2017 batch IFS officer trainees complete training course; it's time to get posted across the world

Indian Foreign Service officer trainees of 2017 batch are getting ready to be full diplomats. Last week, the training at the Foreign Service Institute ended with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj addressing them at the valedictory function of the induction training programme. Indian Foreign Service officer trainees of 2017 batch and Bhutanese diplomats were trained together. Ten days ago, these young would-be-diplomats met…

Vice President of India and prior to that, they had a two-day-long visit to Parliament to understand the Parliamentary procedures. Former union skill development minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy addressed the trainees on legislative process in Parliament. Another highlight for the batch is their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month when the PM encouraged the officer trainees to engage fully with the Indian diaspora.

The total training period for the probationers include desk and field attachments not exceeding 15 months. First, they need to attend training at LBSNAA, Mussoorie, for three months, followed by 5-month-long training course (first phase) at FSI. Then, there is a 2-month-long on the job training with the desks at South Block/ministry of external affairs (MEA), after which there are field attachments, namely, district, Army, Bharat Darshan, mission attachment, etc. That continues for three months. Finally, there is a one-month-long training again at FSI (second phase) followed by pre-departure attachment with the concerned territorial division, including brief attachment with other relevant line ministries (1 month), according to the scheduled uploaded by the Foreign Institute of India in its site. 

Most recent IFS officers usually had engineering background, followed by humanities and medicine. For example, there were 17 IFS officers from engineering background both in 2011 and 2012 batches (out of 34 and 36 respectively) and 14 in 2014. In contrast, there were 10, 7 and 3 from humanities in batches of 2011, 2012 and 2014 respectively. Between 2010 and 2015 batches, for which FSI uploaded data, the maximum number of doctor-turned IFS were in the batch of 1013 (eight in total). The data on 2017 batch is, however, not readily available. (If a probationer wants to put accurate data, she is welcome to post it in the comment section below).

The institute is located in South Delhi. Its website says: “If you are the type who wakes up with or before the sun and you love to do some yoga, you can attend those yoga sessions happening every day with a quaint and unfailing regularity (as if it is beyond time). You can also access the gym if you are not the yoga type. However, if you are the guy who wakes up just in time for class, no one here is going to hold you guilty for that…”