The Indian Telecommunications Service, widely known as ITS, and earlier known as 'Telegraph Engineering Service Class I'(TES Class I)is an organised civil service of Government of India.[1] The appointment to this service is done through Combined Engineering Services exam held every year by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) of India. ITS is a Group A Central Civil Service of the Union of India. The service was created to meet the technical and managerial functions of the government in areas related to telecommunications.The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) had been run for years by this permanent cadre of technical civil servants called the Indian Telecom Service (ITS).

The officers of ITS are working in senior management and administrative positions in the Department of Telecommunications (DOT), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL),Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), Unique Identification Authority of India (UID), Central Vigilance Commission(CVC) etc. At present, ITS officers are also working in many other central and state government assignments on deputation. Read More

• Recruitment and induction

  A competitive examination called combined engineering services examination is conducted by the UPSC for recruitment to the ITS. Recruitment to Group A and Group B Services/Posts are made under the following categories of Engineering:

  • Civil Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering

  Appointments to ITS are made in category IV, i.e., Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. Further information: Indian Engineering Services

• Training

  After recruitment through Combined Engineering Services Examination, the officers undergo a two years course at Advanced level telecommunication training centre (ALTTC),[2]Ghaziabad and Bharatratna Bhimrao Ambedkar institute of telecom training (BRBRAITT),Jabalpur[3] for management and telecommunications engineering. The officers are also deputed for on job field training in various areas.The ITS officers were trained at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) until 1980.

  Department of Telecommunication has set up a new training centre named as "National Telecom Academy" at Ghaziabad for its officers belonging to technical cadre i.e. ITS and TES.

• Appointments and responsibilities

  As in the other Central Services, the officers are liable to be transferred and posted in anywhere in India. The officers of ITS work in the DOT, TRAI, TDSAT, BSNL, MTNL,Ministry of Home Affairs,UID,Ministry of Power,Department of Pharmaceuticals, Department of Defence, National Highway Authority of India, RITES, IRCON,TCIL,UPSC,SSC and various other Ministries and Statutory bodies of India.

  Strength
  Apex Scale	Member (equivalent to secretary)	2
  Higher Administrative Grade+ (HAG+)	Advisor (equivalent to Additional secretary)	1
  Higher Administrative Grade (HAG)	Chief General Manager/Senior Deputy Director General	61
  Senior Administrative Grade (SAG)	General Manager/Deputy Director General	659
  Junior Administrative Grade (JAG)	Deputy General Manager/Director	957
  Senior time Scale (STS)	Divisional Engineer	151
  Junior time Scale (JTS)	Assistant Divisional Engineer	01

• Cadre controlling authority

  Member (Services), Telecom Commission of India is cadre controlling authority of ITS, Group A. Member(Services)is ex-officio Secretary to Government of India. S. C. Misra is currently working as Member(Services) , Department of Telecom, Government of India.

• Indian Telecom Service Association

  The officers of ITS are represented by the Indian Telecom Service Association in different forums. Sh SHAKEEL AHMAD and Sh HARSH VARDHAN SINGH are currently president and secretary, respectively.

• Honours

  Many members of ITS are awarded by many national and international organisations for their significant contributions.Few of them are enlisted below,

  Shri G.B. Meemasi was the first ITS to receive Padma Shri for his work in Electronic Switching in DOT. He was the founder Director of CDOT and father of RAX.Shri SM Agarwal(Secretary DOT) and Shri P.S. Saran(Member Services) were other subsequent recipients, from ITS.

  Dr.T.H.Chowdary was awarded the L.V.Ramaiah award in 1989 for distinguished service to society thro’ telecoms.He was conferred a Doctorate (Honoris Causa) by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad in 1999 for distinguished service to engineering, education & IT services.

• Retirements

  Present strength of ITS is 1799 as on 01/01/2012. Many ITS officers will be retiring from government service shortly on attaining current superannuation age of 60 years. Year wise retirement position is given below,

  Year	Number of officers retiring
  2012	44
  2013	50
  2014	51
  2015	56