Indian Information Service officers are the media managers of the Government of India. They act as a vital communication link between the Government and the people by way of disseminating information and communicating various Government policies and schemes to the public at large; and also collecting and providing valuable feedback to the Government for policy formulation.
Indian Information Service (IIS) was established as an organized central service named Central Information Service (CIS) on 1 March 1960. Prior to 1960, these posts were manned by officers recruited separately by each media unit. In 1987, CIS was bifurcated into IIS Group 'A' and IISGroup 'B'.
Recruitment
IIS Group-A officers are selected through two modes,
And also through promotion to IIS Group-A from the Senior Grade officers of IIS Group-B.
Privatization
With the exponential increase of private electronic and print media, and with the universal access to social media, the role of IIS officers has sharply shrunk in the recent years. The IIS officers have also not been able to keep abreast with the competition. The government is currently considering privatizing the broadcasting in India.[4][5]
Central Bureau of Communication (merger of Song and Drama Division, Directorate of Field Publicity[8] and Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity[9] in 2017)[10][11] – 23 Regional Outreach Bureau (ROB) and 148 Field Outreach Bureau are there under CBC.
After successful completion of the two years of probation, an IIS officer is posted to a media unit depending on the vacancy and requirement. During the various roles of his or her career, in Directorate hierarchy, an IIS officer progresses through following designations in ascending order of seniority-
Assistant Director (JTS – Junior Time Scale)
Deputy Director (STS – Senior Time Scale)
Joint Director (JAG – Junior Administrative Grade) level of Deputy Secretary to Government of India
Principal Director General Higher Administrative Grade +) level of Special secretary to the Government of India
Salary
Work profile
By its very nature of handling the information and communication, the Service enjoys a great diversity in its nature of work and responsibilities. The Ministry of I&B lists the functions of an IIS officer in its official mandate as:[14]
To plan and execute the media strategy to provide publicity to various programmes/schemes of the Government for the welfare of the people across the country.
Organisation of press conferences and visual publicity campaigns for disseminating information to the people on the various activities and policies of the Government of India through various tools of mass communication.
Control, supervision and guidance to News Services units of All India Radio and DD News including regional news units.
To look after administration and coordination work of PIB headquarters and day to day publicity works of the Government.
To guide, supervise and control the field publicity units of the Central Government spread across the country and to issue timely directions for effective monitoring and evaluation of field units.
To monitor the complex legal issues involved in the verification of titles, registration and circulation for Newspapers in India.
^ a b"The Service Profile of Indian Information Service" (PDF). Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
^Complete Civil Service Schedule of the Civil Services Group A of India." Civil Service Group A – Government of India 1 January 2011.
^Complete Civil Service Schedule of the Central Civil Services Group B of India." Central Civil Service Group B – Government of India 1 January 2011.
^"Parliament Digital Library: PRIVATISATION OF PRASAR BHARATI". Eparlib.nic.in. 18 April 2002. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
^"Privatisation only solution". The Economic Times.
^"OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR OF NEWSPAPERS FOR INDIA". rni.nic.in. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^"Publications Division". publicationsdivision.nic.in. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^"Welcome To DFP Website". dfp.nic.in. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^".:: Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) ::". davp.nic.in. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^"Central Bureau of Communication | Ministry of Information Broadcasting". Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^".:: About Us – Bureau of Outreach & Communication ::". davp.nic.in. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^"Electronic Media Monitoring Centre". emmc.gov.in. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^ a b c d eIAS, Top IAS Coaching in Delhi-SHRI RAM. "IIS – Jobs, Roles and Salary | Best IAS Coaching in Delhi, India – SHRI RAM IAS". web.shriramias.in. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
^"Mandate of IIS Officer" (PDF).
^"Press Information Bureau". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 13 February 2017.