BharatNotes The Civil List 2025, launched by DoPT in May 2025 as the 70th edition and the 5th fully digital one, is a searchable PDF compendium of every serving IAS officer in India. It contains each officer's name, batch, cadre, present posting, pay level, educational qualifications, retirement date, and (newly added in 2025) a photograph. It also shows cadre-wise sanctioned/in-position strength, 5-year retirement projection, and appointment data since 1969. The 2025 edition reflects 6,877 sanctioned and 5,577 in-position officers across 25 cadres.
What the e-Civil List is
The Civil List is an annual official compendium of every serving IAS officer in India, published by DoPT under the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954. The 2025 edition is:
- The 70th edition in the unbroken series since 1956.
- The 5th fully digital edition since DoPT shifted to electronic publication in 2021.
- Released by Dr Jitendra Singh, MoS DoPT in May 2025, with data as on 1 January 2025.
- Hosted on the DoPT IAS Civil List Information System at iascivillist.dopt.gov.in.
What it contains — officer-level data
For each of the 5,577 serving IAS officers, the e-Civil List 2025 displays:
- Full name and identity number — unique DoPT ID for cross-reference across all internal records.
- Batch / year of allotment — e.g., 1995, 2007, 2018, 2024.
- Cadre — one of the 25 state cadres.
- Present posting — exact designation and ministry/department.
- Pay level — under 7th CPC pay matrix (Levels 10-18, with Cabinet Secretary at Level 18 apex).
- Educational qualifications — undergraduate degree, postgraduate, professional certifications.
- Date of birth and date of retirement — auto-computed at age 60.
- Photograph — newly added in the 2025 edition for the first time.
What it contains — aggregate data
The e-Civil List 2025 also provides:
- Cadre-wise sanctioned strength for all 25 cadres (totalling 6,877).
- Cadre-wise in-position strength (totalling 5,577).
- Cadre-wise vacancy (totalling 1,300).
- 5-year retirement projection — how many officers from each cadre will retire between 2025 and 2030.
- Appointment data from 1969 onwards — every IAS officer ever appointed, alive or retired.
- Direct recruit vs promotee breakdown — separating CSE-direct entrants from SCS-promotees.
How aspirants should use it
During CSE preparation, especially around DAF-II filing, the Civil List is a strategic resource. Use it to answer five practical questions:
1. How many fresh IAS officers does each cadre absorb annually?
Filter by batch year and cadre. UP took 20 IAS allottees in the 2024 batch; Sikkim took 0-1. This sets your realistic odds of allocation.
2. What is the age and retirement profile of my prospective cadre?
Cadres with many 1990-1996 batches will see rapid retirements 2026-2030 → faster promotion ladders for new entrants. Cadres with younger profiles will see slower upward movement.
3. Which cadres send officers on central deputation?
Filter by 'Present posting' containing 'Government of India', 'Ministry of', or 'DoPT'. Cadres like AGMUT, UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat show 30-40% of officers on central deputation; cadres like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu show only 8-15%.
4. Educational profile by cadre — does my background fit?
Cadres differ in dominant educational profiles. Karnataka and Andhra cadres have higher engineering/IIT backgrounds; West Bengal and Kerala have higher humanities/PhD profiles; Bihar and UP show more law/commerce backgrounds.
5. Where are the toppers of past batches now?
The Civil List lets you trace AIR 1-50 of past batches and see where they are at year 10, year 15, year 20. This gives you a realistic preview of where your career might be at each stage.
Adjacent resources to the Civil List
- State-level Civil Lists: Each state government publishes its own cadre-specific Civil List (e.g., Chhattisgarh GAD, Mizoram DPAR, Punjab gradation list). These are updated more frequently than the national list.
- Empanelment lists: DoPT separately publishes lists of officers empanelled at JS, AS and Secretary levels.
- PESB CMD recommendation lists: For tracking IAS officers entering PSU leadership.
What the Civil List does NOT contain
- Officers' ACR (Annual Confidential Report) grades — confidential.
- Disciplinary proceedings or vigilance cases — only the outcome (suspension, etc.) appears.
- Officers' political affiliations or non-government activities — none.
- Salary details beyond pay level — actual take-home is not disclosed.
- Personal information like family, address, contact — withheld for security.
The 2025 milestone
The 2025 edition's addition of officer photographs is a transparency milestone — earlier civil lists were text-only. With searchable PDF, embedded hyperlinks and a public web interface, the Civil List has moved from a niche internal document to a citizen-accessible tool. RTI requests on IAS officers have, in practice, become rarer since the e-Civil List makes most of the data publicly available without application.
Mentor's note
Download the e-Civil List 2025 once and read it slowly. Pick five officers — three toppers from recent batches, your role model, and one from your prospective cadre — and trace their postings. You will learn more about real IAS careers in two hours of Civil List reading than in two months of coaching-class lectures. Especially before filling DAF-II, this is essential homework.
