Kerala Administrative Service (KAS) Exam Notification & Study Guide

As we all expected Government of Kerala has decided to create a new level of government officers in state service. Kerala Administrative Service (KAS) is the name given to this layer, and it opens the door to class 1 state service for eligible candidates. PSC will appoint the selected candidates to second gazetted posts in 29 government departments including Land Revenue, Finance, State Lottery and Secretariat services (plus common category posts in every department). This article explains why KAS is very important, exam pattern, the number of vacancies and the promotion chances for those join Kerala Administrative Service.

Am I Eligible For KAS?
Public Service Commission is looking for young professionally trained qualified candidates to serve as middle-level managers in State government service. If you have a bachelor degree and the determination to win the most prestigious examination conducted by KPSC, yes you are eligible.


Importance of Kerala Administrative Service Recruitment
Many IAS vacancies in Kerala State Cadre are already vacant because of the absence of eligible candidates in state service. Only source available to fill those vacancies is deputy collector post, as UPSC cannot fill these vacancies, but the number of them is very less.

With the introduction of KAS, it will act as the feeder category for state cadre IAS posts through PSC. Appointments from Kerala Administrative Service will fill 10% of all available second gazetted posts in state service.

Kerala Administrative Service Exam Pattern and Syllabus

Those who wish to appear KAS examination will have to undergo three stages in the selection procedure. They are:

1. Preliminary Exam (Objective Type)
2. Main Examination
3. Interview

KPSC will soon update the detailed syllabus for KAS Prelim and main examination.

How to Prepare For Kerala Administrative Service Examination
To prepare for KAS examination, I suggest you start your learning with available KAS prelim rank files.
KAS Preliminary Exam Super Rank File

Many study materials available to prepare for KAS examination. If you are serious about winning Kerala Administrative Service test conducted by Public Service Commission, I suggest you start your study for KAS prelim today itself.

Many reputed study centers have released authentic KAS prelim exam study materials for serious candidates. Below we have given some of the good Kerala Administrative Service Prelim preparation guides.

1. KAS Preliminary Exam Super Rank File
2. KAS preliminary exam Helper

Where Will KAS Officers be Posted?
The government of Kerala will appoint them as a second gazetted officer in 29 government departments and common category posts in all departments. Look at the chart given below to see the list of departments where the posting will be.

SL	Name Of the Department
1	Civil Supplies
2	Commercial Taxes
3	Commissionerate of Entrance Examinations
4	Co-operative department
5	Culture
6	Industries and Commerce
7	Labour
8	State Lotteries
9	National Employment Service
10	National Savings
11	Administrative Secretariat
12	Finance Secretariat
13	Kerala State Audit
14	Land Revenue
15	Panchayats
16	Sainik Welfare
17	Social Justice
18	State Insurance
19	Stationery
20	Kerala State land use board
21	Rural development
22	Scheduled Caste development
23	Scheduled Tribe development
24	Survey and land records
25	Treasuries
26	General Education
27	Tourism
28	Urban Affairs
29	Common Categories

PS: Common categories include Administrative Officer, Administrative Assistant, Account Officer, Financial Assistant and posts earmarked for transfer appointment through KPSC in the cadre of Financial Assistant and listed in Schedule II of these rules.

Constitution of KAS

The government has categorized them into four categories.

1. KAS Officer (Junior Time Scale)
   
   
2. KAS Officer(Senior Time Scale)
   
   
3. KAS Officer(Selection Grade Scale)
   
   
4. KAS Officer(Super Time Grade Scale)
   
   

Posts of Kerala Administrative Service officers are distributed in the ratio of 6:5:4:3. That means the strength of KAS officers in Government service will be as: For 6 Junior Time Scale officers, there will be 5 Senior Time Scale staffs.

For 5 of them, there will be 4 Selection Grade Scale staffs. For 4 Selection Grade Scale staffs, there will be 3 Super Time Grade Scale staffs available.


Kerala Administrative Service Selection Procedure
There are three streams of selection. Those who pass the direct recruitment test will fill 1/3rd of available vacancies. The government will fill 1/3rd vacancies from regular government employees.

1. Kerala Forest Range Officer Examination
2. Kerala Police Constable Recruitment

PSC will fill the rest of the vacancies from 1st gazetted officers in government departments. The below chart explains the KAS officers selection procedure. This chart does not show the effect of reservation for candidates belongs to SC/ST and OBC.

S/N	Stream	Number of Vacancies	Mode of Recruitment
1	Direct Recruitment	33.33% of Available vacancies	It is general recruitment
2	For Regular Government Employees	33.33% of Available vacancies	Only the regular government employees can apply. Gazetted officers cannot apply here
3	For Gazetted Officers	33.33% of Available vacancies	This stream is reserved for Gazetted Officers in Government service

How Will the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) Employees Be Treated?
It is an important question because there is reservation for Government Employees in Kerala Administrative Service recruitment.

1. How to Join As Income Tax Officer
2. Kerala Secretariat Assistant Examination

Sadly those who are working in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) will not be treated as government staffs, and they cannot avail the 66% reservation (combining the general and gazetted post streams). For example, KSRTC employees cannot claim the reservation allotted to government staffs.