Provincial Development Service

Provincial Development Service (PDS) (IAST: Prāntīya Vikāsa Sevā) is the Government of Uttar Pradesh civil service responsible for administering rural development programmes of the Uttar Pradesh and Indian governments.[2]

Provincial Development Service

Prāntīya Vikāsa Sevā
Government service agency overview
Formed	1952 (1952)
Superseding agency	Provincial Rural Development Services
Jurisdiction	Uttar Pradesh, India
Employees	559 (2012)[1]
Minister responsible	Dr. Mahendra Singh
Parent department	Department of Rural Development
Parent Government service agency	Government of Uttar Pradesh

Recruitment

PDS officers are recruited from a pool of applicants who take a competitive examination conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission. Currently, half of PDS officers are hired directly, while the other half are transferred from other departments. PDS officers, regardless of their mode of entry, are appointed by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh.[1] Hundreds of BDO officer posts remain vacant, putting a greater workload on PDS officers and officers from other departments.

Career progression

After completing their training, a PDS officer generally serves as Block Development Officer in Blocks[3] in a District. After that, they get promoted as, District Development Officer or as Project Director of District Rural Development Agency or Deputy Commissioners of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (popularly known as DC MGNREGA) or Deputy Commissioners of National Rural Livelihood Mission (popularly known as DC NRLM) and later, Chief Development Officer in districts or as Joint Development Commissioners in Divisions and as Joint Commissioners in Commissionerate of Rural Development.[4][5]

Salary structure

The salary structure of the Provincial Development Service

Grade/level on pay matrix	Base Salary (per month)	Some Positions in the Government of Uttar Pradesh	Years of Service
Junior Administrative Grade (pay level 12)	₹78800–191500	Chief Development Officer in District, Joint Development Commissioner in Division, Joint Commissioner in Commissionerate of Rural Development	26th year
Senior Time Scale (pay level 11)	₹67700–160000	District Development Officer in District, Project Director of District Rural Development Agency, Deputy Commissioner of Labour and Employment, Deputy Commissioner Self Employment in District, Deputy Commissioner in Commissionerate of Rural Development	19th year
Junior Time Scale (pay level 10)	₹56100–132000	Block Development Officer, Assistant Commissioner in Commissionerate of Rural Development	Initial year

Officer promotion controversy

The union for PDS officers demanded that IAS and PCS officers not be promoted to the rank of CDO, claiming that they have less expertise in rural development than PDS officers. They also claim that it takes much longer for PDS officers to be promoted than PCS or IAS officers, and that PDS officers get paid less than PCS officers. Due to the complaints, the Uttar Pradesh state government reserved twenty-eight districts of Uttar Pradesh for PDS officers. The PDS union opposed this, claiming that the districts that had been reserved for PDS officers were backward ones.

See also

• Provincial Civil Service (Uttar Pradesh)
• Provincial Forest Service (Uttar Pradesh)
• Provincial Police Service (Uttar Pradesh)
• Provincial Finance and Accounts Service (Uttar Pradesh)
• Provincial Secretariat Service (Uttar Pradesh)
• Provincial Transport Service (Uttar Pradesh)

References

1. "2015 Total Cadre strength of PRDS as in June 2012" (PDF). Department of Rural Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
2. "Service Rules" (PDF). Government of Uttar Pradesh Department of Rural Development. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
3. "List of Blocks in Uttar Pradeshs" (PDF). Department of Rural Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
4. "Performance Budget of Rural Development Department of Uttar Pradesh" (PDF). Department of Rural Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
5. "Role, Functions & Responsibilities of PDS officers". Commissionerate of Rural Development, Department of Rural Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 15 October 2018.