Indian Defence Estates Service is a civil service under the government of India. First introduced on 16th December 1926, it was known as Military Lands and Cantonment Service from 1926 to 1983 and then renamed as Defence Lands and Cantonment Service from 1983 to 1985 and then, again renamed as Indian Defence Estates Service in 1985.
Responsibilities of an IDES officer
The top-ranking officer is the Director-General of Defence Estates, who also has the power to head the Directorate General. 5 officers work under DGDE, 4 Additional Director General (ADG), and a Senior Additional Director General (SADG).
The ADGs look after their own divisions, i.e. Cantonments, Administration, Hiring, Lands, etc. The ADGs come under the SAG which is Senior Administrative Grade. The SDGs come under HAG which is Higher Administrative Grade.
The National Institute of Defence Estates Management or NIDEM, which is an independent body directly reporting to the DGDE. This autonomous body is also headed by a SAG.
They manage defence lands and administer the Cantonment boards. They are responsible for leasing, acquiring, or taking over immovable properties.
They are also responsible for regularly maintaining and updating land records, tracing out unauthorized and non-permissible construction and acquisitions of land. There are many other responsibilities they take care of.
Salary and benefits of an IDES officer
The directors of the Indian Defence Estates Service get salaries ranging from 37,000- 67,000 rupees and an extra amount of 10,000 rupees is granted as grade pay. The principal directors get around 67,000- 79,000 rupees as their salary while the officers working as secretaries get a salary of around 80,000 rupees.
IDES officers benefit from all the basic necessities given to every civil officer. They are allowed to serve up to 60 years of age and are provided with contributory pensions after retirement. CGHS authorizes all the medical requirements and facilities.
Perks of being an IDES offcer
An IDES officer gets promotion on the basis of performance, evaluation and appraisal reports, vigilance clearance reports, and inspection of all the reports by the senior civil officers.
During the officer’s career, they see a raise in salary and promotion if their inspection report is totally clean.
They are provided with a bungalow, servants, official vehicles, medical facilities and many more which are superior in comparison to the benefits provided to an IAS officer and Army officials.
Powers of an IDES officer
With great power comes great responsibility. The officers are responsible for efficient civil administration and land within their respective cantonments. The officers take care of the lease and acquisitions of the land and are also responsible for tracing out illegal constructions and acquisitions at the same time. They handle all the records.
Challenges of being an IDES officer
When the officers have the responsibility to look after their respective cantonments and land, they can’t take it lightly. They must be aware of how big of a responsibility it is. The officers have to work efficiently by keeping up with all the records, looking after any illegal acquisitions of land, and have to manage their own area.
Friendly Conclusion
We have already taken a look over the usual duties of an IDES officer and we can surely conclude, it’s not easy to manage everything while looking after a whole area and keeping up with the records. So, we can fairly say that the officers are working hard. Of course, India is a vast country and it’s always a challenge to keep up with every change and modification, a certain area is going through.
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