Course Team - lbsnaa

From the Course Team
Dear Colleague,
The Academy and the Course Team welcome
you to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
and the Professional Course Phase I (2011-
2013). You are amongst the privileged few to
have been selected into a public service widely
regarded as one of the most challenging in the
country and perhaps in the world as well today.
The idea of the IAS as the premier All India
Service, replacing the colonial Indian Civil
Service (ICS), crystallized at the Provincial
Premier’s Conference convened in October
1946. The first competitive examination for
recruitment to the IAS was held in July 1947 and
the new recruits joined the IAS Training School,
Metcalfe House, Delhi, in 1948. It was in 1959
that the National Academy of Administration
was established in Mussoorie, and was later re-
christened as the Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration. Conceived as a
vital link between the Union and the States in our federal polity, this premier service was entrusted with the overarching
task of realizing Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of a self-reliant, inclusive and dynamic India. Looking back at the balance
sheet during the past six decades of India’s tryst with democracy and development, the picture that emerges is rather
mixed. While the IAS has, to a large extent, lived up to the vision of our founding fathers in institutionalizing democracy
and nurturing the country’s pluralistic social fabric, a lot still remains to be done. This Course is about preparing the
ground to enable you to lead and become officers with depth of character, breadth of vision and requisite skills to
deliver on tasks entrusted upon you. At a more fundamental level, this training is meant to build a foundation and
provide a perspective for the rest of your career in the civil services. As an entry level programme, it seeks to equip you
with the requisite domain knowledge, skill sets and attitudes that would stand you in good stead in the first decade of
your career – as Sub-Divisional Officer, Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Chief Executive
Officer of Zilla Parishad, Municipal Commissioners, District Collector, and in some cases in the State Directorates,
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