Engineering Services Examination

Technical civil services of India

The Engineering Services Examination (ESE) is an annual combined standardized exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit officers to various engineering services under the Government of India. It is held in four categories: Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics & Telecommunication. The exam has three stages comprising objective, subjective and personality tests. The various services are often informally known as Indian Engineering Services (IES). Officers recruited through ESE are mandated to manage and conduct activities in diverse technical fields. Government infrastructure includes railways, roads, defence, manufacturing, inspection, supply, construction, public works, power, and telecommunications. Appointments to these services are made by the President of India.

The work performed by these officers largely depends on their engineering branch and service (or cadre). However, they can move to any cadre, organization, agency, department, ministry or public sector undertaking of the government of India. They are appointed to posts analogous to their present one, either on a fixed term deputation basis (at least five years and extensible, after which the officer returns to their parent cadre) or an absorption basis where the official leaves the parent cadre for the new one.

Narinder Singh Kapany – Former IOFS officer. Invented fibre optics that revolutionised laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery, telecommunications, power transmission, etc. Named as one of the seven "Unsung Heroes of the 20th century" by Fortune magazine for his Nobel Prize deserving invention. Known as the "Father of Fibre Optics" and "The Man who Bent Light". Former Professor at Stanford, Universities of California at Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. Had more than 150 patents to his credit. Author, mountaineer, social worker. Founder & Chairman of Indian Spinal Injuries Centre. Conferred on with the Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, Fellowship of Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). Also served as a Commissioned officer in the Indian Army and Member of Planning Commission (India). Santu Shahaney IOFS. Served as the first Indian Director General Ordnance Factories (DGOF). He was awarded Padma Shri in 1962, and Padma Bhushan in 1965, by the Government of India, in the Civil Service category, for his contributions during the Indo China War of 1962 and the Indo Pakistani War of 1965, respectively. R. M. Muzumdar IOFS. Second Indian Director General of the Indian Ordnance Factories. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, in 1973, in the Civil service category, for his contributions during the Indo Pakistani War of 1971. Waman Dattatreya Patwardhan IOFS officer. Developed the solid propellant for India's first space rocket launched from Thumba, and the detonation system of India's first nuclear bomb used in Operation Smiling Buddha. Served at the Ammunition Factory Khadki, and as the first Director of High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) and the Armaments Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Awarded Padma Shri in 1974. H. G. S. Murthy IOFS. Known as one of the "Seven Pioneers of the Indian Space Programme". He served at the Machine Tool Prototype Factory (MTPF), Ambernath, and as the first Director of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), and the Space Science & Technology Centre, now known as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Awarded Padma Shri in 1969. that developed and manufactured the 7.62 Self Loading Automatic Rifle, that played decisive role in India's victory in the Indo Pakistani War of 1965. O. P. Bahl, an IOFS officer. Received Padma Shri in 1972, in the civil service category, as the General Manager of Ammunition Factory Khadki, which developed and manufactured the anti submarine rockets used in sinking the submarine PNS Ghazi during the Indo Pakistani War of 1971. Ashwani Lohani IRSME officer; chairman of Indian Railways and former chairman and managing director of Air India. Holds a Limca record for having four engineering degree equivalents (mechanical, electrical and metallurgical engineering and electronics and telecommunications engineering from the Institution of Engineers. G. B. Meemamsi Former ITS officer. Founding Director of C DOT; received Padma Shri in 1998. Satyendra Dubey Whistleblower against corruption; project director of the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) Golden Quadrilateral project at Koderma. After his assassination, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 was passed. E. Sreedharan Former IRSE officer, chairman and managing director of Konkan Railway, Cochin Shipyard and the Delhi Metro. Retired member of the Railway Board. Received Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan from India, the Order of the Rising Sun (Gold and Silver Star) from Japan and the Legion of Honour from France.