes clear that government functions like a big machinary with lot of power and distance between top cadre and lower cadre.  Hence, there are various examinations that help you either become a Class I, II or III level officer or clerk. 

 

Same hierarchy exists in State Level too. It must be noted that Classes are called Groups at state level.  And Groups can be I, II, III, IV, V, VI because State Governments usually have many more responsibilities to discharge than Central government in relation to public.

 

Also, similar hierarchy exists in Military too. There are officer grade posts that offer exceptionally challenging work, pay, respect, and power.

 

Let's now understand in detail about Class I or Group 1 Posts

1. The officers are recruited through highly competitive national/ state level exams conducted by UPSC or state PSCs.

2. The recuritment is only by merit. However, lately, lateral entries are given to people who are exceptional in their fields.

3. They enjoy better salaries than rest of the employees in Government.  And their allowances and facilities provided to them are unparalleled even with Private employees.

4. They have direct responsibilities and must be accountable for their actions. Hence, they naturally get the raise or scorn about their actions.

5. Group1 or Class I posts enjoy high social status, where it can be a deal maker in case of arranged marriages in India till date, even when there are better opportunities in Private Sector.

6. Recognizing importance of re-skilling workforce, Group 1 employees can get maximum benefits in terms of such programmes by government. However, they still remain not at part with private or self-motivated people who become experts with same level of service as government employees.

 

Is it right for you?

1. You should be very good at giving competitive exams, which comes with certain academic excellence

2. You should be willing to devote your sweet 20s to gain knowledge and skip skills as no new skill is learnt giving competitive exam. It is given for job purposes only. (which is a big risk in today's 21st century world)

3. You should be okay with earning less than your peers.  And you have need for good work-life balance (in most cases).

4. You like social respect and status that these jobs offer

5. You like to work under someone or as per rules set

6. You are willing to maintain high standards in life - professional and personal.

7. You give importance to leadership in career development.

 

If your answer is yes, for above questions. Then this job is for you.