The Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) is a Group A service under the Government of India. The Ministry of Defence is the Cadre Controlling Authority of UPSC IDES. The IDES department traces back its origin to 16th December, 1926 and was originally known as the Military Lands and Cantonments Service(1926-1983) and then as the Defence Lands and Cantonments Service. In 1985, it was renamed to be formally known as the Indian Defence Estates Service. In this article, we shall discuss the IDES, its structure, pay scales and its recruitment through UPSC.

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Structure of the IDES Organisation

The IDES organisation has a three tiered structure.

• The Director General of Defence Estates(DGDE) is the apex ranking officer governing the Directorate General at Delhi Cantonment. Under DGDE, there are four Additional Director Generals (ADG) and one Senior Additional Director General (SADG). National Institute of Defence Estates Management (NIDEM) is the department’s training institute that reports to the DGDE.
• The tier-2 includes the six Directorates as the regional headquarters supervising the field offices that come under their jurisdiction.
• Under the principal directorates, the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) head 62 Cantonment Boards and the Defence Estates Officers (DEOs) head 37 Defence Estates Circles and 4 Assistant Defence Estates Offices(ADEOs).

What is a Cantonment Board?

• A cantonment board looks into the municipal administration of a cantonment area that includes both military and civil population.
• Unlike the other urban local bodies, administered by the state, the central government creates and carries out the administration of the cantonment boards.
• India currently has 62 cantonment boards.

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Roles and Responsibilities of an IDES Officer

The Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) involves carrying out executive functions like Civic Administration and Land Management. The principal responsibilities of the service includes:

• Managing the defence lands.
• Administering the Cantonment Boards.
• Development of the Cantonments as townships that provide quality education for children, health care for residents, social care system for aged people, physically challenged and underprivileged sections of society.
• Acquiring, hiring and requisitioning of immovable properties.
• Carrying out regular surveys and audits and maintaining updated digitized records of the defence lands.
• Preventing the encroachments and illegal constructions on defence lands.
• Handling litigations related to ownership and land acquisitions for defence purposes.

IDES Recruitment and Training

The filling up of the IDES UPSC posts is carried out through the UPSC civil service examination. Around 75% of the vacancies are filled by direct recruitment and the remaining 25% are filled by promotion. The recruited candidates have to undergo an induction training at National Institute of Defence Estates Management (NIDEM) located at New Delhi.

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Appointment and Promotion of IDES Officers

The Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) officers post their induction training at NIDEM, New Delhi are posted as Chief Executive Officers in Cantonments.

An IDES UPSC officer, in his career, rises in pay and promotions on the basis of the Performance Appraisal Reports, vigilance clearance and scrutiny of the officer’s record by a committee of civil servants. The highest post in the organisation is of the Director General of Defence Estates, a Secretary level post in the Government of India.

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Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) Officer Salary

The salaries of IDES UPSC officers depend on their post and experience. The table below gives an idea of the salary drawn by the Group A IDES Officers.

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We hope that all your doubts regarding the Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) would have been cleared after going through this article. You can download the Testbook App now to check out various other topics relevant to the UPSC Exams.